Horrifying Billboards for FX's 'The Strain' Being Pulled from L.A. Streets

In advertising, they say that sex sells. You know what doesn't sell? Worms crawling out of eyeballs.

The new FX show "The Strain" learned this the hard way after billboards advertising the show caused a stir among some Los Angeles residents.

The billboards feature a close-up of a human eye being held open by a hand in a blue surgical glove. That would be startling enough to see on a huge billboard, but the real kicker here is that the eyeball has a worm crawling out of a bloodshot hole in it.

Needless to say, it's not fun to look at.

It probably started as a small personal gripe from people who had to drive past the billboards on the way to work every day, but those personal gripes became public thanks to Twitter and to Buzzfeed writer Kate Arthur, who compiled a series of tweets from upset Angelenos.

Pretty much everyone finds the billboard haunting, which was undoubtedly the purpose behind it: "The Strain" is a horror show and it will want to attract horror fans.

But if FX was trying to pull in non-horror fans too, it's failing. It's failing hard. One Twitter user wrote "I don't want to watch The Strain after seeing that billboard! #TakeItOff #NobodyWantsToSeeThat."

In response to the outcry, FX is pulling many, but not all, of the billboards and replacing them with alternate art that is yet to be revealed. Here's hoping there aren't any worms involved.

The poster is below. Warning: It's gross.