GREENSBORO, N.C. — New billboards on Battleground Avenue in Greensboro might make you do a double-take next time you're driving down the busy road.
Greensboro developer Marty Kotis shared his latest batch of satirical billboards in a public Facebook post on Friday, which he wrote was "in response to the lack of science behind the restrictions."
The three new billboards are in response to N.C. Governor Roy Cooper's stay-at-home executive order that went into effect Friday night, Dec. 11 until Jan. 8, 2021.
The order, which is designed to curb the spread of COVID-19, states that people must stay at home between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. Businesses are required to stop selling alcohol at 9 p.m. There are exceptions, including traveling to and from work, getting groceries, take-out food, medical care, fueling up, and taking care of a family member, friend or pet.
WFMY News 2 spoke with Marty Kotis about his new batch of billboards on Sunday.
"The main frustration we are having is this kind of virtue signaling or blunt response by the governor or Dr. Cohen," said Kotis.
Kotis stressed that he is taking the pandemic seriously, including ramped up cleanings and wearing masks. "Broad categories of businesses are being punished in an effort to show something is being done."
"Part of it is me venting about it," Kotis said.
One of the new billboards is based on the popular HBO show "Game of Thrones." It shows N.C. Governor Cooper's face photoshopped onto a character's body along with the words "Winter is Coming," with "Coming" struck out and "Here" written below.
Another billboard is based on the musical "Annie," with N.C. Health Secretary Mandy Cohen's face photoshopped in. There are also lyrics that appear to be based on the show tune "Tomorrow," including "There's always next month-o."
A third billboard is inspired by the movie "Gremlins," where feeding the creatures after midnight causes them to turn into Gremlins. The billboard caption states "Alcohol is bad to drink after 9 p.m. (Unless you are at home," adding "Listen & Comply."
WFMY News 2 has reached out to Governor Cooper's office for comment, and we are still waiting to hear back as of publication time. We will update this article if we hear back.
WFMY News 2 reached out to NCDHHS earlier this week about the executive order. The agency replied that the new curfew is less about the time itself, and more about what people tend to do in that time period: "Late-night activities often include gathering in small, indoor places with many people, where alcohol consumption may make people less cautious."
According to the state, the new executive order was put in place due to record high COVID-19 case counts, hospitalizations, and deaths. Officials said the measures in this order are necessary to save lives and preserve healthcare system capacity and healthcare resources for the critically ill.
Kotis' previous billboard was covered by WFMY News 2 back in September. It read, “Follow the Order,” “Where’s the Logic,” and “Your Governor is in Control.”
Back then, Kotis told us: "I hope people think about the science, and also think about the politics that are involved here. Because politics should not be involved in science and health safety decisions. It should be about how to keep people safe, which I’m 100 percent supportive of,” Kotis said.
He continued, “We want people to think. Another scary thing right now is people are afraid to have conversations or think or discuss things, and they shouldn't be."