A law firm in San Antonio, Texas, recently put out an ad in Maxim Magazine that sparked outrage in the truck driver community. The ad showed an image of a semi truck with the words ‘Serial Killer’ written in large font at the top of the page.

Facebook community, ‘All Things Moving’, spotted the ad and posted it on their page.

It quickly spread to several other large online truck driver communities on Facebook such as CDLlife.com, Livetrucking.com, The George & Wendy Show, Sirius XM’S Road Dog Trucking News, and others.

Those disturbed by the ad contacted the company, who denied placing the ad. A reader of the Facebook page, ‘All Things Moving,’ posted this:

Just called spoke to Brenda, demanded a formal apology to the industry!!! She claims they have been getting complaint calls All Day! Good! But she tried telling me it was some online possibly hoax, because their Law Firm doesn’t advertise in paper magazines. Ha, well I told her I’m holding the Maxim June publication Pg. 67 Full Color add with your name on it! Apologize Now, and don’t ever print misleading, offensive adds on the expense of this hard working industry. I love you truckers and thank you for our goods!

Drivers and their friends and families took to the law firm’s Facebook page to let them know how they felt about the inaccurate portrayal of the industry. The law firm now has 300 reviews with an average rating of 1/5 stars, they also deleted their Facebook page.

Their outrage was not without merit, especially considering the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute’s recent study which claims that a majority of truck-car crashes are caused by the drivers of cars.

In addition, Pilot Flying J, a popular truck stop franchise, heard the outcry and pulled all copies of this month’s Maxim Magazine from their store shelves.

Industry spokespeople also chimed in. Norita Taylor of the Owner Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) said:

“It defames an occupation in the millions that perform a critical service to the nation and is one of the most offensive injury attorney advertisements we’ve ever seen. We can only imagine what ads like this would look like if minimum insurance requirements are raised.

And the American Trucking Association’s (ATA) President and CEO Bill Graves responded with:

The advertisement, and the fact you would choose to publish it, is absolutely appalling and outrageous. We are asking for Maxim magazine to issue an apology to our vital industry and afford us complimentary space in your next issue to run a truthful advertisement about the industry that safely serves America 24/7. The trucking industry is the backbone of the American economy and is vital to our everyday lives. Without trucks, how would you publish Maxim magazine? For instance, the machines, paper, ink, desks, chairs….everything is delivered by truck. In fact, how do you think your magazine is delivered to the outlets and homes that your industry serves? Of course, by a safe professional truck driver! There are over 3.1 million professional truck drivers who are highly trained and are dedicated to safety on our nation’s highways. These professional truck drivers are members of our communities and care deeply about the people and corporations that they serve. The American Trucking Associations, along with the entire trucking industry has a deep commitment to improving safety on our highways. Our industry has been at the forefront of new safety technology, endorsing slower speeds, more active traffic enforcement and educating drivers of all vehicles how best to share the road safely. Every fatality on our nation’s highways is a tragedy, and we all have an obligation to improve highway safety, but our professionals that serve America are certainly not serial killers.”

Finally, after all the feedback to the ad, the law firm issued a response:

Please be assured that it was never the intent of the Villarreal & Begum Law Firm to disparage the hard working Americans that drive tractor-trailers for a living. Our intent was to reach out to those individuals who have been involved in catastrophic accidents as a result of irresponsible drivers. The ad was in-artfully created and we could see how it may have caused our message to be misconstrued. We recognize the service that truck drivers provide to this nation and acknowledge that most truck drivers are safe and responsible drivers. There are, however, few drivers that do not always live up to the standards promulgated by state and federal agencies and end up hurting innocent people who, in turn, deserve adequate representation. It is the victims of catastrophic trucking accidents that we intended to reach and not our intent to offend law abiding citizens that drive tractor-trailers for a living. We apologize that the wording of our ad has offended you and your family. In response to your and others’ objections, we have instructed our marketing department not to use that ad in the future.

Does the law firm hate truck drivers? Who knows. But it’s imagery like this that spews falsities among the public that continue to hurt the reputation of professional, hardworking, safe drivers around the U.S. The people that deliver everything we have and use, including the paper and ink needed to print this ad in Maxim Magazine.

On a side note, the head attorney at the law firm, Alexander Begum, was recently sued for improperly soliciting clients, so this libelous ad might just be “business as usual” for him.

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