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phony fliers with rip-off tabs

phony fliers with rip-off tabs
People post fliers all the time, usually with a very specific interest which needs to be filled such as an advertisement for babysitter, promoting a service or selling an old sofa. The problem is that these interests are narrow in scope; not everyone who has kids needs a sitter and not everyone who needs a sofa will be looking on a flier for their purchase.

What if we were to conduct a social experiment that opens the interaction level of the public with fliers beyond a narrow scope, into areas where people might be interested in fliers strictly due to theme or idea rather than specific content? Let's find out!
Make your own phony fliers and find out who's interested in what!

The phony flier project aims at understanding how to engage with the public and how they interact with fliers that promote nonsense and disharmony in public space. This project will show you how to make your own phony fliers, along with the replies I got from the fliers I distributed as part of my experiment.

Enough talk, let's confuse everybody!

 
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Step 1Tools + materials

tools + materials
The easiest way to make this project is to have some kind of image-manipulating software, such as Photoshop or Gimp. In a pinch you can use MS Paint or whatever default program comes loaded with your computer. You can easily download the combined file I used for my fliers here

tools:
  • computer
  • image editing software
  • scissors

alternate:
  • paper
  • pen
  • ruler
  • time
  • scissors
materials:
  • paper
  • tape
  • staple gun
  • time






.

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14 comments
Nov 28, 2011. 10:44 AMilpug says:
"Nice try Deckard" that is one of the funniest things I have seen in forever.
Aug 16, 2011. 4:52 PMchemistmcg says:
this is the best phony flyer ever.
Oct 4, 2011. 5:02 PMR.A.T.M says:
you mus do a pdf so i can print this
Sep 12, 2011. 7:50 PMnoahh says:
When I was maybe 12 or 13 my friend and I made some inspirational rip-off fliers. The flier said something like "having a bad day, take a tab!' The tabs all had smiley faces drawn on them and said things like "You are loved". We made about half a dozen and posted them around my neighborhood. I never went back to see them, but later that day my stepdad said he'd seen that a lot of the tabs had been taken.
Aug 20, 2011. 4:14 PMsplazem says:
Awesome! I'm so doing this and I'll get back to you on my results. Wait, what if the email I listed was for my friend... and then he would get emails saying all sorts of crazy things. Yup, it has been settled, I'm doing it!
Aug 21, 2011. 3:08 PMsplazem says:
Alright, I'll get back to you!
Aug 18, 2011. 9:04 PMzigman3000 says:
ha ha that's pimp
Aug 16, 2011. 2:26 PMMercuryCrest says:
The Discordians have believed in doing this for years.

Gotta love a good social experiment. :)
Aug 16, 2011. 10:08 AMporcupinemamma says:
It would make reading laundrymat bulliten boards lots of fun for sure! ;0)
Aug 16, 2011. 7:47 AMdepotdevoid says:
Awesome! I love that you ended up with some feedback eventually. This idea made me think of one of my favorite fake fliers.

This has definitely made it to my to do list!
Aug 16, 2011. 6:23 AMNinzerbean says:
You are so funny!
Aug 15, 2011. 7:08 PMilpug says:
this is essentially an interactive form of street art. Im pretty sure i saw the klingon one, it just looks so familiar. i must try this.
Aug 15, 2011. 5:58 PMChrysN says:
It's a shame people remove them, some people just have no sense of humour.

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Author:mikeasaurus(michaelsaurus.com)
I'm the Play Editor here at Instructables! I like mixing old ideas with new and reusing things not for their intended purpose; the results are sometimes messy but always fun. I also write the thrift-...
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