In a business in which using sex to sell is a no-brainer, Reagan has a reputation for refusing ads that play on sexual or homosexual subtexts, bikini-clad breasts or even cheekiness. Recent Reagan furors include an animal rights billboard that hoped to feature a sexually dysfunctional gay couple and an Ogden plastic surgeon's pitch for breast augmentation surgery.

Considering the media attention these controversies have generated for the billboard giant and its would-be clients, you might wonder if a marketing genius lurks behind the curtain at Reagan.

Company president Dewey Reagan swears that is not the case. "It's not something we are trying to do. It's not a PR strategy. In this instance, we had to forgo a significant amount of revenue [by dropping the ads]."

If you travel any of the major arteries in the Salt Lake Valley, you've seen the $40,000 "Ugly Kids" campaign that kicked off on Reagan billboards a few weeks ago. The signs feature a trio of grade schoolers who, while not downright hideous, could use a few thousand dollars of orthodontics.

Exactly what the ads are for, in fact, remains an annoying marketing secret in what is known as a "teaser campaign."

According to Dewey Reagan, the billboard company initially accepted the ads, but backed out after "citizens and politicians" complained the uglykids web address, http:// www.uglykids.info, was confusing and directed some browsers to the dark side of the Web. Curious Utahns apparently typed in "www.uglykids" - then reflexively added the common ".com," domain, instead of ".info."

That typo takes the Web surfer to a page offering further links, including "thongs" and "penis." Consequently, some Utahns, who had hoped to see homely children, instead found themselves gazing upon the gynecological wonders of happynakedgirls.com.

Billboards, at their most tasteful, are a sensitive issue in the community. If, through no fault of their own, they guide people to porn sites-that's asking for trouble, Dewey Reagan said.

"The sign locations are our assets," he said. "We have to make sure they can exist within the community. Certainly, we wouldn't want to do stuff that would not be conducive to our effort to remain in the community."

In an effort to distance itself from uglykids, Reagan sent out a news release explaining it had rejected the ad campaign, which was then scooped up by the company's competitors.

Dewey Reagan freely acknowledged the company initially did not screen the ad well enough.

"We are simply the conduit to deliver the message. Sometimes, even though we have systems in place, sometimes, these things happen."

glenwarchol@sltrib.com