Design agency Collins created Intercom’s simple billboards as a thought experiment on clarity and sincerity.

Every time someone flies in to visit me in San Francisco, they inevitably ask, “What’s up with all these weird ads?”

There’s a sea of gobbledygook on the region’s buses, transit stops and highways. And it seems to be transmitting secret messages to a chosen few, with the rest of us relegated to bystanders in some larger conspiracy that runs on passcodes and intricate handshakes.

“Do you need swifter end-of-year SGLs? The best CCSOs use LithurionAI!”

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Lately, I’ve been fixated on this one billboard that I see every time I drive westward on the Bay Bridge.

“1. Intercom is a complete customer service platform

2. Intercom is the leader in AI for customer service”

It’s a white field with a numbered list in black text, and it’s an advertisement for some company that provides backend software or something for other companies.

Whatever it is, it is very much Not For Me. But my mind, heavily stimulated by whatever concert or party I’ve just torn myself away from, latches onto this sign as a person might gulp a bland glass of milk after eating a terrifically spicy pepper.

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© San Francisco Chronicle