Wild posting is a form of billposting in which posters or vinyl stickers are stuck on facades, walls, pillars, fences, bus stops, and other urban surfaces. Thus, your advertising message is being placed in the street in an attention grabbing way, becoming directly visible to a large audience. Since this form of billposting is “wild” and the posters are stuck on unauthorised advertising spaces, the costs appear lower at first glance.
However, if your motif is wild posted on unauthorised advertising spaces, it won´t take long before it is pasted over or removed. Wild posting is not recognised as an official form of advertising, but is widely used in metropolises such as New York, Paris or Berlin to generate short-term attention for a product or event.
Legal or not?
As it is common in the street art and graffiti domain, the wild posting scene also enjoys the allure of the forbidden. But: wild posting is illegal under German law and can constitute criminal damage to property under § 303 StGB (German Criminal Code). This can result in a prison sentence of up to two years and a fine of up to € 5,000. Thus, in addition to a possible criminal investigation, there is also a civil liability for wild posting.
Even if so-called wild posting agencies like to include the risk in the small print, you should be aware that in most cases it is you as the client who is fully liable, not the agency commissioned, and that according to § 823 BGB (German Civil Code) you have to bear the cleaning costs as well as the warning and court costs, and the consequences under civil law. In this way, a temptingly inexpensive campaign can quickly turn into a short and, above all, expensive pleasure with serious consequences.
A motif that has been wild posted on good ad spaces in Berlin only stays there for about 0.5 - 2 hours on average before it is pasted over or removed by the rightful owner of the ad space.
If posters are unlawfully placed on legal advertising spaces, these posters will usually be removed after 24-48 hours and a fee will be charged.
Since cleaning costs amount to an average of 90 €/m², costs for larger spaces quickly run up to a four-digit range. With this budget, your motifs could hang on legal ad surfaces for 14 days.
Wild posting in Berlin
Especially a metropolis like Berlin offers your advertising motif a perfect backdrop at countless locations. There are no legal wild posting areas in Berlin. Anyway, there are a large number of legally bookable ad spaces that achieve exactly the effect you wish for your product or event. We do know all the locations in Berlin and are happy to help you providing your motif a great visibility just where your target group is. Legally, directly and without a lot of paperwork or hidden costs.