Every now and again, somebody somewhere finds something so puzzling that the whole world stands still whilst trying to understand it – we’re sure nobody needs a reminder of the whole black/blue or white/gold dress debacle.
Recently, there is something a little closer to home that's got everyone chucking on their thinking caps. Mysterious billboard have been appearing in cities around the country, including our lovely city.
No brand or company are featured on the posters and nobody has owned up to paying for them. But that’s not what makes them so mysterious. The most puzzling thing of all, is that nobody has gorra clue what they mean.
The billboards seem to be referring to something called “Legal Name Fraud” and also include the phrases “the truth” and “It’s illegal to use a legal name”. Eh?
The folks at the BBC have done some digging, and found legal name fraud is a theory that at birth, your registered name becomes a legal entity which is separate to you as a person. So basically, the name “Joe Bloggs” is completely separate to Joe Bloggs, the actual living human being. Apparently, after your name is registered, the Crown Corporation have ownership of it and everything you then do under that name is illegal. Naaa, we’re still not convinced…
If you do a further search into this theory, you’ll most likely come across a website run by a “Kate of Gaia”, who posts quotes and videos about legal name fraud and, most puzzlingly, has a Canadian email address.
Barristers have confirmed that the idea is absolute rubbish and have likened it to ideas held by the “Freeman-on-the-Land” movement, who believe that they are only bound to the laws they give consent to, and use this as a way of getting out of criminal activity and paying bills. After we posted some pictures of the billboards that have appeared in Notts, it is clear most of you believe it is all just a conspiracy theory, too.
Whilst the posters may be ambiguous and most likely full of rubbish, it’s unlikely the Advertising Standards Authority will remove them because the fact that nobody has the foggiest idea what they’re talking about means they’re unlikely to be harmful.
So really, we’re no closer to understanding what they mean or who put them there. Very puzzling indeed.
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