Backgrounder

The History of @dudewithsign

The man behind the sign (and the account) is Seth Phillips. He posed for his first photo in October of 2019 when him and his friend Elliot Tebele (founder of Jerry Media), took to the streets of New York City to hold a cardboard sign with a simple protest, “Stop replying-all to company-wide emails.” This, was originally just a post for Tebele’s Instagram account, but after sharing a second protest saying, “Seinfeld is way better than Friends” in front of a “Friends” billboard, an online following began. Not long after, Phillips and Tebele realized they needed to create an account specifically for these protests and thus, @dudewithsign was born.

The History of Seth Phillips

Phillips is not unlike many of us. He is 24, attended Midwestern State University in Texas to study marketing, and after graduating, he took some time off to travel in Australia before moving to NYC to start his career. However, unlike many of, he secured what many would consider a “dream job”, creating content for the board game What Do You Meme and Instagram meme account @f*ckjerry. Phillips credits a lot of his success to the creativity and support of his coworkers who help to inspire some of his placards. Phillips notes that “when creating the protests, we try to come up with something funny that is relatable that people don't particularly talk about.” And that they do! His signs cover a wide variety of subjects and vary in tone (some are playful and light while others are more serious).

The History of Placards

The history of protest signs is an extensive one, dating back to the 16^th century. It was at this time, that Martin Luther and members of the Protestant Reformation communicated their discontent on the church doors which ultimately provoked a split within the religion. According to Live Science, this was one of the most significant protests of all times. If we fast forward through time to the twentieth century, we see political signs throughout many activist movements such as Prohibition and the Women’s Suffrage movement. These early protest signs were often textual and very simple with slogans such as “Votes for Women”. In the twenty-first century, placards continue to be a central aspect of protest movements. Though the content on placards have evolved, their significance and simple, direct messages remain.

The Future of @dudewithsign

@dudewithsign’s clever and relatable material has gained Phillips nationwide attention. In January, Phillips appeared on The Ellen Show to help Ellen DeGeneres with her opening monologue. After the US. Open, Stefanos Tsitsipas posed with @dudewithsign in the Arthur Ashe Stadium and stated that "Seth is a really humble and nice guy." Justin Bieber has also worked with Phillips to promote his new album: Seth held up a sign that said, “Where’s the album JB?” and Justin held up one saying, “Feb 14,” (which was the release date). However, this caused a lot of controversy because much of what the internet loves about @dudewithsign, is the unfiltered authenticity of his content. Many fear that @dudewithsign will begin to be monetized like many other influencers. Hopefully, Seth Phillips will continue to be a source of light-hearted comedy and differentiate himself from other influences of this age.