Adbusters

Adbusters, a Canadian-based anti-advertising magazine working towards reversing, or at least resisting, the rise of 21st century consumer culture, creates 'un-commercials' and spoof ads and has popularised the terms 'culture jamming' and 'subvertising', practices that involve undermining existing advertisements ­ especially those promoting products in a way that aims to take advantage of an audience's insecurities. Typical examples of such spoof ads are available online here. Adbusters' works strives for the 'reversal of priorities in favour of work addressing the environmental, social and cultural crises affecting us all'. My immediate reaction to the Adbusters outlook was to think of the First Things First manifesto written by Ken Garland in 1964. In fact, the magazine republished the proposal in 2000, provoking worldwide debate over the social responsibilities of the modern designer.


















Taking a more focused look at the aforementioned concept of culture jamming reveals a movement that is as absorbing as it is refreshing; revolutionary in some respects, it 'might best be defined as media hacking, information warfare, terror-art, and guerrilla semiotics, all in one'. Culture jamming plays on the icons of consumer culture to raise awareness of issues that the perpetrator deems worthy of attention; the refiguring of logos and product images as a means of challenging current trends and attitudes produces a powerful and lasting message that is, in my opinion, very relevant. Other organisations involved in the practice of culture jamming include Subvertisers; People Like Us; Deportation Alliance; The Yes Men; Mao Dada; D.SEC; Negativland; Idiosyntactix; Billboard Liberation Front; and 'I Chuj' Action.