Subvertising

Last updated
Two billboards with the same original content; the billboard on the right is an example of subvertising after being vandalized. Where is your family - due process.jpg
Two billboards with the same original content; the billboard on the right is an example of subvertising after being vandalized.
The ExxonMobil logo as subverted by Greenpeace. Exxtreme Droughts.jpg
The ExxonMobil logo as subverted by Greenpeace.

Subvertising (a portmanteau of subvert and advertising) is the practice of making spoofs or parodies of corporate and political advertisements. [1] The cultural critic Mark Dery coined the term in 1991. [2] Subvertisements are anti-ads that deflect advertising's attempts to turn the people's attention in a given direction. [3] According to author Naomi Klein, subvertising offers a way of speaking back to advertising, ‘forcing a dialogue where before there was only a declaration.’ [4] They may take the form of a new image or an alteration to an existing image or icon, often in a satirical manner. [5]

Contents

A subvertisement can also be referred to as a meme hack and can be a part of social hacking, billboard hacking or culture jamming. [6] According to Adbusters , a Canadian magazine and a proponent of counter-culture and subvertising, "A well-produced 'subvert' mimics the look and feel of the targeted ad, promoting the classic 'double-take' as viewers suddenly realize they have been duped. Subverts create cognitive dissonance, with the apparent aim of cutting through the 'hype and glitz of our mediated reality' to reveal a 'deeper truth within'.[ citation needed ]

Subvertising is a type of advertising hijacking (détournement publicité), where détournement techniques developed in the 1950s by the French Letterist International and later used by the better-known Situationist International have been used as a contemporary critical form to re-route advertising messages.

In 1972, the logo of Richard Nixon's reelection campaign posters was subverted with two x's in Nixon's name (as in the Exxon logo) to suggest the corporate ownership of the Republican party. [7] [8]

Notable instances

In Sydney, Australia in October 1979, a group of anti-smoking activists formed a group called B.U.G.A.U.P. and began altering the text on tobacco billboards to subvert the messages of tobacco advertisers, although advertisements for other unhealthy products were also targeted. [9] [10]

On November 6, 2008, The Yes Men recruited thousands of social activists to hand out 100,000 copies of a spoof New York Times newspaper set six months in the future. [11] The goal was to utilize a tangible and trusted medium, the New York Times, to argue for a particular future, in that case, one where the Iraq War had ended. Other groups involved with this project included Anti-Advertising Agency, Code Pink, United for Peace and Justice, May First/People Link, and Improv Everywhere.[ citation needed ]

At the 2015 Paris COP21 climate conference, the collective known as Brandalism installed 600 posters that attacked what they perceived as the hypocrisy of corporate sponsors. [12]

In 2017, Brandalism and other groups of subvertisers founded the collective Subvertisers International. [13] Using billboard hacking and other forms of subvertising, they promote the idea that advertising creates unhealthy body images, impacts democracy negatively, and sustains a culture of consumerism that takes a heavy toll on the planet.

Around 2018, a group in London called Legally Black changed the race of the characters in Harry Potter posters from white to black. [12]

In 2022, billboards in London, Bristol, Manchester, Sheffield and Brighton, and 11 other European cities, were hijacked to highlight role of airline emissions in the Climate crisis. They highlighted the large carbon footprint of flying, that the majority of flights are taken by a tiny fraction of the total population, and that airlines have missed all but one of the industry’s self-imposed sustainability targets. [14]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Advertising</span> Form of communication for marketing, typically paid for

Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a specific good or service, but there are wide range of uses, the most common being the commercial advertisement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Détournement</span> Artistic style

A détournement, meaning "rerouting, hijacking" in French, is a technique developed in the 1950s by the Letterist International, and later adapted by the Situationist International (SI), that was defined in the SI's inaugural 1958 journal as "[t]he integration of present or past artistic productions into a superior construction of a milieu. In this sense there can be no situationist painting or music, but only a situationist use of those means. In a more elementary sense, détournement within the old cultural spheres is a method of propaganda, a method which reveals the wearing out and loss of importance of those spheres."

