Dennis RomeroA “topless maid” service has been under fire for advertising its business on hot pink vans in Los Angeles and Burbank.
But with headlines galore and even a bit on The Ellen DeGeneres Show with Matthew Perry this week, the operators appear to be laughing all the way to the bank.
A rep for the service, called Hot Topless Maids, told the Weekly the roving ads were perfectly legal:
The signs comply with California law, which basically states, “You can affix anything to the vehicle if it's permanently attached and not larger than the vehicle,” Sami Ammari told us.
Records indicate he's suing the City of L.A. in federal court for alleged civil rights violations. He says the city's signage ordinance conflicts with state rules. He also contends that City Councilman Paul Krekorian sent a code-violation “task force” after his mobile signs.
(His apparent battle with Krekorian reportedly has resulted in permanent signs at an office in the San Fernando Valley clowning the councilman as “the monkey”).
But reports that the city's signage laws — one says you can't have a sitting trailer with a sign, and a newer one says said trailer can't be hitched to anything — have forced Hot Topless Maids into adjacent cities such as Burbank are false, Ammari says:
Credit: hottoplessmaids.com
I'm still legal in L.A. They made a ban on trailers, not on vans. Burbank had something similar on those trailers before L.A. That gave me the right to go into Burbank because the ads are laminated on vans. I also went into West Hollywood, Torrance. I am very creative.
Ammari says any city that tries to outlaw the vans will be met with a lawsuit.
But … he tells us that he doesn't actually own Hot Topless Maids, as reported elsewhere. He says the owner is a 24-year-old cousin whom he's been helping out with advertising.
Ammari says he is part of a corporate partnership that runs a fleet of 64 vehicles that advertise everything from teeth whitening to regular maid service to massages.
Yeah.
Credit: @DanFleyshman
So anyway, the topless maid biz is booming. A rep told Ellen DeGeneres that the firm has 30 maids at the ready, including “topless” men for the ladies.
Ellen said the way it works is that one maid is topless and another cleans. The cost? $99 an hour “plus fuel fee,” according to the Hot Topless Maids website.
We called its number, 818-666-HUGE. A message said they were booked up for two weeks.
[@dennisjromero / djromero@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]
Advertising disclosure: We may receive compensation for some of the links in our stories. Thank you for supporting LA Weekly and our advertisers.