Milwaukee Man Has Been Pranking Arriving Passengers With His 'Welcome To Cleveland' Sign

Clevescene- One Milwaukee resident revels in making people squirm. 

Mark Gubin painted “Welcome to Cleveland” in six-foot lettering on his rooftop, located next to General Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee. His massive prank aims to scare airplane passengers who might see the message and fear they’ve accidentally boarded the wrong flight. 

The giant white lettering first appeared on Gubin’s roof in 1978, but the sign recently went viral after being posted on Reddit last week. Located over 400 miles from Cleveland, this strange proclamation has created an uneasy feeling for many passengers over the years. 

In 2005, Gubin told  the Milwaukee Sentinel, “There’s not a real purpose for having this here except the madness which I tend to be pretty good at.”




A lot of people are going to say there is no reason to do this, and I would argue that "the madness" is probably the best reason one could possibly have. Let's face it, fucking with people is fun. Fucking with people hundreds of feet in the air is unquestionably more fun. That's why professional skydivers bust your balls on the way up. Now, this guy probably needs a more productive hobby, but don't tell me he's not original. Only so much you can do around the house when you don't a real yard I suppose. Sometimes to get out of the house you just got to go on the roof and turn arriving flights into a scene from 'Home Alone'. I mean, the last thing people want to do is have to travel any more than they are supposed to, and the last place they want to stop when doing so is Cleveland. Hell, the only way you can get people to land happily in Milwaukee is by having them think they are landing in Cleveland before hand. Not saying Milwaukee is the most enviable place to visit, but at least it's close to Chicago. The only thing Cleveland is close to is another end to a disappointing sports season. All I know is that whenever Mark Gubin needs to smile he can think about how many passengers are frantically checking their tickets as they look at his roof. It truly is the gift that keeps on giving. 

P.S. The fact that this has been up there since 1978 and it just went viral last week is kind of an indictment on the amount of people that are so excited to get to Milwaukee that they are looking out the window on the way down.