Nobody considered Aloha a good movie when it was released in May 2015. Yet more than a year later, Rachel McAdams was still giving colossal side-eye to the intersection of Milwaukee, Kedzie, and Logan in Logan Square.
So what gives? Blame a grandfather clause. The building on which the billboard sits is part of a historic district, which means there shouldn’t be any billboards on it. But because ads appeared there well before that rule was put into place in 1992, VisualCast, the billboard’s owner, is allowed to lease it out as long as it remains occupied. And even a way-past-its-prime movie ad counts.
The sign’s ironic tagline? “Sometimes you have to say goodbye before you can say hello.”
Since this article went to print, though, there’s been a development—on Friday, after a sudden deluge of media attention and a planned neighborhood party to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the film’s release, the board vanished. Bradley Cooper and co. look wistfully over Milwaukee Avenue no longer. VisualCast could not be reached for comment. The anniversary party has been turned into a vigil.
There's even a Change.org petition to bring back the facetiously beloved billboard—it's a joke, of course (we think).