CHILLICOTHE — Is any publicity good publicity?



Not for Summer Camp Music Festival, and not for Chillicothe. That’s the stance of event promoter Jay Goldberg and Chillicothe Mayor Doug Crew, who are peeved over three billboards that went up this week near the venue. The two men say that the ads — which boast a local law office’s phone number for anyone “arrested this summer” or “at the festival” — unfairly spotlight a small percentage of concert lawbreakers.



“I think it’s an ignorant and stupid thing to do,” Goldberg fumed. “ ... It’s insulting to Chillicothe, it’s insulting to the community and it’s insulting to me personally.



“It’s just a slap to the whole event.”



But Jeff Hall — of Hall, Rustom & Fritz, the East Peoria law firm sponsoring the ads — says the billboards are just another method of promotion.



“We are a law firm that provides a valuable service to those arrested and cited with criminal charges, and we want people to know those services are available to them,” Hall says.



The 14th annual Summer Camp will run May 23 to 25. Last year, Three Sisters Park hosted 15,000 fans, more than twice the population of Chillicothe.



According to police, the 2013 event resulted in 272 citations for traffic and criminal offenses; 119 drug-related arrests; and two arrests for outstanding warrants. Police seized a variety of drugs, including 7,500 grams of marijuana, plus far lesser amounts of ecstasy, LSD, psilocybin mushrooms and cocaine.



For at least two years, Hall, Rustom & Fritz has offered information about Summer Camp on its website (www.centralillinoislawyers.com) and Facebok page. One example is “Summer Camp Music Festival 2012, 2013 & 2014: What you need to know to stay out of jail.” The post, written by Hall, includes a listing of “counties with heavy police presence,” reminders on Illinois driving laws and explanation of drivers' rights; the latter includes the urging, “if you consent to the search (of a vehicle), it is incredibly difficult to successfully challenge the search in court.”



The site also touts a 25 percent discount on legal services to anyone arrested “on your way, at, or leaving Summer Camp Music Festival.”



The billboards are more concise and direct. One rises from the east side of Illinois Route 29, north of Three Sisters Park, near the Super 8 motel, which gets filled during Summer Camp.



The ad states, “Arrested this summer? We can help!” Along with the firm’s phone number, the billboard features a person slumped on the floor of a jail cell.



The other two are mirrors of one another, facing north and south; they rise from a pole along a Route 29 access road, due east of the main entrance to Three Sisters. It simply asks, “Arrested a the Festival?” — and carries the firm’s phone number.



I first heard about the billboards from callers on Tuesday. One, 73-year-old who has lived south of the park almost all of his life, says outsiders passing through town might gawk at the billboards and wonder if crime explodes locally during the summer.



“I’m not sure what it says about Chillicothe when attorneys are advertising around the park,” he said with a sigh.



Another caller, an Illinois State Police trooper, chuckled ruefully at the billboards’ potential downside. He said, “If you’re a real estate agent and show a house in Chillicothe, what are the buyers going to say when they see those signs?”



Mayor Crew thinks the big-letter message looms as unjust.



“It does cast the area in a poor light,” Crew says. “If you're going to put 15,000 people in a certain area for a certain time, you’ll have a few stray off the straight path.”



Further, Crew says the ads might backfire as exploitative.



“In my view, it’s more of a (bad) reflection of those (lawyers) seeking to take advantage of the situation,” Crew says. “But, given a certain portion of the legal profession, I guess that’s not surprising.”



Echoing that sentiment is Goldberg, the longtime central Illinois concert promoter. He doesn’t mind legal ads in general: in fact, Summer Camp programs have included such ads featuring an attorney’s name and phone number. But Goldberg says the billboards look sensational and crass, and the “insulting” approach might repel would-be clients.



“If I saw an ad like that, I wouldn't go to a lawyer like that,” Goldberg says.



But Hall describes the billboards as purely informational — and potentially helpful.



“We advertise through various channels well within the rules of professional conduct governing legal marketing,” Hall says. “Billboards are no different than our online legal blog, website or TV commercials. Hall, Rustom & Fritz encourages any citizen to be aware of their constitutional rights and we help fight to protect those rights.”



Interesting standoff. I wonder what would happen if Hall were to hand out cards at Summer Camp? I doubt that will happen: peace and love only go so far.



But if the weather is nice, I wouldn’t bet against skywriting. That’s the biggest billboard of all.



PHIL LUCIANO is a Journal Star columnist. He can be reached at pluciano@pjstar.com, facebook.com/philluciano, 686-3155 or (800) 225- 5757, Ext. 3155. Follow him on Twitter @LucianoPhil.



