A billboard near one of Mobile’s busiest intersections recently became the talk of the town, sparking heated debates, social media discussions, and plenty of strong opinions from residents who saw it. What started as a simple advertising teaser for a local comedy show quickly turned into a citywide conversation about race, politics, and the power of assumptions in our community.
The Mystery Billboard That Sparked Outrage
In early September 2025, residents driving through Mobile began noticing something unusual on a billboard located at the corner of St. Stephens Road and Center Street. Unlike the typical advertisements for local businesses or political campaigns that usually occupied such spaces, this billboard featured just two images of Black clowns and a simple message that read “It’s time to get the clowns out.” There was no sponsor name, no contact information, and no explanation of what the message meant.
The billboard’s lack of context immediately caught people’s attention, and not in the way its creator had hoped. Mobile residents who spoke with local news reporters expressed confusion and concern about the mysterious advertisement. One resident told WKRG News that they couldn’t say exactly what bothered them about it, but they knew they didn’t like it. Another person was more direct in their response, asking who exactly the “clowns” were supposed to be and expressing their disapproval of the billboard’s message.
The timing of the billboard’s appearance made the situation even more sensitive. The advertisement went up around the same time as runoff elections were taking place in Mobile and nearby Pritchard, both cities with majority-Black populations. This political context led many community members to wonder if the billboard was some kind of coded political message targeting Black voters or elected officials in the area.
Travis Davis, a local history teacher, shared his concerns with NBC 15 News about what he saw as potentially problematic imagery. Davis explained that when he looked at the billboard, the combination of the Black clowns and the message made him think of historical racist stereotypes, particularly references to characters like Buckwheat from the Little Rascals. His reaction reflected the concerns of many other community members who saw the billboard and immediately thought about the long history of racist imagery that has been used to mock and demean Black people.
Community Reactions and Concerns
The community response to the billboard was swift and largely negative. Local residents who were interviewed by news outlets expressed a range of emotions from confusion to anger about what they perceived as an offensive message. Many people called for the billboard to be taken down, even though they weren’t sure who had put it up or what it was supposed to mean.
State Representative Barbara Drummond, who was running for mayor of Mobile at the time, spoke out publicly about the billboard on social media. Drummond posted on Facebook that the imagery on the billboard “has long been meant to belittle Black people” and stated that “Mobile deserves better” than such displays. Her response reflected the concerns of many community leaders who saw the billboard as potentially harmful to the city’s reputation and to relationships between different groups of residents.
The controversy surrounding the billboard spread beyond just those who saw it in person. Social media discussions about the advertisement brought even more attention to the issue, with people sharing photos and expressing their opinions about what the message might mean. Some residents stopped their cars to take pictures of the billboard, showing how much it had captured the community’s attention.
Ryan Johnson was one of the people who stopped to photograph the billboard with a friend. He told NBC 15 News that he found the advertisement to be “indecent and downright racist”. However, Johnson also showed the kind of openness that would prove important as the story developed. When he learned that the billboard’s creator might have different intentions than what he initially assumed, Johnson admitted that they might have been “had” and that the billboard could turn out to be something completely different from what people were thinking.
The Man Behind the Billboard
As the controversy continued to build, the identity of the person responsible for the billboard eventually came to light. The advertisement was created by Michael Lewis, a Mobile resident who goes by the nickname “Square Tight Mike” and owns a company called Bumblebee Billboards. Lewis had been in the billboard business for more than 15 years, starting with smaller advertisements before growing his company into a successful operation that handled everything from product advertisements to political campaigns.
What many people in the community didn’t initially realize was that Lewis himself is a Black man who had been working as a comedian in the Mobile area for years. Those who knew Lewis in the local comedy scene weren’t surprised by his billboard, because they understood his background as a performer who was known for creating buzz and getting people’s attention through his marketing efforts.
Zeke Buckhaults, who books comedians for shows at the Crescent Theater in downtown Mobile, knew Lewis well and wasn’t confused by the billboard when he saw it. Buckhaults told NBC 15 News that Lewis was “hilarious” and described him as “an improv guy” who could “go off the top of his head forever” and had “been a working comedian for years”. For people like Buckhaults who were familiar with Lewis’s work in comedy, the billboard made perfect sense as a promotional tool.
From Controversy to Comedy
On September 10, 2025, Lewis finally revealed the true purpose of his controversial billboard during an interview on WBLX-FM, a local hip-hop radio station. He explained that the advertisement “doesn’t got anything to do with y’all politics” and was instead promoting an upcoming comedy event. Lewis told listeners that the billboard was about “bringing the clowns in” and referred to “all the comedians you want in one stage” for an event that would be “out of control” with “all the games and all the fun stuff”.
