'Street art' and 'vandalism' are two expressions often used in the same sentence. But while some graffiti is only designed to offend and instigate chaos, others seem to focus on conveying a more positive message.
Polite graffiti is a real thing, and they're unbelievably hilarious! We have compiled 40 examples of polite street art that will make you fall even more in love with graffiti, or change how you view street art in general. From edited outdoor signs to laughable public bathroom messages, we can guarantee these polite pieces of graffiti will make you laugh out loud!
Finally, Good Manners in the Toilet!
You're driving down the highway for hours until you're finally forced to make a stop and go to the toilet. There, a collection of foul words and blatant insults written all over the wall makes you feel sad and even gets in the way of your pooping. Sounds familiar, right?
But instead of driving away, you decide to get a new place to conduct your bathroom business, and you cannot believe what you're seeing. The walls are also written, but they seem... different! Suddenly, you're enjoying the finest poop of your life while recollecting happy childhood memories of mom and dad. All courtesy of a very polite street artist!
It's Too Late to Apologize
According to the great Elton John, sorry is the "hardest word". But to this polite street artist, apologizing is implied in the artwork itself. In a remarkable example of self-awareness, this graffiti is saying sorry before someone even finds the time to get mad at it.
It's a powerful message, especially for whoever owns that wall. When it comes to stuff written on your front door, it's always better to have an apology than a collection of foul words. Still, we don't think the poor people who live here will be completely convinced by the good manners of our apologetic street artist.
Polite Street Art Is About Improvement
Can you really continue to think of street artists as vandals after taking a close look at this picture? From a street artist's point of view, visiting the public bathroom is like entering a fascinating world, in which every wall is a blank canvas and in which all creative efforts are possible. Unless... It is a really nice bathroom.
This super-polite street artist was able to contain himself and leave the bathroom walls untouched. After all, street art is about improving the surrounding environment, and not about ruining the best parts of our cities, like our "too nice" bathrooms.
Genius!
When the marketing team was designing this outdoor sign, they thought they'd come up with the perfect message to motivate people to go to the doctor and get tested. But as soon as they got the message up, they were outsmarted by a witty street artist.
We're not supporting the adulteration of important government-sponsored signs, especially when they focus on the people's health. But this graffiti is so funny and so utterly perfect that we feel like it should never get deleted. After all, laughing is also a sort of public service, and while it doesn't get you medically tested, it can make your day feel a little bit brighter.
It Works!
Although outdated, the classical red postbox can still be found in many corners of our streets and cities. But as post offices become less and less resourceful, some postboxes are left abandoned and start losing their color.
In this nice neighborhood, one of the residents decided to test a new form of public improvement. The fastest path to getting a newly painted postbox? Graffiti! Quite politely, he decided to make his voice heard by scribbling all over it. The authorities eventually heard his request and decided to cover the old postbox with a new batch of paint. In the end, the visionary resident made a sign to show his appreciation.
Canadian Vandalism
Most countries have an international reputation that doesn't exactly match reality. But Canada's world-famous politeness has to be more than just a myth, especially when we consider the nice way in which the Canadian vandals operate.
Yes, someone completely ruined this freshly cemented sidewalk with a gigantic graffiti featuring a huge thumbs up. But on the other side, they did so in the nicest possible fashion. That's why everybody loves Canadians! They get rid of all of their violent instincts by watching ice hockey and eating sweet maple syrup. All the rage that's left is used to design some of the world's most remarkably polite street art.
Spoiler Alert
In case you still haven't watched Marley & Me, please stop looking at this graffiti! It contains a serious spoiler about the movie, and it was probably written by someone who was not entirely happy about how sad the ending turned out to be.
Marley & Me is a tearjerker for all the sad reasons, but this hilarious graffiti is making us cry in the opposite way. We just cannot contain the laugh as we contemplate this blatant spoiler. Marley does die in the end, but please don't worry. The extra cute puppy in the picture was just an actor and was not harmed in the making of this graffiti.
