CHRISTINA EICHELKRAUT / PVT A mobile billboard advertising the Chicken Ranch brothel rolled through Las Vegas last Friday after the news media had their time for stand-ups and photos. The Pahrump brothel was the first to take advantage of a recent U.S. District Court ruling that overturned laws banning advertising of legal brothels in counties where prostitution remains illegal. Advertisement

Planes weren't the only thing taking off at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas last Friday.

The first advertisement for legal prostitution in Clark County, in this case Pahrump's Chicken Ranch Brothel, was also getting ready to roll early Friday morning.

The runway observation parking lot was cluttered with news vans and media personnel, all filming the mobile billboard truck.

The 10-by-20-foot billboard was stationary at the airport for an hour before beginning an eight-hour run along Paradise Road between Sahara Boulevard and Tropicana Avenue.

Thus the Chicken Ranch ushered in a new age of advertising that began with the July 12 ruling by U.S. District Court Judge James Mahan, overturneing two state laws that forbid brothels to advertise in counties where prostitution was illegal.

This meant that until Friday, mum was the word on brothels in Washoe and Clark counties, despite their operating openly just over the hill from Las Vegas.

The laws were primarily based on the state's stipulation that by advertising prostitution in places where it is not legal, illegal prostitution would actually increase.

Mahan disagreed, however, and determined the advertising ban actually violated the First and 14th amendments of the Constitution as well as Article 1, Section 9 of the Nevada Constitution.

The state is planning an appeal.

So the billboard being trucked through Las Vegas on Friday -- which, given the product being advertised, may have been deemed surprisingly tasteful -- could actually be considered a victory for the First Amendment and equal protection.

"As a legal, licensed business in Nevada, the Chicken Ranch is pleased to have the right to promote it's business the same as any other legitimate business," a prepared press release stated. "However, recognizing the unique nature of the business, it fully understands that advertising must be done with particular taste and discretion."

So the billboard focused on the facts printed over an exterior shot of the brothel. The phone number to call, the free limo service from Las Vegas, and a vague allusion to services offered were all the billboard had printed on it.

In Nye County, an ordinance limits brothel advertising to a sign outside the building.

The Chicken Ranch, however, had a claim to fame long before Mahan's ruling and last Friday's advertising campaign.

Founded in 1844, the brothel was originally located in Texas before it was a state.

The brothel got its current name during the Depression when the working girls exchanged their services for poultry and livestock. They began to raise chickens to supplement their income and get food during a time when money was scarce.

The Chicken Ranch, as it became permanently known, lasted for over a century before the governor closed the brothel down in 1973.

The ranch moved to Pahrump in 1975 and soon became the basis for the Broadway play "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas," which had a four-year run of over a thousand performances.

In 1982, the play was adapted into a movie that starred Burt Reynolds and Dolly Parton.

Today it hopes to generate more business from its urban neighbor. Judging by the media turnout on Friday, plenty of Las Vegans will know about the Chicken Ranch now.