For drivers · 6 min read · Updated October 2026

What does it mean to be the neighbour who champions a local business?

On Lunar (lunarcar.me), drivers can name the local businesses they'd like to carry and decline any match they don't want — turning a car into a trusted, public recommendation, not just an ad.

Being the neighbour who champions a local business means putting your name — or at least your car — behind a business you actually like, in a way your neighbours notice and trust. On Lunar (lunarcar.me), a car advertising marketplace live in Vancouver, BC and Tulsa, OK, drivers can name local businesses they'd like to carry and can decline any match they're offered, rather than being assigned a random national brand. That choice is what separates a decal from a billboard: a billboard is rented space, but a driver's decal is closer to a recommendation from someone you know — and people trust those more than any ad.

Why does a neighbour's recommendation beat any paid ad?

Because trust in advertising has collapsed almost everywhere except one place: people you actually know. Nielsen's 2021 Global Trust in Advertising study, based on more than 40,000 consumers, found that 88% of people trust recommendations from someone they know above every paid channel — TV, search, social, all of it. A decal on a neighbour's car reads less like a paid ad and more like that same kind of endorsement, just visible to the whole block instead of one conversation. That's the gap Lunar's model is built to close: a real driver who agreed to carry a real business, on a car parked on a real street.

What happens when the local businesses you love disappear?

A lot of people feel it directly. A 2024 survey covered by Forbes found roughly three in four people feel sad, worried, or even a little angry when a favourite local shop closes — and that same group said they'd spend about $150 a month more to keep the businesses they love in business. Separately, research from IPX1031 and LendingTree puts the number who'll pay more to shop local at 57%, with 65% saying they wish they shopped local more often than they do. People already want to back local businesses. A decal gives that instinct somewhere to go besides a receipt.

How is a driver's endorsement different from a brand's own ad?

Content that comes from a real person consistently reads as more authentic than content a brand makes about itself. Stackla/Nosto research from 2021 found real-people content is rated 2.4 to 5.9 times more authentic than brand-produced or influencer content, and only about 19% of people say they actually trust content a brand creates about itself. A driver's car isn't scripted content — it's a person who agreed to carry a local business, driving their normal routes. That distinction is also why community ties matter here: Pew Research puts feelings of attachment to one's local community at roughly 57–60% of Americans, which is the audience a decal is actually reaching — not a national feed, a neighbourhood.

How does Lunar give you a say in the business you back?

A car has up to four sticker spots — one circle decal per door — and a driver fills as many as they want, with no minimum. During signup, drivers can name local businesses they'd like to carry. Lunar looks at those businesses first when they're on Lunar, then at businesses that overlap the driver's driving zones — a preference, never a guarantee. Lunar never puts two decals from the same business on one car, and every match is an offer a driver can accept or decline. It's opt-in from the start: nothing goes on your car until you say yes.

Is this still advertising, or is it something else?

It's both, honestly. The business is paying for it, so it's advertising — Lunar's local businesses buy monthly plans starting at $500, and part of what they're buying is exactly this trust effect. But for the driver, it functions more like public loyalty: you're not memorizing a script or posting a review, you're just letting your car say, visibly, which local businesses you're glad exist. Drivers get paid for it too — a car running multiple stickers can earn up to $500 a month (estimates, not guarantees). The income is real, but so is the fact that you agreed to carry that business's name.

• 88% of people trust a recommendation from someone they know above any paid ad — Nielsen, 2021
• ~75% feel a sense of loss when a local shop closes; the same group would spend ~$150/month more to keep favourites open — 2024 survey via Forbes
• 57% of Americans say they'll pay more to shop local; 65% wish they shopped local more often — IPX1031/LendingTree
• Real-person content is rated 2.4–5.9x more authentic than brand-made content; only ~19% trust brand-made content — Stackla/Nosto, 2021
• 57–60% of Americans feel attached to their local community — Pew Research, 2018
• Drivers can name businesses they'd like to carry, and every match is an offer they can accept or decline

None of this replaces word of mouth — a decal doesn't have a conversation with anyone. But it does something word of mouth can't: it's visible every time the car is on the road or parked outside the grocery store, to people who'll never hear you say the business's name out loud. For a business that already earns loyalty one customer at a time, that's a cheap way to turn quiet trust into something a whole neighbourhood can see.