The Public Instigator
Probably written on a Canadian wall, this street artwork is proving that it is possible to be a strong-willed revolutionary without losing your politeness. To think critically and contest authority is part of being an educated fellow, but foul words? That's nothing like your momma raised you!
This safe-for-work street artist is doing the best he can to protest against the police, but he's not going as far as using the F word. When making a statement, you don't always have to go all-in. Police are bad, but not F-word bad... They're just... Darn!
In Your Face, Oil Companies!
Amazingly, some people continue to believe all sorts of street art are acts of vandalism. But sometimes, street art touches the sensitive issues of our society in a remarkably effective way. Take this graffiti, for instance. What at first sight looks like a poorly scratched bike ends up conveying a deep social message.
When people started getting desperate about winning free gas for the rest of their lives, this witty urban artist decided to remind everyone that there are ways of traveling from one place to another without spending a dime on fuel. Bike riding saves money, helps the environment, and weakens the power of the big oil and gas corporations.
The Elephant In The Room
One of the most popular trends amongst street artists started in France and involves the idea of exploring the physical realms of the urban landscape as a way of creating comical/critical messages. The picture above is a perfect example of this genre of urban art.
What was once nothing but an aluminum chimney lying awkwardly against the wall was transformed in a compelling work of art. Now, everyone passing by will live in the world the street artist has created. A world in which the city can be filled of surprises, and in which an old chimney can become an elephant trunk.
Love Is In The Wall
Graffiti with love messages are as common as cringy. But if there's one love graffiti we don't mind looking at, that's this one! We're tired of seeing "John + Mary" messages on the wall, but we wouldn't mind spending the whole day looking at this message. You see, while most people don't relate to the fact that John loves Mary, everybody can relate to the fact that cats are super lovable.
Judging by the state of that wall, this was not the first graffiti ever made down in the back of the Hollywood Bowl. Let's just hope they don't try to cover-up this one, because it is beautiful!
Raising Awareness Towards... Peas?
Graffiti and the spirit of political activism go hand-in-hand. After all, urban art is perfect to portray a message. It surrounds us as it stands right there, on walls next to our favorite café or book shop. Over the years, urban art has played a major role in some of the world's most controversial social topics.
But sometimes, graffiti activism can be utterly obsolete. We don't want to jump to any conclusion, but is this street artist really trying to raise awareness towards peas. Or is he just trying to make everyone in the traffic feel extremely confused? If he's going for the second, we think he's spot on!
Need Help?
The old Microsoft Word clip was so annoying that it eventually got completely cut-off. But to this nostalgic street artist, it was the source of inspiration behind his latest masterpiece. In a work of art that juggles with the idea of vandalism in a comical way, the Microsoft Word clip makes a comeback to help (as uselessly as always) the poor guys who are going to have to clean that wall.
Judging by the fact the graffiti is still there, we're guessing the much-hated Microsoft Word clip has once again failed to meet the requisites he was originally designed for. As for us, we cannot stop laughing!
The Truth Lies Underneath
Graffiti are not welcome in most towns and are usually cleaned-up by the street sweepers. Normally, an extra layer of paint is used to cover-up the graffiti; it's the simplest and cheapest way of dealing with the problem, especially considering graffiti paint is extremely hard to wipe.
However, does it solve the problem? This artwork is pointing out to the fact that, underneath every layer of cover-up paint, the message intended by the street artist will continue to live on, even if it's impossible to spot. How many lost graffiti lie underneath the paint of seemingly white walls all over the world? It's hard to say, but we're betting millions.
Sit Down, The Game is On!
For thousands of homeless people all across the world, sitting down on the sofa and watching television after a long day of work is rarely an option. And we say rarely because, luckily, one street artist is dedicating his talent to help homeless people to feel more at home.
