MINNEAPOLIS — It all started when a Minneapolis man started a GoFundMe titled, "Up In Arms."
His mission according to the GoFundMe page read: "Together we will construct a billboard more dumber than any dumb billboard to ever exist before it. Why? I think we both know why. "
But the weird thing is, we don't really know why.
If you drive down East Hennepin Avenue in Northeast Minneapolis near Eli's and Beast BBQ, you'll see this man's blue billboard. It proudly reads "Look how long my arms are." Plenty of people walked past on Tuesday saying "I don't get it."
To be honest, we don't either. But the billboard is up with the mysterious "Mr. Longarms" making a similar pose that Real Estate company owner Kris Lindahl makes in his hundreds of red billboards around the state.
Surely, you have seen at least one of those billboards around town.
"Originally I wasn't interested in a response," Lindahl said on Tuesday. "But then as [the GoFundMe] started to get some traction and started to raise some money, there's a way to turn this into a positive."
Still-- the motivation behind why Mr. Longarms wanted to put up remains at a "joke." On the GoFundMe page, he wrote, "22 foot long jokes cost a lot of money." Lindahl said no hard feelings, though.
"In a way I deserve the attention, we put those billboards everywhere," Lindahl said. "So it's expected."
So this is where the deal turns sweet for everyone.
"Originally, I said I'll donate a billboard spot so [he] can put a billboard up," Lindahl said. "He had already paid a non-refundable fee for the billboard so I said, what I'll do is I will donate that amount to People Serving People so it ends up being awash."
According to updates on the GoFundMe page, the money from the GoFundMe itself went into funding the billboard. However, Lindahl matched the amount and donated $1,250 to People Serving People, a homeless shelter geared towards families in Minnesota. A win-win-win for everyone.
Lindahl said at the end of the day, the parody doesn't bug him.
"If I'm worried about taking offense to that--that's a very minor thing-- you gotta have fun with it," Lindahl said. "Have humility. If you're going to put yourself out there like we have at Kris Lindahl Real Estate, people are going to have opinions and constructive feedback. I'm totally comfortable with it."
Lindahl said he has plans to put up even more (of his own) billboards in the future. You might even see them outside of Minnesota and in Western Wisconsin. When asked what he thinks of his own billboards when he drives by them, he said he at least knows the marketing is efficient.
"I know it's working right? I know that I'm the face of our brand and I know that our clients and past clients and supporters are benefiting at the highest level by having this branding out there," he said.
He also added that people have questioned his ego for putting himself on the billboards.
"I think sometimes it's hard to relate and truly understand someone if you haven't been in that position right?" he explained. "Because I'm on billboards it doesn't necessarily mean that I think a certain way about myself. I think sometimes people think that."
As for the "Look How Long My Arms Are" billboard in Northeast Minneapolis, the GoFundMe page said it will stay up until at least April 8th.