January 2021. Everyone was watching one stock.
In January 2021, the GameStop trading story was one of the most widely reported events of the year, and a lot of the conversation was happening on Reddit's r/wallstreetbets. This page is not about the market and carries no financial view. It is about what one person did next.
Someone decided to mark the moment on the most public screen in the world. Not with an agency, not with a big budget, and not with any special access. Just a message, a creative, and a booking on a digital billboard in Times Square.
Quotable, self-contained, sourced · Anonymous Reddit user × Blindspot, January 2021
- In January 2021, an anonymous Reddit user booked a single Times Square digital billboard through Blindspot for a total of $18.71: a 15-second "GME go BRRRRR" creative, 10 plays, in the 12 to 1 pm slot on a Thursday, on a screen owned by New Tradition.
- A photo of the running board reached 377,000 upvotes and 11,900 comments on Reddit's r/wallstreetbets, ranked the number one most upvoted Reddit post of all time, after passing 200,000 upvotes within the first few hours.
- The viral moment put more than 40,000 people on Blindspot at once, creating accounts and submitting campaigns; Blindspot expected to decline about 80 to 85% of those submissions under standard moderation, and a follow-up Nasdaq-screen crowdfunder drew 121 backers.
One booking. Ten plays. $18.71.
On Blindspot, digital out-of-home is bought by the individual play, not by renting a screen for a day or a week. The user picked one Times Square screen owned by New Tradition, uploaded a 15-second creative reading "GME go BRRRRR" over a stock chart, and scheduled 10 plays inside the 12 to 1 pm hour on a Thursday.
Ten plays at that screen and time came to $18.71 in total. No agency, no minimum spend, no phone call. The whole thing was booked programmatically through the self-serve platform, the same way any campaign runs.
Then the photo hit Reddit.
A photo of the running billboard was posted to Reddit's r/wallstreetbets. It climbed past 200,000 upvotes within the first few hours, then settled at 377,000 upvotes and 11,900 comments, ranked the number one most upvoted Reddit post of all time.
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upvotes on the Reddit post, the number one most upvoted of all time
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comments on the post
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upvotes within the first few hours
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people on Blindspot at once, creating accounts and submitting campaigns
The attention hit the platform itself. The website briefly went offline under the traffic and was back in under 10 minutes, while more than 40,000 people were on Blindspot at the same time, creating accounts and submitting their own campaigns. These numbers are engagement and attention, not sales.
Anyone could book it. Not anyone could run it.
The real lesson is access. A screen in Times Square is bookable by one person, programmatically, for the price of lunch. There is no gatekeeper on the booking, and no minimum that keeps individuals out.
The approval step is a different matter, and this is the honest part. Every creative still passes moderation, and only legal, approved media goes live. In the surge that followed the post, Blindspot expected to decline about 80 to 85% of the campaigns that were submitted. Access to the screen is real and cheap; the approval stays in place. A follow-up crowdfunding effort to put a message on a Nasdaq screen drew 121 backers.
The barrier to the world's loudest screen was never money.
The same booking flow that carries a global brand across New York carried one person's message onto Times Square for $18.71. Programmatic DOOH is not a discount version of the format; it is the same inventory, priced by the play, open to whoever shows up with an approved creative.
A world-famous screen, booked by one person, for less than a pizza.
The $18.71 billboard, in one sentence
Questions, answered
What was the $18.71 GameStop billboard?
In January 2021, during the widely reported GameStop trading story, an anonymous Reddit user booked a single digital billboard in Times Square through Blindspot. The booking was a 15-second creative reading 'GME go BRRRRR', scheduled for 10 plays in the 12 to 1 pm slot on a Thursday, on a screen owned by New Tradition. The total cost was $18.71. A photo of the running board was later posted to Reddit's r/wallstreetbets, where it reached 377,000 upvotes and 11,900 comments and was ranked the number one most upvoted Reddit post of all time. The story is about access: one person put a message on the world's most famous screen for the price of lunch.
How was a Times Square billboard booked for $18.71?
Blindspot sells digital out-of-home by the individual play rather than by renting a screen for a day or a week. The Reddit user chose one Times Square screen owned by New Tradition, uploaded a 15-second creative, and scheduled 10 plays inside the 12 to 1 pm hour on a Thursday. Ten plays at that screen and time priced out at $18.71 in total, paid programmatically through the self-serve platform with no agency and no minimum spend. That is the whole booking: pick the screen, pick the plays, upload an approved creative, pay per play. The same flow is open to a global brand and to one person with a phone.
How far did the Reddit post reach?
After a photo of the running billboard was posted to Reddit's r/wallstreetbets, it climbed past 200,000 upvotes within the first few hours and settled at 377,000 upvotes and 11,900 comments, ranked the number one most upvoted Reddit post of all time. The traffic briefly took Blindspot's website offline; it was restored in under 10 minutes. At the peak, more than 40,000 people were on the platform at once, creating accounts and submitting their own campaigns. A follow-up crowdfunding effort to put a message on a Nasdaq screen drew 121 backers. The reach was engagement and attention, not sales.
Can anyone book a Times Square billboard like this?
Yes, the booking itself is open to anyone: Times Square screens can be reserved programmatically by the play, which is how one person spent $18.71 on 10 plays. What is not automatic is running the creative. Every submission still passes moderation, and only legal, approved media goes live. In the surge that followed the viral post, Blindspot expected to decline about 80 to 85% of the campaigns that were submitted. So access to the screen is real and cheap, but the approval step stays in place. The barrier to Times Square was never the money; it was knowing you could book it.