Street art is about imagination in the end, about the expansion of the often over-standardized physical realm surrounding us. This visionary artwork takes an old abandoned sofa and inserts it into an imaginary room with TV, fishbowl, and a nice lamp. You can make something out of nothing.
Public Health Service
From distance, this graffiti looks like pure vandalism. But once you take a closer look, a lot of questions come into mind. Is it truly vandalism if it promotes public health? Can we erase something we agree on? And should it be wiped off, or continue existing as a useful reminder?
We're not so sure if a graffiti will be enough to convince kids to eat more vegetables, but we do feel this artwork doesn't fall under the category of vandalism. After all, all it does is conveying a meaningful message that looks like something the government itself would pay to promote in the city streets.
Taking Responsibility
Meet Josh. He's a street artist whose real name is probably not even Josh. He took a stand to fight wildfires. Maybe you're worried about Josh making fun of an important public message. However, consider that the Smokeybear outdoor has probably gotten a lot more attention and reached out to a lot more people after Josh's inventive act of "vandalism".
We're not laughing at wildfires, but we sure respect Josh's witty graffiti. In his peculiar way, he contributed to the spreading of the message conveyed in the outdoor sign and has helped to raise awareness of the American wildfire issue.
The Movie Reviewer
In today's pop-culture-obsessed world, there are countless platforms online in which movie fans can speak their truth and write painfully honest reviews about their favorite/most hated movies. But to this Toy Story fan, websites like IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes don't seem to be enough.
He's using the street walls to promote his opinion about the first Toy Story sequel. This fan reminds everybody that, while Toy Story 3 was the real deal, Toy Story 2 was not that bad... It's probably the least life-changing graffiti in our list. Nonetheless, it's very polite.
He Really Hated SeaWorld
There are various ways of dealing with an unpleasant trip to SeaWorld. You can either share your opinion with your friends, file an official complaint, or write a terrible review on TripAdvisor. But when a street artist feels scammed by the not-always unanimous attractions of SeaWorld, he can opt to use his superpowers to express his feelings.
That's exactly what this anonymous street artist did. Now, he's making every potential SeaWorld client wonder if he should make the turn to visit the park, or simply drive the other way around back home. There IS such a thing as bad publicity!
A Law-abiding Citizen
Despite their infamous reputation, street artists do know how to behave like model citizens. Take this graffiti, for instance. While most people ignored the command stated by this sign, a law-abiding street artist decided to pull up his sleeves and get the actual work done.
The more street art gets mixed-in with its surrounding environment, the funnier it gets! This graffiti is making us laugh out loud and simultaneously admire the creativity of its anonymous creator. It poses a lesson to the sign-makers: Please be careful with the double entendre of your signs!
They Were Asking For It!
This outdoor sign was paid by the "Graffiti Busters" and placed in a high and hard-to-reach spot, for obvious reasons. Still, the "Graffiti Busters" ended up being busted themselves! To be fair, you're kind of asking for it when you put up an anti-graffiti message in what's essentially a perfect graffiti canvas.
The fight against graffiti is polarizing and convinces fewer and fewer people over the years. But if there's something we can recommend to the anti-graffiti people, that's not to use propaganda that will end up making graffiti look like an actual fun "crime".
The Terrible Cover-Up
We've all seen one or two walls like this in our local neighborhood. To effectively cover-up a graffiti, the city workers ignore the original color of the wall and the result ends up being arguably uglier than it was before.
Most of us can see the irony on that, but this street artist has decided to point it out in a blatant fashion. Feuds between city cleaners and street artists are very common. Even household names like Banksy have had their share of "wall wars" with the police and local authorities.
The Mystery Continues
One of the most fascinating mysteries in the world of urban art concerns the identity of the artist (or artists) known as Banksy. The highly influential artist has been the inspiration behind countless street artworks, with the one placed above being one of the funniest we've ever seen!
