Do you understand this billboard? If not, that’s the whole point

Cryptically-worded billboards, such as this one in San Francisco’s Mission District, have been springing up all over the city in the past year or two. They are intended to be understood only by a small audience. Chloe Veltman/NPR

Chloe Veltman/NPR

Billboards in San Francisco used to be easy to understand, whether advertising Coca-Cola, Toyotas, iPhones or AirBnB.

But these days, that’s often not the case.

Ads bearing slogans like “Agents don’t work without evals,” “Too much B2B SAAS,” and “Intelligent AF” have sprung up across the city over the past couple of years, in a bid to grab attention by