Blog#10 (due 10/8): What is culture-jamming? What are its forms? What do you think of it as a tool for activism? Be sure to use specific examples for the readings and the Adbusters website. For an extra point, find an example on youtube.com
Culture jamming, I believe, is the process to halt large scale advertising and bring about a new type of society that focuses less on advertising. I feel that it can be effective as a tool for activism. I personally would have an easier time remembering the ads posted on the Adbusters than the ads I watch on TV, For example, one ad that really stuck out to me was the ad with the stars of the United States flag being represented by the names of major companies across the nation. This type of ad will definitely be easier to recall than an ad for any one, single company. Another example that stood out to me was the ad containing “Joe Chemo” in the hospital. This, I feel, shows the negative effects of tobacco in a more effective way than other methods. A method that presents facts alone will be very forgettable to the general public, as people will have to remember these obscure, specific facts when making a decision. With the “Joe Chemo” ad, the public will only have to remember one unique image of a camel in a hospital. This will be more understandable to many people and have a greater influence on decision-making. Overall, I believe that the introduction of more culture-jamming will have a greater effect on the general public and eventually serve to decrease large-scale advertising.
Culture jamming is when a small group of loosely organized grassroots activists speak out and often parody against the consumer world. They are often referred to as adbusters. There are many forms of culture jamming. In one method the adbusters will declare national holidays against items such as shopping or television. Some will even go as far as to introduce noise into the signal as it passes from transmitter to receiver, causing idiosyncratic, unintended interpretations. They refuse the role of passive shoppers. Their most vocal form of peaceful protest is pranking. These pranks test the public to disprove reputable resources or items that the public should be aware of. One example of this is contained in the attached youtube link. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMQCcOSfaYw&feature=player_embedded The most accessible form of jamming is through parody advertisements. It toys with the ideas that citizens already have embedded in their minds yet it brings a new idea to light. One example of this off of adbusters.com is the McDonalds advertisement. In the ad there is a hamburger stacked up with dozens of patties and a slogan “Are we happy yet?” This pokes fun not only of McDonalds but also our nations obesity issue. I believe that this is an excellent tool for activism. It is peaceful, pretty cost effective and does not do much damage. Of course it may upset some of the people being poked fun at but it does not physically cause destruction.
Culture jamming is a form of advertising that is used to inform the viewers on aspects that they are typically unaware of. They make their way through powerful name brand objects to grab the viewer’s attention and then share with them what they could be doing to fix their situation. I feel this isn’t a bad way to educate the daily American, this could be used more often because of their powerful approach it grabs attention very easily. Even though today advertisements are working their way towards the younger crowd, adbusters still try to play important roles in having the public feel insecure for making the mistake in which they are presenting. The one example that I thought was interesting was how one jammer Jonah Peretti tried to have “sweatshop” printed onto his Nike shoes but was refused and stirred up controversy. Peretti tried to use the Nike brand to break through his culture-jam with the sympathy of who actually manufactures the product. Overall these adbusters have been making a case through activism by the way they express their dominant facts through high end brands such as Nike, Camel, Marlboro, and Calvin Klein.