We're all looking forward to knowing the real name of the artist known as Banksy. But are we ready to pay the price? This hilarious graffiti suggests it's better to stay ignorant when it comes to the subject. He even marked the location of the dead body of the whistle-blower, police-style.
Make It Clear
There's no other class of people in society that's as good at spotting faulty and incomplete signs like the street artist. When most people accept a message without even thinking about it, the street artist comes into the scene to make everything feel a little clearer.
This street artist, for instance, is making sure everybody is aware that, in case of fire, water is a better remedy than "elevators". We're aware it's just a joke, and we understand the original message completely. However, we still have to give kudos to the hilarious and inventive spirit of this street artist.
Anti-Consumerist Joy
Street artists don't ever ignore a handy outdoor sign like this. Placed at street level, it can be easily reached by any of the passerby's and it's the perfect graffiti canvas because it's empty. Or, to put it correctly, it was empty!
The rare glimpse of an empty outdoor has inspired a street artist to express his feelings towards the sign. His artwork conveys a witty anti-consumerist message and makes us wonder about the intensity of the marketing campaigns we're subjected to every day, simply by looking at our phones or walking down the street.
It's Time You Meet "Monsier" Elefante
Back in the '50s, finding a towel boy in the bathroom was very common. Fortunately, the often useless bathroom employee went out of fashion as the years flew by. But that doesn't mean you cannot count on reliable assistance during your next visit to the public toilet.
A creative street artist has decided to make the most out of an old coat hanger and give life to "Monsier Elefante", your humble servant, ready to satisfy your every request. Although, in practical terms, he is technically not able to perform any task other than holding your coat...
A Firefighting Reminder
"Graffiti are useless and do nothing but ruin the beautiful walls of our cities!". While some people keep busy thinking like that, inventive street artists are making up useful ways of keeping their hometowns fire-free. The message in this wall is both hilarious for the passersby and life-saving for the people who have actually left their oven on.
We can all relate to the unsettling feeling of knowing we've forgotten something, but not remembering exactly what. If that's by any chance connected to your oven, this graffiti will work as a quick and fairly useful reminder.
Good Grammar Is Important
Keeping your graffiti under the strict laws of English grammar can be tiring to many artists. That's why street artists often choose to speak through images, slurs, or short sentences. Because even when you're trying to pass a message as simple as "Hail Satan", it is vital to express yourself correctly...
This Satanic graffiti was supposed to inspire people to follow down the path of the Devil. However, all it did was pay tribute to a specific kind of fabric. Satin? Good-quality silk beats it every single time! Street artists, please keep a dictionary nearby at all times to avoid embarrassments like this.
Hypocrisy Can Be Fun
Self-awareness is a useful quality, and a particularly helpful tool for the street artists out there. This anonymous graffiti is using all the power of self-awareness to point out that hypocrisy can be fun if approached correctly.
This hilarious artwork is not even the most impressive graffiti on the wall, but it's certainly the one that has caught up our attention. We do hate vandalism, but not when it's done as skillfully as that! As for both irony and lists, they are always welcome in the entertaining world of comical graffiti.
Snob Graffiti
Polite urban art is fun and often hilarious, but it must not be mistaken for snobby urban art. Take this artwork, for instance. All it does is establishing its superiority towards the people who are passing by. We do think it's funny, but we feel like it's not a graffiti meant to last, given its quite arrogant nature.
Regular people are tired enough of being snubbed by the government, by the wealthy, or by the fashionable. The last thing they need is to feel like they're beneath a couple of words written on the wall!
Street Art Auto-Correct
Street artists love to edit outdoors, traffic signs, and public messages in general. But they're also keen on making small changes to the work of other fellow street artists. Confronted with a not-so-positive message towards life, an optimistic street artist decided to take the matter into his own hands.
A little bit of red paint and imagination was enough to completely transform a depressive message into something that has the potential to make your day a little bit better. Life, just like street art, can get a lot better when looked at through the lenses of positivity.
