UK Invited to Play Roadkill Bingo in Kentucky

Kentucky Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet in a contract with British marketing firm Gosh P.R. to bolster UK tourists to the Bluegrass state pulls website.

Kentucky is a beautiful part of the country and known for southern hospitality, bourbon distilleries, home of the Kentucky derby and horse farms. It is a hidden gem for holiday travelers, rich in American culture and worth exploring.

But the website whether in an attempt to add comical content or not, Kentucky officials aren’t laughing about the game of Roadkill Bingo. To play, travelers count the number of dead animals along the highway.

The website content says: "Drives can drag a bit, even with the jingle jangle of the banjo on the bluegrass-playing radio stations, so it's good to spice them up with fun car games".

"One popular game for long-distance trips is 'roadkill bingo,'" Gosh P.R. wrote. "OK, it seems a bit sick, spotting dead animals, but you will never see so much roadkill in your life, and so varied. Sadly, roadkill is a fact of life in Kentucky. The locals are used to it, and as they say, when in Rome. ... So if you can get over the sadness, and the blood, give it a whirl."

Bingo is a lucrative business in the UK with a very large volume of online bingo players and local bingo halls. Grabbing the attention of British consumers in this light may tend to leave an undesirable impression on Kentucky as a whole.

Cabinet spokesman Gil Lawson is contemplating breaking the $179,900 a year contract with Gosh P.R. "We asked Gosh P.R. to take the site down while we review the material on the site," Lawson said.

Lawson said the state of Kentucky was offended and "made that clear to the contractor". "This type of material will not be used or tolerated. We are looking at all options, including canceling the contract," Lawson said.