Billboard Roundup: September Edition

September’s billboards gave us everything from blunt honesty to two-part punchlines, with plenty of AI buzzwords sprinkled in for good measure. Here’s our take on the best, boldest, and most baffling of the bunch.

1. Apple: Poodle or Doodle?
Apple nails the art of the question. It’s playful, instantly clear, and perfectly tees up the iPhone’s new “visual intelligence” feature. They don’t need to explain — they just intrigue. Classic Apple.

2. Nooks: AI Won’t Take Your Job / But Someone Using Nooks Will
Finally, a two-part billboard gag that lands. The setup makes you do a double take, and the punchline hits hard on the next board. Funny, memorable, and confidence in billboard form.

3. Martian: An LLM Router That Doesn’t Suck
Direct. Unapologetic. Kind of refreshing. When every other billboard is busy making metaphors, Martian goes with blunt honesty — and honestly, it works.

4. Factory.ai: Droids Ship Software While You Sip Coffee
This one’s got personality. It’s playful, paints a clear picture, and leans into a cultural wink without trying too hard. Memorable and fun — exactly what most AI billboards are missing.

5. Orb: All That AI, Still No ROI?
Ouch — but true. Orb taps into the elephant in the room: all the AI hype, but where’s the business value? Bonus points for the rainbow-unicorn-dragon visual that keeps it from feeling too serious.

6. Checkr: Trust Humans with Checkr AI
In a sea of brands hyping machines, Checkr reminds us who’s really in charge. The “Trust humans” line lands first, with AI as the subtle kicker. A rare human-first message in this AI-saturated batch.

7. Labelbox: Frontier Data Is All You Need
“All You Need Is Love” gets an AI-era remix. The crossed-out words are quick, clever, and tie the brand into something bigger than just data. Proof that a cultural nod can actually work on a billboard.

8. Stripe: Powering 78% of the Forbes AI 50
Stripe flexes with credibility over creativity. No jokes, no questions, just cold, hard authority — and it works. A reminder that sometimes the brand name is the punchline.

9. Delve: Compliance in Days, Not Months
It’s not flashy, but it’s effective. Clear benefit, bold typography, and zero room for confusion. Not every billboard needs to be clever; sometimes clarity is enough.

10. ClickHouse: The Leading Database for AI
Another credibility-first approach. No metaphors, no clever twists — just a confident claim backed by big-name partners. It may not stick in your head, but it does its job.

11. Workday: People, Money, and Agents
Workday joins the “AI agent” chorus with a big, enterprise spin. It’s a lot of buzzwords packed into one line, but with Workday’s weight behind it, the message feels more like a declaration than a gamble.

12. Okta: Build and Secure AI Agents from Day One
This one shows the danger of trying to cram too much into a single board. “Build and secure AI agents from day one” isn’t a bad idea — but it’s a lot to parse on the freeway. Proof that even great brands can overstuff a billboard.

13. Framer: Hey Designers, It’s Your Time to Ship
A rallying cry, not a tagline. Direct address, clean typography, and zero wasted words. This one knows its audience and speaks to them directly.

14. PromptQL.io: Accurate AI (and TLAs)
Neon green. Snarky lines. A bus shelter poster that actually pokes fun at jargon. PromptQL manages to stand out by leaning into wit and self-awareness, something most AI billboards lack.

September’s Takeaways

• Humor wins. Nooks, Factory.ai, and Orb prove that a little wit goes a long way.
• Authority still matters. Stripe and ClickHouse show there’s power in keeping it simple and confident.
• AI fatigue is real. With half these boards shouting about “agents,” the word is already losing meaning.
• Clarity beats clutter. Apple, Framer, and Delve say one thing well. Okta shows what happens when you try to say too much.

Billboards don’t need to explain the whole product. They just need to stick with you long enough to Google later. September’s best did exactly that. The rest? At least they gave us something to talk about.