This poster tries to pass itself off as a public service, but it really is an ad for Hand to Hand, a weekly newspaper of classified advertising. The idea is that it's better to place an ad than to hang announcements at bus stops and other places around the city.
In contrast to such newspapers in the United States, advertisers place their ads free, but shoppers have to buy the paper.
Ads
for frozen meat cutlets and St. Petersbug's "Wall Street" dominate
this scene on Vasilevskii Island. Even the shuttle service van bears an
ad -- for window coverings.