

I just left 200 fake parking tickets at YC Demo Day... - pjsullivan3
http://instagram.com/p/Omjwtpxm_O/

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nessus42
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.

~~~
jonnathanson
To me, this would work beautifully if the startup were actually involved in
solving traffic or transportation problems. Ridejoy, for instance. If Ridejoy
had pulled this stunt, it would have been very cute.

That said, I'll give the man his props. This is ingenuity. Perhaps it's
misdirected, to an extent. Perhaps it'll backfire. But it's something
different. It _is_ clever, regardless of whether we find it enjoyable or
annoying.

EDIT: Minor nitpick, but I wouldn't have made so many grammatical errors in
the fake ticket. They're pretty glaring. Especially for a first impression.

~~~
icarus127
I would find this pretty annoying personally. Not only that but this is how
the pizza joint around the corner advertises(literally). Is that really the
feel you want?

~~~
jonnathanson
I think the key difference is that it's unexpected, given the context.
Investors have just finished hearing a bunch of pitches, so they're primed to
be receptive to clever "roadblocks" like this one -- whereas people who park
next to a pizza joint are going to be annoyed when they find flyers stuck to
their windshield wipers.

------
fabricode
"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.

~~~
xb95
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.

~~~
matznerd
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.

~~~
lancewiggs
Attention to detail matters, especially when it comes to being trusted to run
a business with someone else's money.

Regardless - I'd be quietly reprinting and replacing.

------
vnorby
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.

~~~
protomyth
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

~~~
unreal37
How close does that actually look to a real parking ticket? It doesn't even
say the word "parking" on it or mention a fine $ amount.

This is just innovative guerrilla marketing.

~~~
jrockway
It's littering.

~~~
protomyth
yep, and some city's take using their name pretty poorly with the word
"VIOLATION" pretty poorly.

------
mchannon
The psychology of a car spam victim (flyer for a local garage band's
performance, real parking ticket) is pretty funny to observe. When they pull
it off their windshield, some will put it in their vehicle (to throw away
later), some will toss it onto the ground (even if seem like they'd never
litter any other time), and some will double-put it onto the adjacent vehicle
(yes, even with real parking tickets).

I think you just left 118 pieces of litter (blowing off the parking lot into
adjacent properties) at YC Demo Day. Hopefully you'll perform some sort of
"green litter offset" trash pickup to mitigate the environmental impact.
Perhaps that may be assigned to you if you're unlucky.

Still, some people actually do pay money for the fake v!@gra to keep spammers
in business. The difference here is the other 99.99% of spam victims can't
physically locate the spammer to clobber or harangue them.

A 6-months-later update to recount the results of this experiment would be a
real service to entrepreneurs as either an inspirational or cautionary tale.

~~~
fusiongyro
> to mitigate the environmental impact

Paper's biodegradable. This is just littering.

------
austenallred
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.

~~~
ajasmin
I'm not sure how distributing flyers is perceived in California but I'd be
really surprised if anyone ends up in jail for this.

At least it shows these hackers are willing to go out and some promote their
ideas.

------
colmvp
<http://picturesofpeoplescanningqrcodes.tumblr.com/>

~~~
stfu
This is always relevant! I can't count the number of times I have shown this
url to people discussing QR codes. And I am still waiting for the shiny day I
find some creature "in the wild" conducting a QR code scan.

~~~
stephengillie
The "process flow" of someone scanning a QR code is longer than taking a
photo, and the expectation is to reach a website.

------
nathanb
Are windshield flyers now called "fake parking tickets" in order to sound less
like spam?

~~~
grecy
I've always wondered if there is a law you could invoke against someone
messing with your vehicle like this.

Is it legal for a random person (not law/parking enforcement) to pick up the
wiper and but whatever garbage they want under there?

Can I put my used McDonald's bag under someones wiper?

~~~
7402
"California Vehicle Code 10852. No person shall either individually or in
association with one or more other persons, willfully damage or tamper with
any vehicle or break or remove any part of a vehicle without the consent of
the owner."

This is an all-purpose section that, for example, makes it possible to arrest
someone who is walking down the street trying the handles on car doors to see
if they are unlocked - even if they don't find any that are unlocked. I guess
it would probably apply if someone broke off a windshield wiper while putting
a pamphlet there. If someone was sufficiently irate, it might even apply to a
used McDonald's bag being put under someone's wiper.

~~~
Dylan16807
The word 'tamper' can seriously be applied to checking if a door is locked and
causing no change whatsoever? I hate legal speak.

~~~
7402
Context matters. (See, for example,
[http://hollister.ca.gov/Site/html/gov/office/police/document...](http://hollister.ca.gov/Site/html/gov/office/police/documents/12-03810852.pdf)
).

Interpreting "Legal speak" is not like a compiler checking syntax. It's more
like interpreting a project's specifications in a way that makes sense. Just
as in any important job, judgement matters.

~~~
Dylan16807
Yeah, context matters a lot. And right next to 'tamper' it has 'damage' and
'remove'. Tugging a handle should be equivalent to staring in the window. Very
suspicious but not a violation of this _particular_ statute.

------
raverbashing
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?!)

