By Patrick Hedlund
DNAinfo News Editor
EAST VILLAGE — It was the poster child for a bad stunt.
Fake "WANTED" posters promoting a new independent film popped up throughout the neighborhood Thursday morning, leading passersby to do double-takes at the bogus warnings.
One sign, which is plastered inside newspaper boxes, shows a photo and description of a missing 24-year-old woman named Delia Maitlin, claiming she was last seen at a Harlem coffee shop a year ago.
The other poster shows a man named Jon Smith, purportedly wanted by the FBI for murder, adding he has a "propensity to target prostitutes as victims."
Small print at the bottom directs readers not to law enforcement but rather to the website for "All God's Creatures," a "romantic thriller" set for release this summer.
The people appearing on the posters aren't crime victims or criminals - they're actors in the film.
The publicity stunt stumped some on Second Avenue, between 14th and Houston streets, who stopped for a closer look, thinking the posters were serious.
"My first thought was sadness. I thought, 'Oh God,'" said Lauren Hobbs, 30, an actress. "It's a serious thing if someone is missing. I don't think it's something you should play with."
Another passerby immediately thought the posters were a joke, noting their hasty placement on the newspaper boxes.
"People that do this stuff are annoying," said Carl Nobel, 83, of the East Village, noting the supposed killer "doesn't look evil enough."
"I would rather they didn't do it," he added. "I resent it."
However, the film's co-creator defended the guerilla marketing campaign, saying filmmakers made the indy movie on a shoestring budget and had no cash to promote it.
"It's sort of what you have to do when you create an independent film," said Matt Jared. "You got to try to get people's attention one way or another."
A police source in the East Village's 9th Precinct said he hadn't yet heard from anyone duped by the faux posters. It's unclear if the fake posters might violate any laws.
Jared says he doesn't think he did anything wrong.
"As far as I know, there's nothing illegal about putting up a piece of paper," he said. "The reality is had that been a movie poster, you would have walked right by."
