The strip club-funded campaign for Seattle's Ref. 1 has two TV commercials airing on cable TV. The group takes a light approach, with at least a touch of humor.

One spot focuses on civil liberties and says the new regulations would turn the police into "moral nannies." It uses vintage photos from the prohibition-era as a female narrator says, "Remember when our government was overly concerned with regulating adult activities?"

That same theme, with a vintage photo of a policeman measuring to see how far above the knee a woman's swimsuit is, appears on mailer the campaign is sending this week.

The other TV spot urges people to "Send the City Council this message: Spend your time on more important things."

UPDATE: Times city hall reporter Bob Young points out that it's interesting that the ads blame the city council, not Mayor Greg Nickels, who proposed the strip club rules. In fact, the council approved them only by a "g-string margin."

There's a recent King 5 poll showing Nickels with a 25 percent favorable rating. But any gloating around the council offices should be tempered by questions about why the council and not the mayor makes for a better target.