Repent Sinner

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Repent Sinner is a longstanding graffiti street art campaign in Western Canada. The slogan may be either handwritten, typically in black permanent marker, or a sticker bearing the slogan in the same handwriting style may be applied instead.

The fad probably stems from a lone proselytizing Christian, whose campaign may have originated in Edmonton, although this is unconfirmed. The earliest sightings of the graffito began in 1990 and were handwritten on Edmonton, Alberta public transit bus stops and buses, often on the back of bus seats. Subsequent examples were sighted in public places, bathroom stalls and on conspicuous walls both in Edmonton and occasionally Calgary. In 1992 the Edmonton Journal hired a handwriting analyst to use the slogan as a sample. The analyst hypothesized that the author was a Caucasian elderly man, with considerable religious fevour. This was never confirmed.

The individual responsible may have later relocated to Vancouver, British Columbia, or increased exposure may have led others to emulate the original. Rumours have circulated in Vancouver that a devout middle-aged woman of Black Canadian or Afro-Caribbean background is responsible for the campaign. The script in the Edmonton incidences may be seen to differ slightly from that most common form used in Vancouver; they may well have originated from another hand.

"Repent Sinner" could be seen throughout East Vancouver, and downtown throughout much of the 1990s, on stickers, inside public transportation buses, Skytrain cars and Seabus boats, or written on posters, debris in alleyways, and so on. There are many extant samples to be found.

In 2006, T-shirts appeared bearing this phrase, in the same font and style as the stickers. The shirts were produced by the fashion wing of Frog Style Biscuit, a Vancouver-based news and satire website. Reported variations by others include "Report Sinners", "Resume Sinning", "Recent Sinner" and "Repeat Sinning."

While unconfirmed, some consider the "Repent Sinner" phenomenon responsible for Vancouver's sticker art subculture. While they are often used by musical bands, performers and others to promote events at so-called street level, Vancouver sticker art often contains positive or socially-progressive messages, including themes of peace, tolerance, ecological awareness, social awareness or friendship.

It is unclear if the original individual was involved in the production of the "Repent Sinner" stickers. It is interesting to note that the sticker form of "Repent Sinner" was a variant not seen in Alberta.