Today, we’re taking you to a small town in the US where two stores went to war in the most ridiculous way. Their sign war started off as a way to have fun with a classic advertising technique. However, it quickly blew up, pulling towns all over North America into the fray. Read on for full coverage of the most ridiculous war ever fought.

Ed Bridge – the boss and owner of the store – was taken aback at first as the employee was talking about going to war. However, after the employee explained the logic behind his “Sign War” concept, Bridge was all for it.

If you’re wondering why Ed was being interviewed on the news, it’s because his sign war (which we’ll see evidence of later) went viral. Soon, other businesses were catching on and throwing down challenges of their own.

As a viral marketing strategy, sign wars deliver big wins for everyone. Customers and local residents get to enjoy a giggle while the business owners enjoy a boost to their profits. Sign wars also create a sense of community, with local business owners all supporting each other. 

You might assume that the war was pre-arranged beforehand. However, Cork says he “took a shot at them in the dark.” Thankfully, DQ shot back quickly. Cork was delighted to see that they came in hot with a brilliant pun: “You bet your glass we do.” 

Speedy Glass returned fire, changing their sign to say, “fire up the grill, we’re about to toast your buns.” Determined not to be out-classed (or should we say out-glassed?), DQ responded with, “our ice cream is smoother than your lines.” Ouch! 

DQ owners Amy Hamilton told CBC News that, while fun, the battle wasn’t easy. Apparently, the Speedy Glass team was up early, so they always got in the first jab of the day. Thankfully, DQ had a powerful secret weapon on their side: their customers. As Amy explained, “We have great fans with a million ideas still.”

The North Perth Fire Department usually reserves its sign for important notices and updates. However, with nothing urgent to share with the community, they took the opportunity to have some fun, writing, “Hey Speedy Glass and DQ. If this thing gets any hotter, we’ll be ready with hoses and water.” 

The North Perth Fire Department’s Assistant Fire Chief, Jason Benn (pictured above), spoke to CTV News about his involvement in the sign war. He highlighted the community spirit fostered by the town’s “war,” explaining that “it’s really nice to see smiles the signs are putting on people’s faces.” 

Soon enough, every small business on the block wanted to have its say. Corley Sports Excellence pleaded, “add us to the sign war because we’re good sports.” Meanwhile, 365 Auto & Pet Wash threatened that they would run Speedy Glass and DQ through the wash if they weren’t careful. 

Listowel Vision Care joined in with a pun of their own, only to be shot down by Speedy Glass with this epic comeback: “You keep getting cornea and cornea.” Hint: Say it aloud if you don’t yet get the pun.

Listowel Vision Care was just happy to get a participation trophy, saying to Speedy Glass (the originators of the sign war), “Hey Speedy! Thanks for noticing. Glad we crack you up!” With talk of a winner heating up in the community, Speedy Glass quipped, “DQ might win. Anything is popsicle.”

The sign war was growing bigger by the day, and no end was in sight. A local car dealership called Stop 23 came in hot with a jab at Speedy Glass, saying, “no cracks in our glass.” Even the BMO bank got involved!

“It’s all in good fun,” their sign reads, “no one has to get cross about it.” A local law firm also chimed in around this time. Tarbush Dickey Giller & Associates changed their sign to read, “hey DQ and Speedy! If these sign wars get out of hand, we might need to litigate!”

The North Perth Family Health Team and the North Perth Spinrite Child & Family Center both contributed to the scavenger hunt side of the Sign War with the small signs you can see in the pictures above. 

Journalists from as far abroad as the UK started contacting the local businesses. Speedy Glass owner Trevor Cork even spoke with the BBC – one of Britain’s most prominent publications. He couldn’t believe how famous this idea had made his small Canadian town. 

Cork was delighted to note that “there hasn’t been one negative comment. The reaction has been absolutely amazing.” The result for his business was also 100% positive. “We’re getting people stopping into my business just to say thank you for making them smile,” he said. 

As the pandemic took off, the importance of the Sign War only grew. In Cork’s words, “people are laughing together again and smiling at each other. It’s brought our community very close.” 

It wasn’t just the small businesses of Listowel who were enjoying and benefiting from the sign war. As one Facebook user wrote, the Sign War was “a blessing for this community!” 

Other Facebook users soon chimed in, with one commenting, “I’m loving this!” Many people agreed that they loved driving through town to see what was happening with the signs. Everyone agreed that the vibes created by the Sign War were positive and uplifting. And during the pandemic, we all needed more vibes like that!  

Speaking to the Stratford Beacon Herald, Cork described the Sign War as more of a “pun war.” “It’s friendly banter back and forth between the businesses,” he continued, “and I think it’s southwestern Ontario-wide now.” Cork was talking to the Stratford newspaper because, at that time, their town had recently joined the fray. 

The Livery Yard Espresso Bar & Coffee Shop was the first business to kick things off in Stratford. The owner of the coffee shop, Liesa Hartman, said that she found her inspiration online. She loved the idea immediately, seeing it as the perfect way to “bring a community together.”

So, Liesa decided she had to get the Great Sign War going in Stratford. “I came into the café this morning,” she said, “and I looked up the street and saw no one else had put a sign up yet.” Liesa took the opportunity to be the first to put a witty sign out into the world. 

Aside from their cute DQ attack, the Waterloo police also challenged the region’s fire departments and the Waterloo Paramedic Services. The Sign War was truly getting out of hand!