I believe that culture jamming is a rebellion against the role of consumerism and the marketing industry which promotes consumerism in modern culture. Many culture “jammers” believe that the extreme commercialism of our culture and politics as seen through things such as corporate donations to political campaigns and commercial logos on the sides of race cars and arenas is a step in the wrong direction and that it has a negative impact on the human experience. Culture jamming can come in a number of different forms which are referred to as memes by the Center for Communication and Civic Engagement at the University of Washington. These memes can be many different things such as an image, a spoof video, a spoof of a corporate slogan, or even a “don’t buy anything” holiday to discourage the culture of over indulgence during the holiday season. I think it is an interesting tool for activism because of its use of humor to spoof the consumer culture while managing to send a number of messages which can hopefully raise questions about the values we hold as a society. Due to the difficulty culture jammers usually face in getting their media out into the public I am not sure as to how effective it really is but I think it certainly has the potential to be very effective and possibly influence the public forum if jammers were able to find greater access to media. Ad Buster example from YouTube.com- This is a video which is a spoof of the MasterCard “Priceless” marketing campaign. It is trying to discourage people from buying things which they don’t need and can’t afford. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85qjOfAm6_E&feature=related
Culture jamming is a way that grassroots activists have found they can manipulate the system to show consumes how big of an impact consuming is in a large scale economy. Culture jamming’s goal is to show consumers that there is motive for producers to trick you into buying and buying. They need you to feel like you need more products and or newer products so that companies can thrive off the market. Culture jamming displays its motives through mocking advertisements called “subvertisements” and “uncommercials”. The group organizing this idea also circulates a magazine, they have a website and create many ads advocating against overconsumption. I think that this method the group has of informing the masses is clever and ultimately will be effective in the near future. It will create doubt in the minds of some who agree that America’s consumption levels have gotten to be out of control, and will lead to more activists standing up for what they believe is right. Here is the link for my example of “culture jamming” on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cjBhc3CZPE&feature=related Consuming is a huge deal (clearly in America) but with the pushy nature of marketing and advertisements, it is nearly impossible to deny yourself of the few products you’ve been convinced that you need. I enjoyed the article and the perspective it enlightened me about America’s overconsumption.
Culture jamming is a campaign to loosen the grip that advertisements have on the public and "aims to liberate the mental environment." (Bordwell) The group uses "creative crime," "artistic terrorism," and "vernacular criticism" to open people's eyes to the fact that they have become passive consumers. The AdBusters, a leader in the culture jamming movement, circulates a magazine, lobbies for political action, and airs "uncommercials." These subvertisements shock audiences in order to embolden the message. One Adbuster ad for example pictured Jesus Christ on the cross amongst a sea of garbage with a message about over- consumption. I understand the value and merit of these ideals, but some of the methods I read about seemed to cross a line. Adbusters supplies its followers with lots of propaganda to spread around, one of which being fake parking tickets to put on cars telling them about a "trial by conscience" for having an environmental impact. This seems especially obtrusive. Most people know that driving is not exactly eco- friendly, but current conditions make cars a necessity for many people. Even many of the most environmental conscience people have to drive at some point, so I don't see this guilt factor helping. In fact, it may turn people off from learning more. The fake tickets and some of the other artistic crimes like billboard banditry or audio agitprop I fear discourage the masses from taking an interest in the message. The documentaries and propaganda however I think are the key to wider influence on public policy as argued in the Whiteman reading.
Culture Jamming is a method of advertisement used by grass root activist to open up the truth about a product. Many times these advertisements promote action against the company, weather it be not purchasing their product or camping out in front of the headquarters. These ads destroy the image that big companies try to place in the world about themselves. For example, on AdBusters the image of the American flag with the stars replaced by companies shows that our country has become so obsessed with consumers. It tears down the image of "the best country" and shows one of the many issues that we face here on the home base. Videos such as http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=v9NCMULYN4U about over consumerism raise the issue of those who want to be patriotic but are truly concerned with where our country is headed. These AdBusters truly do have an affect on the viewers. In Whiteman's reading he shows that these ads can go as far as to influence ones political stance or vote.
Culture-jamming is the practice of using the American culture to point out the flaws of the American culture and its values. Culture-jamming comes in the forms of advertisements, holidays, magazines, cartoons, and commercials. Culture-jamming “fights fire with fire”, thus advertisements are used to discourage advertisements and holidays to discourage consumerism, making culture-jamming an ironic method of awareness and action. Culture-jamming spreads awareness about the third world war, which is argued, will take place mentally, inside our own heads. They bring to awareness in the forms of satire, irony, and parodies the many different aspects of the “mental environmentalist”, thus discouraging consumerism, replacing it and other mindless and mentally static activities with civic engagement and intimate interaction, and promoting the freedom of speech and the access involved to have your voice heard.
