To you, a mattress may be just a comfy place to pass out at the end of the day. But to city council members in McHenry, Ill., a northwest Chicago suburb, it's a public menace.
Well, at least when the mattress is standing by the side of the road, waving to drivers who pass by. See, the McHenry City Council has outlawed business mascots like Mattress Man, a costumed character for the Verlo Mattress Factory store.
The city says it considers these mascots to be "moving signs" that it can regulate. And plenty of other places have banned similar creatures for the nuisance and driving distractions they can cause.
But mascots like Mattress Man may actually represent a more fundamental debate, DePa ul University prof Rodney Blackman tells the Chicago Tribune. It might be an issue of free speech.
"We're not talking about aesthetics," he says. "We're talking about expression."
Thanks, Dan, for tipping us off to this.
Photo via Flickr, from Little Nashville.
Zach Patton -- Executive Editor. Zach has written about a range of topics, including social policy issues and urban planning and design. Originally from Tennessee, he joined GOVERNING as a staff writer in 2004. He received the 2011 Jesse H. Neal Award for Outstanding Journalism
E-mail: zpatton@governing.com 
Written and compiled by staff writers and editors, GOVERNING View is an on-the-ground, and sometimes behind-the-scenes, look at the topics we're covering in print and online. From notes on what's up in statehouses, county courthouses and city halls, to encounters with people, places and things, GOVERNING View is a window into the side of state and local government you don't always see.
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