At the time, his brewery was three signs deep, and the back-and-forth was really starting to heat up. The fun of the Sign War was infectious and sorely needed when a more insidious form of infection was spreading across the globe. 

As one business owner said, “The whole idea is to try to put a smile on people’s faces and try to lighten the mood.” He explained that we’re already exposed to enough doom and gloom. So, the sign war presented “an opportunity to make it a little bit more fun and light-hearted.” 

OK Auto “attacked” Daft Brewing with a sign that said, “hey Daft, no one buys your beer, they just rent it!” In response, Daft wrote, “he OK Tire, you’ll need more than compliments and lube to win us over” – slightly saucy but all in good fun!

The sign you see above is from a garden center in Sarnia, Ontario. The store’s owner, Peter Sparks, explained his involvement to CTV News. Sparks said, “everybody seems to be friendly  – it’s about building relationships.”

The mayor of Sarnia, Mike Bradley, said he has “no complaint on the signs, and if so, I would say lighten up.” Thankfully, he never had to tell anyone to “lighten up.” Instead, like the other residents of his town, he sat back and laughed as the Sign War raged. 

Christiansburg was the location of the first official Sign War, and it all started at Bridge Kaldro Music. An employee asked the owner Ed Bridge if he could start a sign war. And once Ed ascertained that this war would be completely peaceful, he was all for it. 

Ed’s first move was the one emulated later by Speedy Glass. He changed his sign to read, “hey Super Shoes, want to start a sign war?” The shoe store was across the street, and though they had no idea if the owner would want to take part, they did know for sure that they would see the sign. 

Super Shoes came in hot with a strong-based pun, saying, “hey Bridge Kaldro! Our shoe strings are stronger than your guitar string.” Though they did have to get a bit creative with the “S” of “strings,” the message was clear. 

People stopped by to see the latest shots fired, and they began snapping pics to share on social media. The sign above was one of the more popular ones because as funny as it is, it also rings true. Excuse us while we open a new tab to browse for guitars so we can improve our chances of getting a date! 

This sign took things a step further, upgrading their pun by including it in a rhyme: “Keep your play dates, we specialize in solemates.” That Super Shoes sign truly was masterful! They clearly have a pun specialist and a poetry expert on their team. 

In fact, Bridge Kaldro was often the one responsible for bringing new businesses into the battle. In the sign you see above, they managed to strike two businesses at once, hitting Super Shoes with the “what a ‘croc’” quip and challenging a new business by gently criticizing their sign. 

After Bridge Kaldro’s statement, “IDK what stinks worse, your shoes or Kabuki’s sign,” the Japanese restaurant replied, “You got to B-sharp to make good shoe-shi an [sic] we won’t string you along.” Impressively, Kabuki even included an emoji and a musical note to set the scene. 

Kabuki took the Sign War to a new level, forcing everyone to up their respective games. Bridge Kaldro had unsuspectingly drawn in a pun-perfecting professional. Had they bitten off more than they could shoe? (Not the greatest pun, but kind of relevant!)

Music, shoes, and food are fine, but your health is on our mind.” This was a cute entry into the battle, but it doesn’t even come close to touching the cleverness of Kabuki’s signs. Still, everyone is equal in a Sign War!

The idea of being audited is so terrifying that we wouldn’t dream of trying to handle our taxes ourselves. We happily hand everything over to the experts, and we suppose that’s what Hunt & Associate were trying to encourage the people of Christiansburg to do. 

Nearby, a Christiansburg gas station offered to “fuel the sign warz [sic].” With so many businesses taking part, driving around Christiansburg became a fun game of “spot the sign” for local residents. As they shared their discoveries on social media, the popularity of the game grew. 

It sounds like someone at Lawson Mobile Home Supply has a hidden talent they need to start sharing with the world. Perhaps they should move beyond sign creation and consider a career in comedy. We’re sure they’d find success with classic jokes like this one. 

“Boy,” they said, “that escalated quickly.” Considering how crazy things had gotten, this sign was an understatement! Still, the Sign War hadn’t even reached its zenith. There was more to come, including the jump to Canada and the never-ending addition of new towns to the fray. 

Indeed, the small businesses and local residents of Christiansburg were having so much fun that the entire world began to notice. Someone set up a Facebook group dedicated to tracking all the signs, but locals weren’t the only ones to frequent the group. 

Speaking to WSLS 10 News in 2021, the shop owner and music lover said, “I’m just so humbled because this is bigger than my little music store.” At that time, the war had already spread through Canada and beyond. 

People enjoy sign-spotting, and it’s always fun to be the first to add a picture of a new sign to social media. In Bridge’s words, “If we can put this whole area a little bit more on the map for people coming to visit, why not?”

The signs act as a reminder that behind every business is a person we can relate to – someone with a decent sense of humor. The Christiansburg Sign War was a chance for local business owners to share a bit of their personality, and as the owner of the Kabuki restaurant explained to Bored Panda, it was an “amazing free advertisement for us all.”

Just when you think this thing can’t get any better, someone ups the ante! In this case, local businesses harnessed the Sign War as a way to help charities and non-profit organizations. The Sign War truly is an example of humanity at its best.

Bored Panda quoted one of the business owners as saying that the signs were a way for businesses to demonstrate that “we are really all in this together.” The business owner, Jonathan Friend, went on to say that “it’s been really uplifting to see all the businesses support each other.”

It started as a simple way for the employees at two stores to have a bit of fun. However, the Christiansburg Sign War evolved into a brilliant advertising method, a fun game for locals, and a beacon of hope during the darkest days of the pandemic.