In the aftermath of the Penthouse Night Club getting its Instagram account seemingly suspended for a joke about “Lake America,” the historic Vancouver spot is going viral on social media.
The whole “Lake America” thing began last week when U.S. President Donald Trump first threatened, then followed through on the threat, of renaming Lake Ontario Lake America.
That decision alone sparked tons of reaction online.
Then, this past weekend, the Penthouse Night Club, known for its clever marquee signs, made a joke about the decision.
Make Lakes Ontario Again 🇨🇦 pic.twitter.com/FiYr3bxaLN
— Penthouse Night Club (@ThePenthouse604) August 29, 2026
That joke was enough to prompt Meta to take down the Penthouse Night Club’s Instagram account.
How people are reacting to the ban
Since the ban, the internet has been inflamed with anger about the decision. The Instagram debacle has been shared on various subreddits, and people are talking about it on X and Facebook as well.
On Reddit, it was shared to local subreddits and also to the mildyinfuriating subreddit.
The original poster on the mildlyinfuriating subreddit said that one of the city’s “most famous ‘Midnight Ballerina’ clubs has just had their Instagram acct nuked over their marquee sign.”
The post has spawned hundreds of comments so far, with the top comment stating, “I thought we legalized comedy.”
Someone else called it ridiculous, stating, “Of all the signs they’ve done, Meta nukes their account over this? This is innocent! This is just ridiculousness 🤦♂️🤦♂️.”
Others praised the sign, including one person who said, “Oh my god. This is a contender for one of the funniest signs I’ve ever read.”
Comment
by
u/bullfrogftw from discussion
Some have accused Meta and Instagram of kowtowing to a fascist regime. Others have questioned what free speech means in the States.
“Free speech is only free when the people in charge don’t get butthurt by what you say,” one Redditor said.
The original poster offered more praise for the Vancouver strip club in the comments, saying, “They have been on fire since Covid. If their [account] gets reinstated, I recommend checking it out, or just Google search Penthouse Vancouver sign guy. They also published a book of their best work.”
The book in question proudly features the “Forever Neighbours Never Neighbours” sign on the cover.
In our original story about the ban, someone in the comments said, “Very witty. What’s with the over-the-top Instagram censorship??”
On the British Columbia subreddit, someone went right after Mark Zuckerberg, saying, “Zuck has absolutely no balls.”
Another person from that subreddit said, “Land of the fragile, and home of the cowardly.”
We’ve contacted Meta for comment and have asked why it decided to pull the Instagram account of the Vancouver strip club.