A billboard in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is using the age-old argument of immigration to encourage locals to vote, but this one’s a little unorthodox in its messaging. Shared by HeHateMe337 on r/democrats, a photo of the sign reads, “IF YOU SUPPORT OPEN BOARDERS, VOTE DEMOCRAT,” followed by “Freedom of Speech.” Anyone proficient in English will quickly notice something is off about this political message: the spelling of “boarders.”
For anyone confused, “borders” is what the message should say, as “open borders” is the argument Reublicans use against Democrats regarding immigration policies. On the other hand, “boarders” refers to a tenant or someone renting a place to stay, which doesn’t exactly make sense. Those shrewd enough will realize the billboard is an anti-Democrat ad but misspells “border” to send a different message. Redditors found whether this message landed, though, to be questionable.
People the BillBoard for Its Message and Location
“Imagine living in Iowa (once a top state in education) and not knowing how to spell accurately,” mocked a user. “We all make typos, but if you are putting 7 words on a billboard, you might want to double-check,” agreed another. “Open boarders… like, someone who rents a room?” questioned a third.
“Open boarder” spelling aside, some wondered by people in a state nowhere near the border would make an ad about immigration. “Imagine living in Iowa and caring about the Mexican border,” sighed a commenter, hundreds upvoting in agreement. “I live in Iowa and literally every Republican ad is about immigrants or trans people (sometimes both),” shared another, indicating that a political ad about “open borders” isn’t anything new in the state.
In the end, though, OP doesn’t mention who paid for the billboard, nor do they clarify whether the typo was intentional or a simple mistake. Still, it was enough to get them to notice and spark a debate in the subreddit about the border, typos in political ads, and the current party in leadership, among other things. So, in essence, the political sign did its job in getting people’s attention, misspelling or not.
