Recently, we have been getting feedback about these "Smart Crew Locksmiths" stickers.  Smart Crew said they had no idea what these people were talking about but started noticing them on their own shortly afterwards.  The funny/strange thing is that Smart Crew are NOT the ones responsible for making, nor putting up these stickers.  We called the phone number on the stickers and it turned out to be an actual locksmith service.  A lady picked up and we asked her if this was "Smart Crew Locksmiths" and she replied "Yes it is, How can we help you?"  We asked her about the logo on the stickers and she claimed to have no knowledge of these particular stickers.  This whole incident has been beyond strange but we wanted to share this on the blog because it does call out an interesting issue:

How can one prove that a company/individual is responsible for ALL illegally posted stickers of a unique design?  These days, it's becoming easier and easier to bootleg designs (as apparent with these Smart Crew Locksmith stickers.)  Third parties can also be hired to put up the stickers.  In this case, the locksmith company claims no knowledge of these stickers even though their phone number is on them.  The Smart Crew claims no knowledge of these stickers even though someone placed their logo on them.

Was this some kind of ingenious marketing tactic by the Locksmith company to try to put the blame of the vandalism on the Smart Crew but reap the rewards of the sales at the same time?  If so, we do applaud them for a "smart" and well executed plan.

We looked into the Locksmith Sticker Law signed by Bloomberg in 2004:

The existence of the stickers themselves is a violation of New York State penal law 145.30, which states:

1. A person is guilty of unlawfully posting advertisements when, having no right to do so nor any reasonable ground to believe that he has such right, he posts, paints or otherwise affixes to the property of another person any advertisement, poster, notice or other matter designed to benefit a person other than the owner of the property.

This part makes sense.  The person getting caught putting up the sticker gets in trouble for putting up that specific sticker (that they were caught putting up.) This is considered vandalism after all.  Since the Smart Crew does not put these up, they have no worries here.

2. Where such matter consists of a commercial advertisement, it shall be presumed that the vendor of the specified product, service or entertainment is a person who placed such advertisement or caused it to be placed upon the property.

This part is a little unclear.  How do they determine the vendor in this case when the logo and business phone do not match?  Does this also mean that you can cause companies legal troubles by just throwing their phone numbers, addresses, names or logos onto illegally posted stickers?  Hopefully, the Smart Crew will not have to deal with any kind of legal issues since the stickers are in fact BOOTLEG and false advertising.  For the record, Smart Crew is NOT a locksmith/marketing company and has never posted a sticker up illegally!

Here is a recent article from the NY Post about an insurance salesman who was framed by another unrelated company for posting fliers and slapped with more than $48,000 in fines by the Department of Sanitation:
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/brooklyn/the_tix_of_the_litter_trEpp59z6wjVNLmjfvzXCL

*UPDATE: One of our readers spotted a "food delivery guy on a bike" putting up these stickers over the weekend.  When approached about the stickers, he claimed that he was hired by a marketing agency off Craigslist?  Apparently, he did not speak too much English.  (Hiring a multi-tasking immigrant to do your dirty work? Another excellent plan if this locksmith company is behind it all.)

 
Caught in the act...