Culture-jamming is one of the best tools for activism. I fully believe in its effectiveness and its aim to make us all think twice about what we consider to be “the norm”. Its messages and methods of being heard are radical, but nonetheless successful and I think it’s just the slap in the face that America needs to wake up and start changing.
Here is an example of an Adbuster for World Buy Nothing Day:
Culture jamming is a campaign to show the truth about the advertisements of big companies. The American public is easily enticed and manipulated by TV and radio advertisements as well as print ads, and the goal of the ADBusters is to disseminate our cultures consumerism and materialistic values. They do this by showing consumers how their practices affect our global community. They often fight to spread awareness about where our high end products are produced, like in Third World countries, sweatshops, and in other places where workers aren't making living wages and are forced to work in poor conditions. These culture jammers strive to change American values away from consumer driver holidays and material goods and towards things that are more important. Some ways they do this are through Memes, uncommericals, and subertisements. Here is an example of this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cw4vRQIz67o where Adbusters promote a buy nothing day.
Culture jamming basically uses the media and power of advertising to go against the things that the media advertises. I think my favorite example that was given was the "Joe chemo." My mom used to be a sales rep for the Joe Camel cigarette company.So knowing how big this company was, I find it quite hilarious that they used it to show the effects of smoking and tobacco use, showing the camel in the hospital. I think culture jamming definitely gives people the want to take action and participate in the things that they might not normally go against. There are many forms of culture jamming. It involves politics, major companies, businesses, corporations, popular court cases and etc. I found two videos that I find hilarious. And serve as good examples. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_vVUIYOmJM&feature=player_embedded
Lots of today's advertisement focuses on things that will make you happier, sexier, more confident,things that are convenient, and things that are more fun. These are the "selling" points of most products today, and I think that is sad. We can't be drawn to an item unless it is advertised in this way.
Culture jamming is a form of alternative media, defined by Klein in her book No Logo: Taking aim at the brand bullies as “The practice of parodying advertisements and hijacking billboards in order to drastically alter their message” (Klein, 280). It is not classified by one singular form but can encompass all of the means in which information is presented to consumers, such as print media, television ads, online advertisements and so forth. The Adbusters are a global network of culture jammers and creative media designers working to change the way information flows, the way corporations wield power, and the way meaning is produced in our society. The messages that Culture jammers are usually exposing promote a message of anti-corporation, anti-consumer, anti- materialism, and anti-advertising in general. Personally, I believe that culture jamming can be used as a strategy for activism because it can be used as a method to create citizen dissent and organizational resistance to an issue, thus leading to a demand for political change. For example, Whiteman states that a documentary has the potential to link issues to activists and “the deeper and broader these linkages are, the greater the opportunity for political impact. Individuals are still important, but individual activists and individual policy makers are of more interest than individual citizens. Political impact is most likely to occur when at least one element of the issue network puts the documentary to work within the network, using the documentary to approach other elites, to mobilize their own and other groups, to mobilize individual citizens, and ultimately to change public policy”. I think that this stance has a great deal of validity to its argument, as there are numerous examples of this process. Many new policy changes have come about due to the mobilization of the local community calling on local representatives and politicians to take action against various issues. For example, younger generations in the Southeast frequently protest against dirty energy and hope to encourage their local politicians to include sustainable environmental campaigns on their platforms. I have attached the link to two YouTube videos, the first of which is a culture jamming video displaying the many questionable ingredients that are put into Coke. The second video is a culture jammer’s take on Facebook’s advertising methods, how different companies ask for consumer profile information and then sell this data to companies in order to make a profit. During class this was the first method of advertising that came to my mind; I believe that as today’s generation spends more and more of their time online, there has been a shift from commercial television ads to online advertising. I tend to agree with the perspective of this video that the technique of using a user’s personal information to specifically target them is not completely ethical.
