Ellen DeGeneres Billboard Removed

Apparently, Ellen DeGeneres has become so popular that even dogs want to dress like her.

Until recently, there was a billboard in Los Angeles that featured a giant image of a dog dressed in an Ellen-style outfit, with a message that said "Ellen, Denali the Dog Wants to Meet You." The billboard had been a creation of freelance photographer Madalyn Ruggerio, who makes a living off of taking pictures of her dog Denali in silly costumes and selling the pictures as greeting cards. She had been trying to get Ellen's attention, so that she could hopefully snag a spot on the popular daytime host's talk show.

Unfortunately, the dog billboard has been sent to the doghouse. According to the LA Times, a CBS Attorney noticed the billboard, decided that it traded in on Ellen's public image, and requested that it be removed. Even though Ruggerio paid $6,000 for the billboard, it was eventually replaced with a public service message for the Marine Corps.

I don't know about you, but I'm not really buying this whole "trading in on Ellen's public image" crap. In fact, I'm pretty sure the reality of the situation is that Ellen was driving down the street, saw the billboard, shouted, "Oh, HELL no," pulled over, called her manager, and said "You need to take this shit down ASAP." I mean, Ellen was probably just offended that the photographer thought there was actually some resemblance. If you click over to the LA Times story, you'll see what I mean: there is no way in hell that dog looks like Ellen. Like, if I ever saw a billboard with a dog that looked like that trying to say it was me, then I'd probably drive my car into it and knock that shit down right then and there.