Rochester billboard aimed at keeping love

The large, red billboard last month on Interstate 490 from E.K. asking Sara not to leave was aimed at keeping a couple separated by about 75 miles from tearing apart, said the CEO of the firm that took out the advertisement.

Amherst-based advertising agency Quinlan & Company took out the billboard for a client living in the Buffalo area hoping to keep his girlfriend in the Rochester area, its CEO Gary Miller said.

"We had a situation were we had a guy who had a gal that was leaving," he said, "and he thought by running that billboard that he would talk her into staying. It was kind of a love interest thing and it was a legitimate attempt at retaining a relationship."

Miller said the client didn't want him to release any of the names involved.

"I really don't want to get into the personal side of that stuff with the guy," Miller said. "I just thought it was a really bold attempt at getting, at telling someone that you care about them and you don't want them to leave. It was a legitimate attempt at securing a relationship between a boyfriend and girlfriend and what great lengths people will go to."

The advertisement went up on Monday Dec. 15, and was visible for about two weeks to motorists heading eastbound on 490 as they approached the South Goodman Street exit.

"Every once in a while you get a strange request, an unusual request from a client," Miller said. "Lots of times these individuals are trying to be over the top, unique and grab attention — that's the whole purpose."

Miller said the 24-employee firm has helped coordinate wedding proposals at regional sports events, surprise parties, anniversary celebrations, plane flyovers and hot air balloon rides in addition to its corporate work. The regional and national buyer has worked with the Sahlen's hot dog company and the Western New York Flash, Northwest Savings Banks and Five Star Bank, among others, he added.

But Miller didn't know if the billboard worked.

"I'm not comfortable inquiring about that kind of stuff," Miller said. "I don't know if it has a happy ending or not. I never asked."

TClausen@DemocratandChronicle.com

Twitter: @ToddJClausen