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alp227

(31,959 posts)
Sat Jun 2, 2012, 11:21 PM Jun 2012

Fighting Sign Pollution in Florida With Robocalls (signs 'remind tourists of the slow economy')



(Illegal advertising signs in Hollywood, Fla. City officials, fed up with the visual clutter, began repeatedly phoning the offenders.)

In Florida, they are as much a part of the landscape as palm trees and oceanfront hotels: plastic signs cluttering roadsides with messages like “We Buy Houses!” “Junk Cars!” and “Avoid Foreclosure!”

But now, worried about the impact on tourism and the state’s natural beauty, some coastal communities have begun aggressive campaigns against the signs — by robocalling the advertisers’ phone numbers.

“It’s the only crime I know of where a person deliberately leaves their phone number behind,” said Mayor Peter Bober of Hollywood, which uses computer software to call the phone numbers, up to 20 times per day, until offenders pay a $75 fine. “They want us to call. So let’s call. And keep calling.”

Think of it as fighting one nuisance with another. The advertisements, known as snipe signs, are illegal in many Florida communities on public property like highway medians or telephone poles. But they are also cheap to print and hard to eradicate.

(...)

Cities say they are worried that the flashy signs for “Cheap Houses” and “Bankruptcy Relief” will remind tourists of the slow economy, especially in Florida, which has the nation’s highest foreclosure rate.

full: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/03/us/in-florida-fighting-sign-pollution-with-robocalls.html
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Fighting Sign Pollution in Florida With Robocalls (signs 'remind tourists of the slow economy') (Original Post) alp227 Jun 2012 OP
They don't like capitalism when the little people do it... WriteWrong Jun 2012 #1
 

WriteWrong

(85 posts)
1. They don't like capitalism when the little people do it...
Sun Jun 3, 2012, 12:21 AM
Jun 2012

...if some megacorporation signs an agreement with the city to put billboards on public property, good luck stopping them.

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