In some area, like the Raleigh area, we've managed to put such a squeeze on the sign spammers, that they are changing their tactics, and we need to respond to this.

Signs now have a less than 24-hour lifespan, and often they don't see the light of day. We're seeing significantly fewer of the coroplast signs put up on poles or stakes or wire frames.

One way they're adapting is to nail up cardboard signs instead. The usual sharking takes care of them, but apparently they anticipate the removal, and the cardboard doesn't cost them as much.

Some are realizing the futility of street signs and are abandoning that method altogether. What they're doing instead is littering other places with pocket spam, tear-off sheets, and business cards. The favorite places for these, and you might want to add these locations to your shark patrols, are: public phones, soda machines, newspaper racks, ATMs, and light poles in shopping center parking lots. I've seen a virtual explosion in these types of spam in recent weeks.

Since they're now going directly after private property, you might want to call this spam to the attention of the business managers or property owners. People who might not act if signs are somewhere else, take notice when its on *their* own property.

>One way they're adapting is to nail up cardboard signs instead.
>

Good Lord, is there NO limit to the stupidity of these people? Do they really think other people will look at their pathetic, ratty cardboard signs and think, "Gee, it looks like THIS person has made a ton of money; I need to get in on this action?"

>
>Since they're now going directly after private property, you might want to call this spam to the attention of the business managers or property owners. People who might not act if signs are somewhere else, take notice when its on *their* own property.

Haven't seen any "pocket spam" around here, though I know it's part of the standard Herbalife "marketing plan." but if I do, you can bet that the owners of the property will hear about it, and that oughta be fun.

Can you imagine how much the spammers would be sweating and shaking after getting a letter from (for example) Coca-Cola's legal department?

I can't wait.

Redstone

>One way they're adapting is to nail up cardboard
>signs instead. The usual sharking takes care of
>them, but apparently they anticipate the removal,
>and the cardboard doesn't cost them as much.

There is a new spammer in southwest Fort Worth using cardboard signs on which the internet domain name has been taped over and another domain hand lettered.

In some ways this is a victory for the sharks. Cardboard spams are much more subject to the elements -- a good wind or rain is enough to destroy them. The pocket spams and other such things which might appear at pay phones, vending machnines, or apartment bulletin boards are simply 100x less visible -- another loss for the spammers. Finally, even though a cardboard spam might cost $0.20 compared to the $1.00 plastic spam, the spammer is still spending a lot of his/her time nailing and staking these things. The shorter the lifetime of a spam, the more money lost by the spammer, no matter what the cost of the materials.

I've seen them trying to make it harder for us to pull these signs down. Since removing these nails and stuff from the utility poles could also be as damaging, if not more so, maybe it would be another avenue to take against them as far as laws against damagine the poles go.

LAST EDITED ON 12-09-01 AT 10:49 PM (CST)

>I've seen them trying to make
>it harder for us to
>pull these signs down. Since
>removing these nails and stuff
>from the utility poles could
>also be as damaging, if
>not more so, maybe it
>would be another avenue to
>take against them as far
>as laws against damagine the
>poles go.

Oh, yes, this is something that really makes me angry. I pride myself on taking down the whole sign whenever possible, but when they use those dang nails with the big plastic washers, I usually have to cut the sign on both sides of the nails. I don't like leaving fragments, but they don't give me much of a choice.

And they wonder why we detest them so much.

Redstone

I have found that the easiest way to remove a plastic sign is to whack it from behind at about a 45 degree angle with a 3/4" electrical conduit or other similar pipe. It is highly effective and usually the nails stay in the pole while the plastic washers pop off. In the event that the nails come off with the sign, I always pick them up and dispose of them safely.

Ncshark wrote:

>We're seeing significantly
>fewer of the coroplast signs
>put up on poles or
>stakes or wire frames.
>
>One way they're adapting is to
>nail up cardboard signs instead.

>Some are realizing the futility of
>street signs and are abandoning
>that method altogether. What
>they're doing instead is littering
>other places with pocket spam,
>tear-off sheets, and business cards-


We have seen the same thing in metro Denver. Coroplast is starting to have a very short life around here. We have also seen an increase in cardboard signs, but the weather (and sharks) are very hard on cardboard around here. Pocket spam is also in the rise.

I agree with tactics mentioned by others in this thread.

DenverShark