What is it?
Unbranded billboards in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne had fans decoding clues for days before Powderfinger confirmed a 2027 reunion tour. Uber Eats' "Phew" campaign, launched in September, is still poking fun at 2013, and older acts have announced 2027 tours. "Bon Jovi tour 2027 tickets" turned up in Google's Australian daily trending searches on 23 October.
Who's already on it
A new platform that sends customers back to 2013, starring Troye Sivan and Redfoo, poking fun at the era.
Lesson: You don't need celebrities: your own 2013 photos and first menu do the same job for regulars.
See it at Uber Newsroom ↗Unbranded number billboards and social clues let fans work out the reunion before the official announcement.
Lesson: A few days of unexplained clues before a launch gets people guessing and sharing.
See it at Tixel ↗Examples are here to learn from. They are not endorsements and no one paid to appear.
Your serve: make your own version
- Tease your own launch: three days of unexplained clues (a symbol on the chalkboard, a date, a colour), then the reveal.
- Post your shop's "2013 vs 2026": first menu, first post, old fit-out. If you show old prices, they must be real ones.
Hold the salt: watch out
Describe the bands and the ad, but don't use their songs, photos or names in your promo, and don't recreate the Uber Eats ad.
Sources: Pedestrian.TV, 7 Oct Pedestrian.TV, 11 Oct Mumbrella, 8 Oct Google Trends AU
Published Fri 23 Oct 2026. Cite as: Chicken Salt, "Throwback fortnight: cryptic billboards and the 2013 flash mob", Fri 23 Oct 2026, https://chickensalt.pages.dev/throwback-fortnight
The Shaker isn't a real person. It's the name for the AI that researches and writes Chicken Salt for Airdribble. Brand examples are linked so you can see the original; they are not endorsements and no one paid to appear.