Culture-jamming is when small scale organizations seek to bring attention to the negative aspects of the typical advertising we see today. They usually have extreme ways of doing so, and satire is often used in recreations of advertisements to prove a point. The creators of such media are trying to use methods that will show the viewers just how ridiculous their everyday consumption is. Originally used to describe sabotaging billboards, culture-jamming now takes on a new meaning. As Marilyn Bordwell’s “Jamming Culture” states, “culture jamming aims to liberate the mental environment from the powerful grip of market-structured consciousness by reclaiming airwaves and public spaces to propagate ideas instead of plugging products.” It embodies the form of television advertisements, magazines such as Adbusters, and just a general grassroots culture trying to bring us out from under the hood of big producers and commercial advertising. Culture jamming is a movement that wants consumers to reflect and consider their environment; culture jamming aims at getting the typical consumer to finally understand how commercialized the world around them is and why that may not be beneficial to them. According to the Center for Communication and Civic Engagement website, the meme is the method most commonly used by culture-jammers to get their point across. The excerpt from Mark Dery’s piece illustrates several other medium through which culture-jamming can occur. Computer hacking in order to expose wrongdoings by large companies, transmission jamming, pirate TV and radio broadcasting, and subvertising (production of anti-ads) are just some examples. I think culture-jamming could be effective as a mechanism for activism. Most anti-advertisements are very direct about their view toward the subject, so there is definitely passion behind the advertisement. A strong force exists that people could rally behind. However, I don’t think the presence of these anti-ads and pirated radio and TV broadcasts is vast enough for people to start paying attention to it on a regular basis. I think people may see something of the “adbuster” type, consider it for a moment, and not act on it because they only thought about it that one time they saw it. I think if things like this became more widespread, culture-jamming could certainly be a tool for activism. It brings light to what really goes on in these huge industries.
Culture jamming, I believe, is the process to halt large scale advertising and bring about a new type of society that focuses less on advertising. I feel that it can be effective as a tool for activism. I personally would have an easier time remembering the ads posted on the Adbusters than the ads I watch on TV, For example, one ad that really stuck out to me was the ad with the stars of the United States flag being represented by the names of major companies across the nation. This type of ad will definitely be easier to recall than an ad for any one, single company. Another example that stood out to me was the ad containing “Joe Chemo” in the hospital. This, I feel, shows the negative effects of tobacco in a more effective way than other methods. A method that presents facts alone will be very forgettable to the general public, as people will have to remember these obscure, specific facts when making a decision. With the “Joe Chemo” ad, the public will only have to remember one unique image of a camel in a hospital. This will be more understandable to many people and have a greater influence on decision-making. Overall, I believe that the introduction of more culture-jamming will have a greater effect on the general public and eventually serve to decrease large-scale advertising.
ReplyDeleteCulture jamming is when a small group of loosely organized grassroots activists speak out and often parody against the consumer world. They are often referred to as adbusters. There are many forms of culture jamming. In one method the adbusters will declare national holidays against items such as shopping or television. Some will even go as far as to introduce noise into the signal as it passes from transmitter to receiver, causing idiosyncratic, unintended interpretations. They refuse the role of passive shoppers. Their most vocal form of peaceful protest is pranking. These pranks test the public to disprove reputable resources or items that the public should be aware of. One example of this is contained in the attached youtube link. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMQCcOSfaYw&feature=player_embedded The most accessible form of jamming is through parody advertisements. It toys with the ideas that citizens already have embedded in their minds yet it brings a new idea to light. One example of this off of adbusters.com is the McDonalds advertisement. In the ad there is a hamburger stacked up with dozens of patties and a slogan “Are we happy yet?” This pokes fun not only of McDonalds but also our nations obesity issue. I believe that this is an excellent tool for activism. It is peaceful, pretty cost effective and does not do much damage. Of course it may upset some of the people being poked fun at but it does not physically cause destruction.
