The brand is the signup.

Unique logo
Fun logo
Unique name
Consistent brand aesthetics
Consistent freedom and privacy messaging 

 my parents for example would not know what this is for

plumbing maybe?

mullvad says nothing, nor does the VPN part of it and the image also

but as it's most likely part of a bigger campaign with a tv ads + youtube ads, then the story comes together 

 Do you think your parents are Mullvad’s target customers?

NYC MTA subway have “free wifi”. 

With everyone beaming wifi, and bluetooth everywhere, I’m pretty sure ad agencies can see who exactly interacted with subway ads. 

 yeah, was the thing i was pondering on after clicking post

demographics and targeting

i'm not sure 

 Curiosity is also powerful marketing. Guarantee people who saw that and didn’t know what it was would simply google it on their phones. 

 i think you overestimate people's curiosity

or maybe i'm a doomer 

 Mullvad is a for profit co. Doubt they would be spending $ to compete with BigCo consumer retail cos in pricy NYC unless there were returns.

This is a strong signal to privacy and freedom texh cos that there is demand to counter the gulag tech status quo. 

 “If we are seen, you won’t be - our marketing approach”

https://mullvad.net/en/blog/2021/1/5/if-we-are-seen-you-wont-be-our-marketing-approach 

 @vrod 

 That’s interesting… 

 Do you also "sign up" for a bitcoin wallet when you generate a seed?
Not worth it to enter a discussion if random bits are created or discovered, my point is that traditionally the term "signup" is loaded and suggests providing PII such an email.