<i>Adbusters</i> Canadian nonprofit organization

The Adbusters Media Foundation is a Canadian-based not-for-profit, pro-environment organization founded in 1989 by Kalle Lasn and Bill Schmalz in Vancouver, British Columbia. Adbusters describes itself as "a global network of artists, activists, writers, pranksters, students, educators and entrepreneurs who want to advance the new social activist movement of the information age."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Billboard</span> Advertising signage

A billboard is a large outdoor advertising structure, typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertisements to passing pedestrians and drivers. Typically brands use billboards to build their brands or to push for their new products.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Camel</span> Cigarette mascot

Joe Camel was an advertising mascot used by the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (RJR) for their cigarette brand Camel. The character was created in 1974 for a French advertising campaign, and was redesigned for the American market in 1988. He appeared in magazine advertisements, clothing, and billboards among other print media and merchandise.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kool (cigarette)</span> American brand of menthol cigarettes

Kool is an American brand of menthol cigarette, currently owned and manufactured by ITG Brands LLC, a subsidiary of Imperial Tobacco Company. Kool cigarettes sold outside of the United States are manufactured by British American Tobacco.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parody advertisement</span> Short comedy scene imitative of marketing communication

A parody advertisement is a fictional advertisement for a non-existent product, either done within another advertisement for an actual product, or done simply as parody of advertisements—used either as a way of ridiculing or drawing negative attention towards a real advertisement or such an advertisement's subject, or as a comedic device, such as in a comedy skit or sketch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kalle Lasn</span> Estonian-Canadian film maker, author, and activist

Kalle Lasn is an Estonian-Canadian film maker, author, magazine editor, and activist. Near the end of World War II, his family fled Estonia and Lasn spent some time in a German refugee camp. At age seven he was resettled in Australia with his family, where he grew up and remained until the late 1960s, attending school in Canberra. In the late 1960s, he founded a market research company in Tokyo, and in 1970, moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Over the course of twenty years, he produced documentaries for PBS and Canada’s National Film Board. He currently resides in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Out-of-home (OOH) advertising, also called outdoor advertising, outdoor media, and out-of-home media, is advertising experienced outside of the home. This includes billboards, wallscapes, and posters seen while "on the go". It also includes place-based media seen in places such as convenience stores, medical centers, salons, and other brick-and-mortar venues. OOH advertising formats fall into four main categories: billboards, street furniture, transit, and alternative.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Billboard Utilising Graffitists Against Unhealthy Promotions</span> Australian artistic movement practicing defacement of billboards

Billboard Utilising Graffitists Against Unhealthy Promotions, or B.U.G.A.U.P. is an Australian subvertising artistic movement. It practices billboard hijacking using détournement or modification with graffiti of such billboard advertising that promotes something that is deemed unhealthy.

A meme hack is changing a meme to express a point of view not intended or inherent in the original image, or even opposite to the original. The meme can be thoughts, concepts, ideas, theories, opinions, beliefs, practices, habits, songs, or icons. Distortions of corporate logos are also referred to as subvertising. Another definition is: "Intentionally altering a concept or phrase, or using it in a different context, so as to subvert the meaning."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anti-consumerism</span> Opposition to excessive systemic buying and use of material possessions

Anti-consumerism is a sociopolitical ideology that is opposed to consumerism, the continual buying and consuming of material possessions. Anti-consumerism is concerned with the private actions of business corporations in pursuit of financial and economic goals at the expense of the public welfare, especially in matters of environmental protection, social stratification, and ethics in the governing of a society. In politics, anti-consumerism overlaps with environmental activism, anti-globalization, and animal-rights activism; moreover, a conceptual variation of anti-consumerism is post-consumerism, living in a material way that transcends consumerism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Lambert</span> American artist (born 1976)

Steve Lambert is an American artist who works with issues of advertising and the use of public space. He is a founder of the Anti-Advertising Agency, an artist-run initiative which critiques advertising through artistic interventions, and of the Budget Gallery which creates exhibitions by painting over outdoor advertisements and hanging submitted art in its place. Lambert's artistic practice includes drawing, performance, intervention, culture jamming, public art, video, and internet art. He has worked with the Graffiti Research Lab, Glowlab, and as a senior fellow at Eyebeam.

Advertising is a form of selling a product to a certain audience in which communication is intended to persuade an audience to purchase products, ideals or services regardless of whether they want or need them. While advertising can be seen as a way to inform the audience about a certain product or idea it also comes with a cost because the sellers have to find a way to show the seller interest in their product. It is not without social costs. Unsolicited commercial email and other forms of spam have become so prevalent that they are a major nuisance to internet users, as well as being a financial burden on internet service providers. Advertising increasingly invades public spaces, such as schools, which some critics argue is a form of child exploitation. Advertising frequently uses psychological pressure on the intended consumer, which may be harmful. As a result of these criticisms, the advertising industry has seen low approval rates in surveys and negative cultural portrayals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Culture jamming</span> Form of protest to subvert media culture

Culture jamming is a form of protest used by many anti-consumerist social movements to disrupt or subvert media culture and its mainstream cultural institutions, including corporate advertising. It attempts to "expose the methods of domination" of mass society.