ReplyDeleteCulture jamming is a form of advertising that is used to inform the viewers on aspects that they are typically unaware of. They make their way through powerful name brand objects to grab the viewer’s attention and then share with them what they could be doing to fix their situation. I feel this isn’t a bad way to educate the daily American, this could be used more often because of their powerful approach it grabs attention very easily. Even though today advertisements are working their way towards the younger crowd, adbusters still try to play important roles in having the public feel insecure for making the mistake in which they are presenting. The one example that I thought was interesting was how one jammer Jonah Peretti tried to have “sweatshop” printed onto his Nike shoes but was refused and stirred up controversy. Peretti tried to use the Nike brand to break through his culture-jam with the sympathy of who actually manufactures the product. Overall these adbusters have been making a case through activism by the way they express their dominant facts through high end brands such as Nike, Camel, Marlboro, and Calvin Klein.
ReplyDeleteHow do the adbusters "make a case"? Elaborate how which facts regarding high-end brands are presented
DeleteI believe that culture jamming is a rebellion against the role of consumerism and the marketing industry which promotes consumerism in modern culture. Many culture “jammers” believe that the extreme commercialism of our culture and politics as seen through things such as corporate donations to political campaigns and commercial logos on the sides of race cars and arenas is a step in the wrong direction and that it has a negative impact on the human experience. Culture jamming can come in a number of different forms which are referred to as memes by the Center for Communication and Civic Engagement at the University of Washington. These memes can be many different things such as an image, a spoof video, a spoof of a corporate slogan, or even a “don’t buy anything” holiday to discourage the culture of over indulgence during the holiday season. I think it is an interesting tool for activism because of its use of humor to spoof the consumer culture while managing to send a number of messages which can hopefully raise questions about the values we hold as a society. Due to the difficulty culture jammers usually face in getting their media out into the public I am not sure as to how effective it really is but I think it certainly has the potential to be very effective and possibly influence the public forum if jammers were able to find greater access to media.
ReplyDeleteAd Buster example from YouTube.com- This is a video which is a spoof of the MasterCard “Priceless” marketing campaign. It is trying to discourage people from buying things which they don’t need and can’t afford.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85qjOfAm6_E&feature=related
Culture jamming is a way that grassroots activists have found they can manipulate the system to show consumes how big of an impact consuming is in a large scale economy. Culture jamming’s goal is to show consumers that there is motive for producers to trick you into buying and buying. They need you to feel like you need more products and or newer products so that companies can thrive off the market. Culture jamming displays its motives through mocking advertisements called “subvertisements” and “uncommercials”. The group organizing this idea also circulates a magazine, they have a website and create many ads advocating against overconsumption. I think that this method the group has of informing the masses is clever and ultimately will be effective in the near future. It will create doubt in the minds of some who agree that America’s consumption levels have gotten to be out of control, and will lead to more activists standing up for what they believe is right. Here is the link for my example of “culture jamming” on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cjBhc3CZPE&feature=related Consuming is a huge deal (clearly in America) but with the pushy nature of marketing and advertisements, it is nearly impossible to deny yourself of the few products you’ve been convinced that you need. I enjoyed the article and the perspective it enlightened me about America’s overconsumption.
ReplyDeleteCulture jamming is a campaign to loosen the grip that advertisements have on the public and "aims to liberate the mental environment." (Bordwell) The group uses "creative crime," "artistic terrorism," and "vernacular criticism" to open people's eyes to the fact that they have become passive consumers. The AdBusters, a leader in the culture jamming movement, circulates a magazine, lobbies for political action, and airs "uncommercials." These subvertisements shock audiences in order to embolden the message. One Adbuster ad for example pictured Jesus Christ on the cross amongst a sea of garbage with a message about over- consumption. I understand the value and merit of these ideals, but some of the methods I read about seemed to cross a line. Adbusters supplies its followers with lots of propaganda to spread around, one of which being fake parking tickets to put on cars telling them about a "trial by conscience" for having an environmental impact. This seems especially obtrusive. Most people know that driving is not exactly eco- friendly, but current conditions make cars a necessity for many people. Even many of the most environmental conscience people have to drive at some point, so I don't see this guilt factor helping. In fact, it may turn people off from learning more. The fake tickets and some of the other artistic crimes like billboard banditry or audio agitprop I fear discourage the masses from taking an interest in the message. The documentaries and propaganda however I think are the key to wider influence on public policy as argued in the Whiteman reading.
