Bizarre welcome signs troll tourists at Sydney, Melbourne Airport

New signs at airports across the country are having travellers do a double take.

New signs at airports across the country are having travellers do a double take.

Those arriving at Sydney Airport are being greeted with a ‘Welcome to Melbourne’ billboard, while those arriving in Melbourne are met with ‘Welcome to Sydney’.

Outside Brisbane Airport, travellers will spot a ‘Welcome to Darwin’ sign, while over in Perth there is a ‘Welcome to Adelaide’ sign, and people in Adelaide are being welcomed to Perth.

Optical retail chain Specsavers is behind the cheeky billboards, which include the slogan “should’ve gone to Specsavers” in a smaller font.

Fans of the trickery have declared themselves “obsessed”, labelled the idea “genius”, and the company, “cheeky buggers”.

One traveller snapped a picture of the billboard at Sydney Airport and shared it to social media on Thursday. Picture: Reddit

A picture of a ‘Welcome to Melbourne’ billboard at Sydney Airport was shared on Reddit, attracting hundreds of comments.

“I mean that’s good, until you freak a tourist out,” one top comment read.

“I hope this is in domestic,” added another.

“Hate being advertised to, but I do have to give credit when it’s a little clever. I like it.

Always good to confuse the morning commuters,” wrote a third.

“Whoever made this ad is such a troll. Love it,” praised another fan.

“I feel like Australians in general love to troll tourists,” pointed out someone else.

It is a reputation Aussies have been called out for on social media.

A ‘Welcome to Sydney’ ad at Melbourne Airport. Picture: Supplied

The billboards are not only inside the terminals. Picture: Supplied

The billboards are part of Specsavers’ new TV campaign, which features a man in a Hawaiian shirt comically rushing through the airport – overcoming obstacles like needing to skull his water at the security checkpoint.

When he thinks he has finally made it to board the plane he realises he has run up a set of stairs not connected to an aircraft that actually lead to no where.

The ad was directed by Declan Lowney, known for Ted Lasso.

“Their [Specsavers] work has a comedy voice of its own, so my role was to get the best out of the script and maximise the laughs,” Mr Lowney said.

“And telling a story purely with images – along with humour and wit – was right up my runway.”

Shaun Briggs, the director of marketing planning at Specsavers, said despite the laughs, there was “a core serious message” at the heart of the campaign.

“Mistakes are easily made if your eyesight is failing, which is a good reminder to Australians of all ages to look after their eye health as we head into the busy school and summer holiday travel periods,” he said.