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I just left 200 fake parking tickets at YC Demo Day...

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31–40 of 110 posts

Re: I just left 200 fake parking tickets at YC Demo Day...

#31
People (both on HN and potentially IRL) or going to get a little frustrated with you for doing something like this. It's a little self-confident (maybe even pushy), will be very controversial, and walks the thin line between awesome and illegal.

Which is exactly why I love it.

Heck, let people call the police, go to jail for a couple of days or pay a fine, make a big ruckus about it, and make sure your company gets mentioned in all sorts of PR. Well done all the way around.

Re: I just left 200 fake parking tickets at YC Demo Day...

#32
post #7

It's a funny, well-executed idea, but issuing official-looking city documents with "City of Mountain View" as the header and all of your identifying information is a great way to get written up by the police department.

I would seriously caution people against making it a close copy (particularly of money) of an official document. Depending on the situation, there are state and federal statues backing up the local ones. // sorry to be a killjoy

I think the word you're looking for is "statutes".

Re: I just left 200 fake parking tickets at YC Demo Day...

#33
Personally, I would be rather peeved to be advertised to in this way. I wouldn't find it clever or cute--I would just find it annoying. I would not end up with a good impression of the company, and I wouldn't want to do business with it.

One reason why I don't find it particularly clever, is that it's really not all that different from all the physical junk mail I receive that tries to visually mimic some sort of important government notice.

Re: I just left 200 fake parking tickets at YC Demo Day...

#34
post #26

Interesting idea, and I hope it works out for you! Sadly, it's almost certainly against municipal code. All it takes is one jerk to make a smart street team effort go bad by complaining to the police or mayor.

How is someone being a 'jerk' for reporting someone for littering and impersonating the police?

I don't know that 'impersonating' would really be a good description here. The rest of the 'ticket' makes things pretty clear that it is not an official communique of the city's.

Re: I just left 200 fake parking tickets at YC Demo Day...

#35
post #19

I just want to say something: NOBODY CARES ABOUT QR CODES Yeah, I can go to tripl.com or whatever, also add your twitter/fb/G+ page otherwise you'll just look like some bozo stuck in Web 1.0 (contact by phone?!)

Do you not have a smartphone? They're a very common way to install apps. Heck, I sometimes scan QR codes right off my monitor.

I've been in continuous ownership of at least one smartphone since the iPhone 1. I have yet to scan a QR code "in the wild" (i.e., while not testing software that's QR-code related).

I'm willing to bet I can tap the install button for a given app faster than you can scan the equivalent QR code and hit install. The challenge is for iOS.

The workflow for scanning and actioning on a QR code is tediously slow. Unlock your phone. Page over a few times (because let's be honest, QR code scanner is not getting front-page placement on my home screen), open the app. Wait for it to initialize. Hold over QR code. Nope, closer/further. Ah there we go. Bam. Now tap on something to visit site. Wait for site to load. Oh wait, it's a redirect to the App Store. Wait for App Store to load...

Sweet God.

A sufficiently short and easy to spell URL can be entered much, much, much faster than all of the above. If it's app-related, a sufficiently short and easy to spell app name will convert me faster than a QR code any day of the week.

Re: I just left 200 fake parking tickets at YC Demo Day...

#37
I think it works because the joke is clear by the second line. Any further and I bet people would be pretty pissed.

I had a friend do something similar to another friend just as a prank. Everything about the "ticket" looked official except for small print at the very bottom, which gave it away. They actually bought a disposable camera, took photos of the parked car (it wasn't illegally parked), and went to develop the photos before the joke was revealed.

Re: I just left 200 fake parking tickets at YC Demo Day...

#38
post #19

I just want to say something: NOBODY CARES ABOUT QR CODES Yeah, I can go to tripl.com or whatever, also add your twitter/fb/G+ page otherwise you'll just look like some bozo stuck in Web 1.0 (contact by phone?!)

Do you not have a smartphone? They're a very common way to install apps. Heck, I sometimes scan QR codes right off my monitor.

We've found a user!

cheald - please prove it by documenting yourself using a QR code and submit to http://picturesofpeoplescanningqrcodes.tumblr.com/

Next up Sasquatch!

Re: I just left 200 fake parking tickets at YC Demo Day...

#40
post #27

"You have illegally been subjected to make..." "Try the new app right now, its beautiful:" As clever as it is, it would have been far more effective if you had checked your grammar before printing two hundred flyers.

Yup, I came here to note the "its" problem. I won't try the app or look any further, because anybody who can't be bothered to use proper grammar on a publicity stunt sure as hell isn't going to release a quality product.

That is not a just correlation. Someone who is creative enough to come up with something like this, probably has a creative app as well. It is nearly impossible to put out a product without any minor mistakes.
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