The power of advertising is alive and well, following the amusing news a 61-year-old man has been forced to get a new phone number after he was inundated with birthday well wishes after his sons put up a billboard asking for people to call him.

The New Jersey man, Chris Ferry, doesn’t turn 62 until Saturday but has already received 15,000 texts, calls and Facebook messages from people who saw the sign on a highway in Linwood, New Jersey, according to CBS News.

The sign featured Ferry’s photo, phone number and the words: “Wish my dad happy birthday”.

In an interview with CBS, Ferry said he at first found his new fame status funny.

He said: “It was fun until this morning. Then I wanted to kill them [his sons]. But I’m going with it, having a good time.

A random well-wisher called Nick was one of the first people to send Ferry a happy birthday message.

Ferry texted back: “‘Nick? Nick who? You don’t know me, how do you it’s my birthday?”

He also said he’s received calls from countries across the world, including Africa and Germany.

Ferry’s son, who has the same name, lives in Flordia, and told station WPBF that he and his brother Michael didn’t expect such a massive response.

Michael Ferry told CBS all he wanted was to wish his dad “an extra special birthday”.

The board will remain where it is for another three weeks.