ReplyDeletehttp://araya1.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/culture-jam.jpg
ReplyDeleteCulture Jamming is a method of advertisement used by grass root activist to open up the truth about a product. Many times these advertisements promote action against the company, weather it be not purchasing their product or camping out in front of the headquarters. These ads destroy the image that big companies try to place in the world about themselves. For example, on AdBusters the image of the American flag with the stars replaced by companies shows that our country has become so obsessed with consumers. It tears down the image of "the best country" and shows one of the many issues that we face here on the home base. Videos such as http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=v9NCMULYN4U about over consumerism raise the issue of those who want to be patriotic but are truly concerned with where our country is headed. These AdBusters truly do have an affect on the viewers. In Whiteman's reading he shows that these ads can go as far as to influence ones political stance or vote.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteCulture-jamming is the practice of using the American culture to point out the flaws of the American culture and its values. Culture-jamming comes in the forms of advertisements, holidays, magazines, cartoons, and commercials. Culture-jamming “fights fire with fire”, thus advertisements are used to discourage advertisements and holidays to discourage consumerism, making culture-jamming an ironic method of awareness and action. Culture-jamming spreads awareness about the third world war, which is argued, will take place mentally, inside our own heads. They bring to awareness in the forms of satire, irony, and parodies the many different aspects of the “mental environmentalist”, thus discouraging consumerism, replacing it and other mindless and mentally static activities with civic engagement and intimate interaction, and promoting the freedom of speech and the access involved to have your voice heard.
ReplyDeleteCulture-jamming is one of the best tools for activism. I fully believe in its effectiveness and its aim to make us all think twice about what we consider to be “the norm”. Its messages and methods of being heard are radical, but nonetheless successful and I think it’s just the slap in the face that America needs to wake up and start changing.
Here is an example of an Adbuster for World Buy Nothing Day:
http://youtu.be/E_jpG6kv6Pw
Culture jamming is a campaign to show the truth about the advertisements of big companies. The American public is easily enticed and manipulated by TV and radio advertisements as well as print ads, and the goal of the ADBusters is to disseminate our cultures consumerism and materialistic values. They do this by showing consumers how their practices affect our global community. They often fight to spread awareness about where our high end products are produced, like in Third World countries, sweatshops, and in other places where workers aren't making living wages and are forced to work in poor conditions. These culture jammers strive to change American values away from consumer driver holidays and material goods and towards things that are more important. Some ways they do this are through Memes, uncommericals, and subertisements. Here is an example of this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cw4vRQIz67o where Adbusters promote a buy nothing day.
ReplyDeleteCulture jamming basically uses the media and power of advertising to go against the things that the media advertises. I think my favorite example that was given was the "Joe chemo." My mom used to be a sales rep for the Joe Camel cigarette company.So knowing how big this company was, I find it quite hilarious that they used it to show the effects of smoking and tobacco use, showing the camel in the hospital. I think culture jamming definitely gives people the want to take action and participate in the things that they might not normally go against. There are many forms of culture jamming. It involves politics, major companies, businesses, corporations, popular court cases and etc. I found two videos that I find hilarious. And serve as good examples. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_vVUIYOmJM&feature=player_embedded
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/user/chipotle?v=hI_2pvOZTZ0
Lots of today's advertisement focuses on things that will make you happier, sexier, more confident,things that are convenient, and things that are more fun. These are the "selling" points of most products today, and I think that is sad. We can't be drawn to an item unless it is advertised in this way.
