Overview

• The 'Hamburg Werbefrei' initiative aimed to ban or limit outdoor digital advertising, citing environmental and safety concerns.
• Despite a volunteer-driven effort and a €34,000 budget, the campaign fell short of the 66,000-signature quorum, collecting 50,796 signatures by the May 13 deadline.
• The initiative faced a well-funded counter-campaign by the advertising industry, including the Fachverband Außenwerbung (FAW), which it claims created an unfair playing field.
• Campaign representatives submitted the collected signatures to the Landeswahlleiter for verification, with the Senate expected to officially certify the result soon.
• The group plans to file a lawsuit with the Hamburg Constitutional Court, challenging the neutrality of counter-campaigns and public officials’ statements during the process.