~~~
cheald
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.

~~~
potatolicious
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.

~~~
lancewiggs
There are plenty of effective scanner apps are out there. The one I use snaps
the image almost instantly and away you go. It's not something that I use
much, but it works when I need it. And yes - why not have a visible url as
well.

------
jhuckestein
The joke is pretty good but it's unfortunate that the startup (Tripl -
discover the world through your friends beautiful travel stories) has nothing
to do with the ticket. Seems like it would work better for AngelList or some
other company.

------
DigitalSea
It's a novel idea that can sometimes have a great effect. This sort of
marketing trick has been used too many times to count. I remember a few years
ago there being an ideas festival in my city and someone came up with the idea
of using fake looking city issued traffic infringements like yourself that
resembled authentic tickets pretty closely that said something like, "A $250
fine for not doing what do you want in life" or something along those lines.

What happened next however is the organisers behind the campaign were slapped
with a littering charge, warned that it's actually highly illegal to
impersonate a traffic fine even if you put a disclaimer on the fake
infringement ticket. I don't recall what else they were fined for besides the
littering charge, but I am pretty sure it cost them a small fortune combined
with the other charges.

Be careful, this kind of gimmick could cost you dearly. City councils love a
good opportunity to extort money out of people.

------
mratzloff
Went to the website. It looks pretty enough but maybe you should show
screenshots of what it actually _does_ , since it's completely ambiguous
unless you click on the tiny "Learn More" button at the top.

------
pbhjpbhj
I received an email from a company that I did business with that said "urgent:
[...]" as the title.

The email was a sale information message.

I complained to them immediately and haven't done any business with them
since. Indeed this sort of dishonesty gets me to avoid as much as possible any
support for a company. The message was not urgent in the least.

An antisocial attempt to con people in to paying more attention to your
company: Hate is a word I seldom use but it seems valid here.

Presumably next up you'll be doing something like standing up in movie
theatres shouting "fire!" so that people will exit past your friend holding an
advertising board ...

------
dmor
Oh man, this is either going end very well or very badly - there is no middle
ground.

------
meatsock
wow this promotional idea combines all the fun of physical spam with the
temporary terror of possibly going to jail. I understand their next promotion
will involve donning ski masks and breaking in to your apartment while you
shower. good work.

------
bdcravens
I probably wouldn't respond this way, but: if I see you touching my car, my
personal property, and you're not wearing a law enforcement uniform, it would
be well within my right to respond as if you're stealing or vandalizing my
car. I can't speak to SF, but in many areas, when the police respond to the
physical altercation, they'd be asking me if I want to press charges.

~~~
jack-r-abbit
As annoying as it can be to come out and find someone has placed a flyer on my
car, I very, very, seriously, highly doubt that I would NOT be charged for
assault if I was to beat them up for it. But I'm willing to look at evidence
in the contrary.

------
earbitscom
This is the next Obama-Os. It might be unappreciated by some, but you
definitely just got looked at by some investors.

~~~
kurtvarner
No, this is the next Obama-O's <http://hungerboard.com/>

------
Xcelerate
I must admit -- it's an ingenious way to pitch your company.

~~~
bdcravens
Selling your product by putting flyers on people's cars: yes, totally
original.

~~~
Xcelerate
No, the fake parking ticket part. I've never seen anyone do that, so it
qualifies as "original".

------
jere
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.

------
allardschip
Praise from me for the naughty tactic regardless of execution. If you're note
sure if you did the right thing then find some consolation in the fourth point
on this page: <http://paulgraham.com/founders.html>

Let us know how it goes.

------
mukaiji
the thing i hate about windshield fliers is that there rarely is a trashcan
nearby. Thus, being respectful of the wonderful bay area we live in, i end up
folding it up and putting in my backseat or cup holder. It stays there for
weeks until i go through the annoying stage of picking up all the
miscellaneous stuff laying around in my car.

------
dclowd9901
I like this idea because it's polarizing. All risky ideas are, and I think you
can get at least one person behind you (appreciating that ballsiness), even at
the risk of alienating everyone else. If that's all you need, go for it!

------
tomkit
[Update] Ha! Apparently it's tripl.com and not tript.com.

If you checkout his site at tript.com it's either poorly designed or people
are already spamming his site under the 'Latest Travel Advice' section.

~~~
mmalik
It's tripl.com, not tript.com

Huge difference in UI!

------
threepipeproblm
This would be pretty brilliant, if it didn't amount to characterizing the
people you're trying to reach as stupid and/or bamboozled into wasting their
time.

------
jrockway
So many grammar errors...

------
antr
superb _hack_. any leads?

would be great if you could follow up with any interesting stories that came
out of this.

------
bdcravens
tl;dr for the flyer text:

"We weren't good enough to get into YC, but want to piggyback off of pitch
day. Please please please visit our site! kthxbai"

------
peterwwillis
Congratulations! You're an asshole!

------
PythonDeveloper
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.

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

~~~
joshlegs
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.

------
yozmsn
Who didn't immediately go to tripl.com?

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Axsuul
Haha pretty creative. You should scale this up to the entire city of Mountain
View!

~~~
elq
No.