Culture jamming is a form of alternative media, defined by Klein in her book No Logo: Taking aim at the brand bullies as “The practice of parodying advertisements and hijacking billboards in order to drastically alter their message” (Klein, 280). It is not classified by one singular form but can encompass all of the means in which information is presented to consumers, such as print media, television ads, online advertisements and so forth.
ReplyDeleteThe Adbusters are a global network of culture jammers and creative media designers working to change the way information flows, the way corporations wield power, and the way meaning is produced in our society. The messages that Culture jammers are usually exposing promote a message of anti-corporation, anti-consumer, anti- materialism, and anti-advertising in general.
Personally, I believe that culture jamming can be used as a strategy for activism because it can be used as a method to create citizen dissent and organizational resistance to an issue, thus leading to a demand for political change. For example, Whiteman states that a documentary has the potential to link issues to activists and “the deeper and broader these linkages are, the greater the opportunity for political impact. Individuals are still important, but individual activists and individual policy makers are of more interest than individual citizens. Political impact is most likely to occur when at least one element of the issue network puts the documentary to work within the network, using the documentary to approach other elites, to mobilize their own and other groups, to mobilize individual citizens, and ultimately to change public policy”.
I think that this stance has a great deal of validity to its argument, as there are numerous examples of this process. Many new policy changes have come about due to the mobilization of the local community calling on local representatives and politicians to take action against various issues. For example, younger generations in the Southeast frequently protest against dirty energy and hope to encourage their local politicians to include sustainable environmental campaigns on their platforms.
I have attached the link to two YouTube videos, the first of which is a culture jamming video displaying the many questionable ingredients that are put into Coke. The second video is a culture jammer’s take on Facebook’s advertising methods, how different companies ask for consumer profile information and then sell this data to companies in order to make a profit. During class this was the first method of advertising that came to my mind; I believe that as today’s generation spends more and more of their time online, there has been a shift from commercial television ads to online advertising. I tend to agree with the perspective of this video that the technique of using a user’s personal information to specifically target them is not completely ethical.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LYLgPzV_Zs&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gR5gEy3HkzE&feature=related
Culture-jamming is when small scale organizations seek to bring attention to the negative aspects of the typical advertising we see today. They usually have extreme ways of doing so, and satire is often used in recreations of advertisements to prove a point. The creators of such media are trying to use methods that will show the viewers just how ridiculous their everyday consumption is. Originally used to describe sabotaging billboards, culture-jamming now takes on a new meaning. As Marilyn Bordwell’s “Jamming Culture” states, “culture jamming aims to liberate the mental environment from the powerful grip of market-structured consciousness by reclaiming airwaves and public spaces to propagate ideas instead of plugging products.” It embodies the form of television advertisements, magazines such as Adbusters, and just a general grassroots culture trying to bring us out from under the hood of big producers and commercial advertising. Culture jamming is a movement that wants consumers to reflect and consider their environment; culture jamming aims at getting the typical consumer to finally understand how commercialized the world around them is and why that may not be beneficial to them. According to the Center for Communication and Civic Engagement website, the meme is the method most commonly used by culture-jammers to get their point across. The excerpt from Mark Dery’s piece illustrates several other medium through which culture-jamming can occur. Computer hacking in order to expose wrongdoings by large companies, transmission jamming, pirate TV and radio broadcasting, and subvertising (production of anti-ads) are just some examples. I think culture-jamming could be effective as a mechanism for activism. Most anti-advertisements are very direct about their view toward the subject, so there is definitely passion behind the advertisement. A strong force exists that people could rally behind. However, I don’t think the presence of these anti-ads and pirated radio and TV broadcasts is vast enough for people to start paying attention to it on a regular basis. I think people may see something of the “adbuster” type, consider it for a moment, and not act on it because they only thought about it that one time they saw it. I think if things like this became more widespread, culture-jamming could certainly be a tool for activism. It brings light to what really goes on in these huge industries.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oNedC3j0e4&feature=BFa&list=PL66A1DA5E026181A9
Explanation of this culture-jamming experiment:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZCym0DB7hA