Shirtless Male Nurse Billboard Causes a Stir

CHESHIRE, CT — A billboard featuring a shirtless man wearing a stethoscope and portraying a male nurse is causing quite a stir.

The billboard, which is located near Exit 25 on I-84 East in Waterbury, is for the Cheshire Regional Rehabilitation Center and poses the question, “Who’s Caring for Your Mom?”

UPDATE:

• Controversial Shirtless Male Nurse Billboard Coming Down

The center’s “All Female Skilled Nursing Wing” is touted on the billboard, which also says “Women Caring for Women.”

Controversy erupted when a registered male nurse emailed NBC Connecticut complaining that the billboard is “disgusting”, “degrading” and “demoralizing” to men in the profession.

Victoria Walker, the Director of Community Awareness for Cheshire Regional, told NBC Connecticut that the billboard has “nothing to do with the caliber of the work that male nurses do.”

She also told NBC that the advertisement is really about “grabbing attention” and their female residents and “their choice in who does their care. We wanted to make sure people noticed it.”

Consider that a success.

Numerous outlets have picked up the story about the billboard, including Morning Express with Robin Meade. Morning Express is a morning TV show on HLN, formerly known as CNN Headline News.

The show’s Facebook page posted “Do YOU think this billboard is offensive?” with the billboard story and it garnered hundreds of responses.

David Novelli wrote “When did it become a crime to have a sense of humor in this country? This is hilarious! Grow up America. Just because you're offended doesn't mean you're right”

His post quickly received 72 “likes.”

Jennifer Becktold-Pflueger said the sign should be taken down, writing “Skilled nurses, man or woman would not be like that.... Take it down. It is offensive to all nurses not to mention that male model has nothing to do with the ad anyway. Women caring for women but have a male model on the ad makes no sense!”

Lewdie Sioux agreed, writing “It's just odd? It says women caring for women, so what does the shirtless dude have to do with this ad? It's like someone played a joke or made a mistake.”

Scott Ehrnsberger wrote “Just a bit over-the-top lol. Could be humorous to some, insulting to nurses in general, but offensive to the male nurses, assistants and aids, that actually take their professions seriously. It's a matter of perspective. It did what it intended...to get your attention.”

And that was the plan all along.

The billboard is slated to stay up through the end of May.