The Yellow Pages Fiasco

By the end of 1996, no escort services remained in the area Orlando yellow page books. The MBI has stated consistently, on every public forum, that Sprint-R.H. Donnelly and Bellsouth Yellow Pages volunteered to remove the "escort services" heading in their respective directories when it was proven to each that escort services in Central Florida were all fronts for prostitution; however, while this may be true in the case of Bellsouth, I know for fact that the situation was more complicated for Sprint Publishing. It was all part of the Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation (MBI) plan to demolish adult business advertising in Orange County/Orlando Florida. The set-up of the Sprint Publishing representative was devised when the company did not voluntarily remove the "escort services" heading from the yellow pages.

From Chapter 4, "The Amnesty Program" and Other Intimidation Strategies:

By late October of 1996, I received letters from both Bellsouth and Sprint Publishing and Advertising that they had removed the “Escort Service” heading in the upcoming 96-97 phonebooks. Sprint sent me a check refunding me the fifty percent deposit that I had paid for the Valentine’s ad. I had not placed an ad in Bellsouth, so it was more of a notification letter. The letter from Sprint came from their Overland Park, Kansas office, and was dated October 23, 1996. The part that was of main importance stated:

The terms of the Directory Advertising Order applicable to your ad state that Sprint Publishing retains sole discretion to determine whether any particular portion of a directory will be discontinued. The decision to remove this heading was made after reviewing evidence produced by the Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation, an Orlando based multi-agency task force with representatives from local city and county law enforcement agencies. The MBI contends that in 18 years of investigating the escort service industry in central Florida, it has never encountered an escort service that was not involved in an illegal activity. The MBI made a clear and convincing case to Sprint Publishing that the escort service industry in central Florida is rampant with illegal activities.

Sprint Publishing will no longer allow escort service related ads to appear in the Directories. In addition, we will be working with the MBI to develop new standards and requirements for advertisers under other headings in the Directories in order to prevent escort related advertising from appearing there. These standards and
requirements will be communicated to our advertising sales force as soon as they are completed.

There was no actual signature on the letter and the company name was typed at the end. I immediately picked up the telephone and dialed someone that I knew in an executive position in the Overland Park, Kansas, headquarters.

“All I really got out of the letter is that MBI says this and MBI says that. What really happened?” I asked.

He said that he would tell me if I never told anyone where I received the information, and I never have. Jim told me the story:

Today there is not an "escorts" or "escort services" category in any Orlando area yellow page directory. The new heading is entitled "Entertainers-other" and the advertisers are not much different than those in the old categories.

“One day, about two months ago, an agent posing as a client called and requested to place an ad in the upcoming directory under the “escort” heading. The representative called him back and arranged an appointment. You know that our reps go to you, not you come to our offices, for your convenience. When the time came, the rep went to the residence of the client. The client allowed the rep to talk him into large color ads. The rep prepared the contract and showed the client where to sign. Before signing, the client turned to the rep and said: “My business is selling sex. That’s what full service means and that is what my business offers.””

“The rep stated that they just sold ads, Sprint just published ads, and it was up to him what he did with his ad. Of course all of this was captured on video and audio. The MBI then contacted Sprint’s legal department and threatened to take the company down on RICO charges if the “escort” heading wasn’t removed from the upcoming directories. The rest is in your letter. Apparently someone in legal was
convinced the threat was a possibility. So, how’s that for a story, Laura?”