Mayor Bloomberg has asked the U.S. Department of Agriculture for permission to institute the ban, which is part of his campaign to make everyone in NYC skinnier and more beautiful—like fashion models, but ones who don’t smoke, because they can’t, because of RULES.

Oh, this AP article says Governor David Paterson is backing the ban as well, and that the request to the USDA is happening today. The ban would last for two years, after which all the svelte food stamp recipients will find high-paying jobs modeling jeans. And then they won’t be poor or need food stamps anymore, and everyone will win, the end.

In a strange twist of billboard fate, Pepsi is enjoying the benefits of prime placement and ad campaign relevance thanks to this massive digital display in Times Square paying respect to the King of Pop. The soft drink maker is no stranger to Michael Jackson, they lit his hair on fire back in 1984 on the set of what was later a very memorable commercial. And now, with crowds converging at the “crossroads of the world” with digital cameras and flipcams, the soda brand stands to make a killing from the performer’s death. Video evidence of the Pepsi-promoting tribute below.

Photo by KS