Weed Joke Prompts McDonald's To Remove New Mexico Sign

RATON, NEW MEXICO — A photograph of a McDonald's billboard near Raton, New Mexico, is gaining national attention for its not-so-subtle marijuana reference. This "blunt" billboard, showing a photo of a McDonald's green chile breakfast burrito with the phrase, "Usually, when you roll something this good, it's illegal!" has since been taken down, according to reports.

According to the Albuquerque Journal, the now-removed billboard was strategically erected at the restaurant near the border between New Mexico and Colorado. Recreational pot is legal in Colorado, just 12 miles away from the billboard on Interstate 25, but remains illegal in New Mexico. Green chile is sometimes used as a slang word for marijuana, say websites.

Melissa Grubelnik, tourism coordinator of the Raton Chamber of Commerce, told the Albuquerque Journal: "We do not have a problem with it. We hope it encourages people to stop at our newly renovated McDonald’s.”

The billboard was up for about a week until it was removed at the request of the McDonald's corporate office. A McDonald's representative told HuffPost, “This local franchise billboard does not meet our standards and is being taken down.”

The billboard was designed by the Raton McDonald's owner. The advertising company that put up the billboard, Lamar New Mexico-El Paso, shared a post of the billboard saying, “At the request of the owner, we put this baby up in Raton, NM. … It’s getting a lot of buzz!"

>> What do you think of the billboard? Let us know in the comments section below.

See the full Albuquerque Journal post here.

Photo: Mike Mozart/Flickr