A promo is a form of commercial advertising used in broadcast media, either television or radio, which promotes a program airing on a television or radio station/network to the viewing or listening audience. Promos usually appear during commercial breaks, although sometimes they appear during another program.

Brandalism is an activist artist collective founded in 2012 in the United Kingdom which engages in subvertising, culture jamming, and protest art. Brandalism uses subvertising to alter and critique corporate advertising by creating parodies or spoofs to replace ads in public areas. The art is typically intended to draw attention to political and social issues such as consumerism and the environment. Advertisements produced by the Brandalism movement are silk screen printed artworks, and may take the form of a new image, or a satirical alteration to an existing image, icon or logo. The advertisements are often pasted over billboards, or propped under the glass of roadside advertising spaces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doppelgänger brand image</span> Parody logo or narrative intended to highlight ethical issues regarding the product advertised

A doppelgänger brand image is a parody logo or narrative intended to highlight ethical issues regarding the product advertised. They are commonly associated with the brand's lack of authenticity, and most are created as a form of individual protest, either posted digitally on social media, or displayed as physical graffiti.

Billboard hacking or billboard hijacking is the practice of altering a billboard without the consent of the owner. It may involve physically pasting new media over the existing image, or hacking into the system used to control electronic billboard displays. The aim is to replace the programmed video with a different video or image. The replaced media may be displayed for various reasons, including culture jamming, shock value, promotion, activism, political propaganda, or simply to amuse viewers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Snow</span>

William Snow otherwise known as Bill or Billy was an anti-smoking activist, a co-founder of BUGA UP and contributor to the banning of tobacco advertising and the realisation of a smoke-free environment in Australia. In addition to his anti-smoking activities, he was an avid campaigner against nuclear weapons and destruction of the environment and was a strong supporter of Aboriginal Rights. Bill died of a ruptured aorta on 8 March, 2018. He is survived by his daughter Emily and his sisters Dorothy and Joan.

References

  1. Barley, Alexander (May 21, 2001). "Battle of the image". New Statesman . Retrieved 2010-12-09.
  2. Dekeyser, Thomas (2020-08-09). "Dismantling the advertising city: Subvertising and the urban commons to come". Environment and Planning D: Society and Space. 39 (2): 309–327. doi: 10.1177/0263775820946755 . ISSN   0263-7758.
  3. Dery, Mark (1993). Culture Jamming: Hacking, Slashing, and Sniping in the Empire of Signs. New York: Open Media.
  4. Klein, Naomi (8 May 1997). "Subvertising: Culture jamming reemerges on the media landscape". The Village Voice.
  5. Bonner, Matt; Raoul, Vyvian (2022-11-28). "Subvertising: Sharing a Different Set of Messages". The Commons Social Change Library. Retrieved 2023-03-02.
  6. "Clearing the Mindscape". Adbusters . March 4, 2009. Archived from the original on September 27, 2011. Retrieved 2010-12-09.
  7. "Exxon Victorious". Time. March 5, 1973. Archived from the original on February 5, 2008.
  8. "Sore-Loserman: From political parody to charity's windfall. CNN. 4 Dec. 2000". Archives.cnn.com. Retrieved 2014-03-29.
  9. "Civil Disobedience and Tobacco Control: The Case of BUGA UP, Simon Chapman" (PDF). Tobacco Control Vol. 5, No. 3, 1996. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  10. McIntyre, Iain (2019-04-10). "BUGA-UP - Billboard Utilising Graffitists Against Unhealthy Promotions". The Commons Social Change Library. Retrieved 2023-03-02.
  11. Chan, Sewell (2008-11-12). "Liberal Pranksters Hand Out Times Spoof". City Room. Retrieved 2024-01-17.
  12. 1 2 "The hackers using street ads to protest". 23 March 2018.
  13. Monks, Kieron. "'Subvertising' hackers are using street ads to protest". CNN. Retrieved 2020-08-15.
  14. "Activists subvert poster sites to shame aviation and ad industries". the Guardian. 2022-09-22. Retrieved 2022-09-23.