Normal Graffiti Are Way Too Literal!
Art is driven by representation. The best art pieces are not tainted by literality, but rather symbolical representations of what they attempt to portray. In regular old graffiti, tormented teenager and angsty young adults make the best they can to write the most offensive words imaginable on the walls of our cities.
But not all street artists are subject to intense hormonal activity. Some are polite and well-read, and even when they're trying to be rude, they are rude in the politest of manners. "Swear words" is the perfect representation of all of those nasty graffiti we often find in the wall. This artist is avoiding literalness to convince you, the viewer, to imagine all those swear words in your head.
"Complete the Name Of This Song"
The best street artists know all about seeing an opportunity and making the best out of it. This graffiti artist was not fully prepared and ended up being forced to use a marker instead of a paint can, but he was still able to pull off a street art masterpiece!
A Led Zeppelin fan, he identified the missing words underneath this sign and paid a small tribute to his favorite rock & roll band. It's a well put joke that will certainly make the day of every "Stairway 2" user a little bit better in the future.
There's Always Room For Misinterpretation
If there's one thing a street artist can't stand, that's the condemnation of an innocent man! Poor Bill Posters was ready to be prosecuted when someone decided to take a stand and claim his innocence.
Once again, the people responsible for making signs seemed to be asking for it. The man or woman who glued the paper below the sign will not end bill posters prohibition, but he/she sure made the day of whoever was passing by. When there's room for misinterpretation on the streets, there will also be room for a funny street artist making the most out of the situation.
Popularizing The Economic Treaty
Educators spend their whole lives trying to address a complicated issue: how do you keep people interested in the complicated subjects you're trying to teach them? There seems to be no solution to this problem, but an inventive artist might have found an unexpected solution.
Want to make your kids read the economic treaties of Stalin? It's easy enough. Just make it all look like the next Harry Potter book. Then, kids all over the world will soon enough know everything about the economic problems of socialism in the U.S.S.R. Spoiler alert: Socialism didn't work so well back then...
False Expectations
In Buddhism, expectations are considered to be in the origin of humanity's suffering. Expectations cause us anxiety and result in disappointment and unhappiness, especially when inaccurate. Take this edited bathroom sign, for instance.
The idea that by pushing the hand-washer button you will get access to 3 slices of free bacon is both comical and desirable. But, even though you know it's not true, it will result in the creation of false expectations. Reality always seems to be a lot more fun when seen through the eyes of the street artist.
Make America Smart Again
Tired of being told what the speed limit is in such a clear and well-defined way? This street artist has a solution for you! To make driving in the highway a challenge worthy of the best, he's replacing the numbers in the speed limit signs with semi-advanced equations for the drivers to solve.
As an idea to improve traffic, it's aberrantly bad! As an idea for a witty and comical graffiti, though, it's brilliant! Maybe if all the traffic signs looked like that people would start paying more attention to Math classes.
Street Artists Have Emotions Too
Street artists are used to deploying every sort of emotion on the people passing by. But few street artists take the time to reflect on their own emotions and explore the role anxiety plays in the life of a recurrent graffiti maker.
This brutally honest graffiti is a rare expression of a street artist's feelings. Writing something in the wall weighs terribly on your emotions, as you're facing the scrutiny of your fellow graffiti makers and, most importantly, the heavy hand of the surveilling Police. It's alright to get nervous if you try your best.
Simplicity Always Strikes The Point
Like most artists, street artists like to develop artworks that explore the ideas and manifestations of art itself. Just like the Duchamp urinal was a statement against the institutional artistic model of his time, the word "vandalism" can be an invitation for an interesting reflection on the nature of the graffiti.
Can it be vandalism if it also states the truth? And is it the truth that it is vandalism if it conveys an informed statement? Or is it false, because it is not vandalism? Our brain is about to explode in the face of this paradoxical artwork, and all this street artist had to do was write "vandalism" on the wall.