The comedy show that Lewis was advertising turned out to be the “Laugh, Live, Love Comedy Show 10 Year Reunion,” scheduled for October 12, 2025, at the Black Wolf Event Hall in Prichard. This was a revival of a popular comedy show that had run for five years straight about a decade earlier, packing venues every Sunday in the Mobile area.
Lewis explained to NBC 15 News that the billboard was designed as a “teaser” advertisement, which is a common marketing strategy where advertisers put up mysterious or incomplete messages to build curiosity before revealing the full campaign. He said that normally he would put up a teaser billboard and then “come back with it and say something else” to reveal the complete message. Unfortunately, the community reaction was so strong that he felt compelled to explain the billboard’s purpose before he had planned to do so.
The comedy show had personal significance for Lewis beyond just entertainment value. He revealed that the event was also intended to honor the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life, which was important to him because he had lost his mother to breast cancer and was himself a cancer survivor. Lewis shared that he had fought and overcome thyroid cancer, spending three weeks in the ICU and nearly dying from the illness. He said that his experience with cancer had taught him about “the comfort and healing power of laughter” and that he wanted to turn his appreciation for surviving into “action and laughs”.
The Bigger Picture About Communication
The billboard controversy in Mobile revealed important lessons about how communities communicate and how easily misunderstandings can develop when information is incomplete or presented without proper context. Lewis admitted that he had learned something from the experience, telling NBC 15 News that he hoped people would “investigate for themselves and trust the process” rather than making assumptions about unclear messages.
The incident also highlighted the role that historical context plays in how people interpret new information. The fact that so many community members immediately thought of racist stereotypes when they saw the billboard shows how past experiences with discriminatory imagery continue to influence present-day reactions. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing – being alert to potentially harmful messages is an important way that communities protect themselves from discrimination and prejudice.
The incident demonstrated both the power and the responsibility that comes with controlling public messaging. Lewis had every right to use his billboard for advertising his comedy show, but the community reaction showed how much impact such displays can have on public discourse and community relationships. The controversy also showed how quickly misunderstandings can spread through social media and word-of-mouth communication, turning a simple advertisement into a major community issue.
Lessons Learned and Moving Forward
The resolution of the billboard controversy provided valuable lessons for both Lewis and the broader Mobile community about the importance of clear communication and the dangers of making assumptions. Lewis acknowledged that he had underestimated how his teaser advertisement would be received and that the timing could have been better. He also recognized that in the future, he might need to provide more context for his advertisements to avoid similar misunderstandings.
For the community, the incident served as a reminder of the importance of seeking complete information before making judgments about unclear or ambiguous messages. Ryan Johnson’s willingness to reconsider his initial interpretation of the billboard when presented with new information provided a good example of how community members can remain open to different possibilities even when their first reaction is negative.
The comedy show itself became an opportunity for the community to come together and move past the controversy. Lewis used the attention generated by the billboard dispute to promote not just entertainment but also support for cancer research, turning a negative situation into something that could benefit the broader community.
Conclusion
The controversial billboard that appeared in Mobile in September 2025 became much more than just an advertisement for a comedy show. It turned into a community-wide conversation about race, politics, communication, and the importance of not making assumptions about unclear or ambiguous messages.
Michael Lewis’s decision to use a teaser billboard to promote his “Laugh, Live, Love Comedy Show 10 Year Reunion” backfired when community members interpreted the image of two Black clowns and the message “It’s time to get the clowns out” as potentially racist or politically motivated. The timing of the advertisement, coinciding with local elections in majority-Black cities, made the situation even more sensitive and contributed to the strong negative reaction from many residents.
The eventual revelation that Lewis was a Black comedian promoting a charity event supporting cancer research completely changed the narrative around the billboard. What had started as a controversy about potentially offensive imagery became a story about miscommunication and the importance of providing clear context for public messages.
Perhaps most importantly, the billboard controversy demonstrated the resilience and openness of the Mobile community. Despite the initial strong reactions and concerns, community members showed a willingness to reconsider their positions when presented with new information. This flexibility and openness to different perspectives helped turn what could have been a divisive incident into an opportunity for learning and growth.
The story of Mobile’s controversial billboard ultimately became a story about the importance of good communication, the dangers of making assumptions, and the power of communities to work through misunderstandings when people approach difficult conversations with openness and good faith. As Michael Lewis prepared for his comedy show in October 2025, he had certainly succeeded in getting people’s attention – though perhaps not in the way he had originally planned.
