CHICAGO (STNG) -- Armageddon is coming. Satan will descend upon the Southland. The sinister signs are everywhere.
Don't be ridiculous. And don't believe everything you read.
A billboard in Chicago's Morgan Park community near the 111th Street exit of I-57 reads: "6-6-06 The signs are all around you."
The mark of the beast is being used by 20th Century Fox to promote a remake of the 1976 chiller "The Omen," which will open in theaters June 6. The thriller stars Mia Farrow, Julia Stiles, newcomer Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick as the devil incarnate, and Liev Schreiber, a horror movie regular with roles in "Scream" and "Scream 2."
Leave it to Hollywood to elicit ideas about the end of the world just to hype a film.
Guess it worked.
Meredith Hurt, communications manager for the Outdoor Advertising Association of America, said teaser campaigns like this one are nothing new. "The idea is to get people talking and wondering what it means," she said. "Sounds like it is doing what it's meant to do."
Banner tows and billboards have also popped up in New York, L.A., on Chicago's North Side and even in Harvey.
The publicity stunt has even incited some panic.
Spring breakers in Arizona's Lake Havasu and Panama City, Fla., spotted the "666" banner flying behind a plane and called 911, news stations and even the FBI. "The reaction confirms that the numbers 666 affect people as they have throughout history," Fox spokesman Jeffrey Godsick said.
A Chicago police spokesman for the Morgan Park district and an employee in Ald. Ginger Rugai's 19th Ward office said they have not had any complaints about the stark black-and-white billboard.
The "Omen" campaign also includes signs and airplane banners with the menacing date and "You have been warned."
If you see one, remember there's no need to fret.
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