Dressed in a baby-blue costume with comically large hands, Mattress Man danced and waved until recently in front of a store in northwest suburban McHenry, doing his bit to sell the benefits of a good night’s sleep.
“We usually send him out for a couple hours to attract attention,” said Ray Westman, owner of the Verlo Mattress Factory Store on West Elm Street. “He can’t be out there for more than five minutes without horns starting to blow. People wave to him.”
But Mattress Man has boogied for the last time–at least in this small McHenry County community.
The McHenry City Council has banned Mattress Man, Lady Liberty and other costumed mascots under a new law that took effect last week.
The mascots, which city officials consider “moving signs” that can be regulated, are now as illegal as those using neon lights or video screens. Fines for violating the ordinance can range from $50 to $750 a day.
“We think it’s a distraction to drivers,” said Joseph Napolitano, McHenry director of community development.
But that wave with a giant foam hand may just be protected under the constitutional guarantee of free speech, some experts say.
It might be appropriate to regulate the size and type of signs that businesses use for aesthetic reasons, said DePaul University professor Rodney Blackman, who teaches a 1st Amendment seminar.
“But here we’re not talking about aesthetics,” he said. “We’re talking about expression.”
Chicago also prohibits mascots and other types of solicitation on public streets and sidewalks because of the nuisance they can create. After a warning, a business can be fined up to $1,000.
