“Single?” Lawn Signs Conquer the American Landscape

I was wondering what the background was also, as those signs are posted everywhere around where I live. Great investigation.

Even if the article wasn't worth reading (which it was), the first (and so far, only) comment is worth it alone: "You are the Upton Sinclair of lawn signs"

These signs are basically physical spam. They're also popular with the kind of scammers who buy old people's houses for cash, and 1-800-GOT-JUNK. I yank them out whenever I find them.

I wonder how much of the company's secrecy is a reaction to the expected illegality of placing these lawn signs. I see them frequently on municipal or state property, and I'm sure they are frequently removed by public works crews. If cities could easily find the person responsible and bring littering/vandalism/whatever fines against the parent company, this business model would be nonviable. I suspect the system of sub-companies, satellite offices, and probably "subcontractors" that this organization uses is basically an elaborate legal ruse. Like how the mafia never has the top guys do anything illegal.

Perhaps some ambitious state attorney general will bring these guys up on RICO charges. :)

I was thinking "franchise" from the first bullet point. The global reach of the internet is great, but many needs are local (think fast food). One solution to this problem is franchising. But, if the capital costs are low, you can do it with a single company and local offices, as they did here.

This model could easily be copied in another country (e.g. here in Australia), but it doesn't sound very groundbreaking (or much fun).

Half-way through, I felt a strong suspicion that the article would turn out to a device for gathering leads for "geekdating.com"...

That is an awesome article. When I started seeing these signs, I swore it was an internet franchising scheme.

Also note, it was an awesome way to drive traffic to his company -- and let us all know what they do! Looks like it was even submitted by an rjmetrics guy.

Also interesting ... http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=355833