n.
Advertisements posted on telephone poles, traffic lights, and other public areas.
Example Citation:
And while most every city, county and country in the world has street spam, the issue is coming to a head in Syracuse. "Some intersections you pull up to and you can barely tell the traffic control signs from the lose-weight and work-from-home signs," Worthen said.
— Brady Snyder, "Utah town may curb ad signs," The Deseret News, April 8, 2002
Earliest Citation:
Citizens Against Ugly Street Spam — www.causs.org: http://www.causs.org/ — is a non-profit organization dedicated to "the fight against the proliferation of unsightly, illegal advertising signs . . . for the sole purpose of stealing free advertising at the expense of the aesthetics of the community."
— Kim Canon, "Deleting signs an addiction for bandit," The Houston Chronicle, March 21, 2001
Notes:
Street spam is also called vertical litter and putting up such signs is called flyposting. Street spam is an example of a more general scourge called bandit signs.
Related Words:
Categories:
New words. 2013.