This filled pothole is sponsored by KFC...

This is an old story, but I just went through a cache of back issues of the Chattanooga Times Free Press and this story, "Chattanooga: In a rut? Chicken to the rescue!" caught my eye. For $3,000 (cities clearly are desperate), Chattanooga got enough money to fill 500 potholes. In return, an ad ("public service message") from KFC was stenciled onto the pavement. KFC offered the same donations to Louisville, Ky., Topeka, Kan., and Warren, Ohio.

Later, PETA offered to give twice as much money to Chattanooga, to be able to stencil their message, but the city refused. See "Chattanooga: PETA doubles the ante on pothole patches."

Photo by John Rawlston, Chattanooga Times Free Press. KFC advertising is stenciled onto a section of Ivy Street where city crews fixed potholes on Wednesday.