Billboard Birthday Dad Flooded with 10K Calls and Texts

At first glance, one might think the sons of Chris Ferry did a sweet thing by advertising their dad’s birthday on a huge billboard in South New Jersey. But the fact that it includes his phone number and instructions to call him makes one wonder if the gesture was nothing more than a sadistic prank.
It turns out the latter is true. Ferry, who turns 62 on Saturday, has already received more than 10,000 calls and texts since a photo of the billboard went viral last week. “They get me on the phone, they want to talk to me, they want to tell me about their most memorable birthday,” the Linwood resident says. “I had one guy tell me, ‘I tried to call my father to tell him about the billboard and he didn’t pick up. So I figured I would call you to talk to you and now you’re not picking up.”
Christopher Ferry Jr., who bought the ad space with his brother Michael, says, “We wanted it to be a birthday for him to remember.”