have you seen BNE stickers?

Has anyone else seen these stickers on your travels and any theories as to what it's about? I've seen them in Hong Kong, Bangkok, KL, Chicago, Melbourne and the Gold Coast.
In 2006, the mayor of San Francisco offered a $2500 reward to apprehend the guy ..... a bit pathetic considering it was estimated to cost the city $1 million USD a month to keep under control. Apparently Thailand and Japan have been hit hard recently and it also seems to have spread to Melbourne and the Gold Coast.
Has anyone else seen these BNE stickers in other parts of Australia or the world?

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Just send some guys dressed in black out at night to target some probable attack sites and wait for the fool/s.

On sighting the vandalism, taser him/her/them for fun as part of the apprehension process.

Then, when they catch him/her/them, amputate both their hands - first offense. ;)

Should do this with all those "street artists" who amazingly only come out at night to practice their craft.

Why is that?

Something to do with them knowing they are breaking the law and not wanting to get caught I'd suggest.

What a pack of intellectual heroes.
 
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Yes it seems like some type of movement going around the world as i find it hard to believe only 1 guy is responsible.

“BNE has arrived!” - well that’s what the stickers tell us. What stickers? If you don’t know, then you either don’t live in any one of many big cities around the world where they are now officially everywhere, or you just don’t get out very much.

These BNE stickers have become the centre of a baffling worldwide “who dunnit” involving stickers, and graffiti in an ever increasing number of well known international destinations. Living in Tokyo, we have noticed these stickers are appearing more and more, and more interestingly continue to be replaced even after authorities remove them! They are distinctive and all feature black, block characters, on a white background, and while having a number of variations, all deliver the same message that BNE is here. What is BNE is here to do? That is still anyone’s guess, and apart from his adhesive efforts, there has been little influence

“B-N-E”: the three letters stand for what has become an international mystery. From Hong Kong to Kuala Lumpur, New York to Prague, and now Tokyo and Osaka, the acronym has been plastered on phone boxes, walls, newspaper dispensers, vending machines, parking meters and street signs. When the culprit becomes tired of stickers, he (we refer to BNE as a he, as he often refers to himself as “King BNE”) switches to spray paint, and even permanent marker. San Francisco has been plagued with the stickers since early 2006, and the mayor, Gavin Newsom is absolutely furious. He has made several news appearances promising to prosecute Mr. BNE to the extent of the law.

So, what does it all mean? Theories are bouncing around the web, and even have had air time on international news networks. Some ideas for the acronym (despite being lame efforts) are, “Be Nowhere Else”, “Big Nuclear Explosion” and “Breaking ‘n’ Entering”. However, there is still no definitive answer to the puzzle that has police in at least 6 nations running wild goose chases for the vandal that is spreading an unknown message to tens of millions of people around the globe. (BNE is also the 3 letter international location code for Brisbane, Australia. It is also the name for an Israeli music production company called BNE (Brand New Entertainment). However it would be extremely disappointing to learn that this code that has stumped us all for over a year now, amounted to nothing more than the Sunshine State’s capital city, or a local music company in the holy land).

San Francisco police first noted the menace in May 2005, but since then, BNE has gone worldwide, and has an overwhelming presence here in Tokyo only in the last 6 months, with stickers now visible in every nook and cranny of each of the major city centers of Tokyo, even extending out to the suburbs. The BNE revolution (as some call it) has drawn so much attention here in Japan, that it has been featured quite regularly in the media also. This is a short clip, from the news, on location in Tokyo. The reporter finds BNE presence in Akihabara, Shinjuku, Shibuya and even Harajuku and Omotesando! (The clip is in Japanese, but that shouldn’t stop you from enjoying it):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IdSriLjS6c

Here is an ABC news story on it:
BNE Stickers Graffiti on ABC World News

American news stations believe BNE is from Japan, due to the fact that the acronym is regularly displayed with the Japanese word ?? (Sanjyo, meaning “arrived” or “is here”). However, it could simply mean “BNE was here” (as amateur spray paint graffiti vandals often like to let us know), using the Japanese word for the same to deepen the wild theories that so many are brewing, and seems to be working well so far to that end.
Interestingly enough, there was quite a widespread computer virus that infected computer systems around the world soon after BNE started “arriving” that contained the three letters “BNE” in its name (Win32.Rbot.BNE). There are many references on the Internet linking the sticker culprits, and the hackers behind the virus, but as expected, proof of it has not been ascertained.

Whoever BNE is, he has carried out one of the most successful, low budget and viral brand recognition campaigns I have ever seen. What it is exactly that he wants, or is trying to tell us, remains in the dark… at least for now. Of his several different variations of sticker, some feature a halo and the number 1 as to the left, and as yet, these subtle symbols are as baffling to us as the three letters themselves.

The most believable explanation for BNE the “Benet” theory. “Benet”, as he is known, is a prolific graffiti artist from San Francisco. Allegedly, he writes his name in overdone bubble graffiti letters. The reason he is linked to BNE is that apparently he signs his graffiti with the block letter initials “BNE”.

Although, the BNE stickers have become more widely known than his graffiti artwork, and he himself remains elusive to police, despite his popularity among cult graffiti artists. Benet is said to also have visited Tokyo a few times, around the same time when stickers started to appear on the streets here. One comment on a blog I visited recounts the writer having an alleged run in with Benet at Club Milk in Ebisu, where he was hanging out with the likes of several other “celebrities”. When the blogger approached Benet with comments of adoration of his work, Benet ignored him, and was “cold and rude” according to the post.

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here is the answer.

As you know, due to the GFC, the tourist sector has been hit really hard - especially in Queensland. And, as we all know, the Japanese were the biggest tourists by number in Qld but since the GFC hit, their numbers have dwindled.

So anyway, the Qld gov decides to do a tourist campaign, but due to budget overspends etc, they couldn't afford the glitzy TV campaigns (especially after paying some pom 180k to live on an island for a year). So they decided to reduce the budget of this campaign by 99%.

After much analysis and to-ing and fro-ing, they decided that they only way that this campaign was going to be effective was to get it to as many faces as possible, and due to no budget for tele or newspaper advertising, they thought they would stick stickers up everywhere.

However, the cost for the market and research analysts took more money away from the budget and after those expenses, all they could do was afford to place 3 letters on the stickers. They thought of just putting "Qld" on them but then theorised that no-one outside of Australia would know about "Qld", so they decided to put the international letters for Brisbane, and Brisbane airport on those stickers - ie BNE.

So the illustrious Qld Premier approved the approach. Her staffers then went off and bought a bubble jet from DSE and some sticker paper and generated thousands of BNE stickers. They sent one public servant over to various parts of the world with a bad full of these stickers to stick them up everywhere.

So lo and behold, that is the budget toursit campaign from the Qld government.


P.S. Some keen eyed people may be asking why do some stickers have Japanese characters on the bottom of them and some don't. Those stickers are for Phase 2 of the very clever campaign. They say:

"where the bl00dy he11 is BNE"


So now you know...
 
P.S. Some keen eyed people may be asking why do some stickers have Japanese characters on the bottom of them and some don't. Those stickers are for Phase 2 of the very clever campaign. They say:

"where the bl00dy he11 is BNE"


So now you know...

Haha.. or maybe its the locals writing "where the bl00dy he11 is BNE" :p
 
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