Subvertising
 Subvertising  (protest)   | |
|---|---|
 A subvertisement of an advertisement for the UK Army. | |
| Interest of | Adbusters |
Subvertising is a portmanteau of subversion and advertising, the act and results of making small, subtle changes to billboards to produce large impacts to the billboards messaging. The two main methods are the addition of a word, phrase, logo, etc. with spray-paint, stencils, stickers, etc. - or the replacement of an advert with an alternative but similar ad.
Contents
Wikipedia's official narrative
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]
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]
- ~ Wikipedia: Subvertising
Creators
David Graeber writes in Bullshit Jobs about workers in the advertising "industry who resent what they are made to do for a living and wish to use the powers they’ve acquired in advertising for good instead of evil — for instance, by designing flashy “subvertising” that attacks consumer culture as a whole."
Methods
The Billboard Liberation Front[7] has written that "a can of spray paint, a blithe spirit, and a balmy night are all your really need" but has nevertheless published a guide about target selection, planning, tactics, personnel and publicity.[8]
Deep State policy
The Supranational Deep State agenda of creating unthinking obedience makes it a tempting target for subvertising.
Curtailing free speech
- Full article: Censorship
- Full article: Free speech
- Full article: Censorship
COVID-19 "vaccine"
- Full article: “COVID-19/Vaccine”
- Full article: “COVID-19/Vaccine”
A subvertised COVID-19 vaccination street sign, 2021.
Sticker: "This only ends when you take off your muzzle and stop complying."
The White Rose is a global subvertising campaign using cheap, easily printed stickers. (Telegram Channel)
The unprecedented campaign to promote COVID-19 vaccines has inspired resistance in the form of subvertising.
~ Israel Wins! ~
From using starvation as a weapon of war to bombing hospitals, there's no war crime off limits for this team."
War on Palestine
"War on Terror"
- Full article:
“War on Terror”
- Full article:
The "War on Terror", launched by the 9-11 event, was an aggressive effort to promote fear and change social norms. This energy has inspired activists to use subvertising to encourage people to rethink it and question its goals.
A subvertisement of the
2008 Counter-Terrorism advertising campaign.
Advertising and consumerism
- Full article: Advertising
- Full article: Consumerism
- Full article: Advertising
The vacuity of some consumerist adverts make them an easy target for subvertising.
"Life's better with pictures."
Reality's even better.
"Shiny, isn't it?"
Is that all you want?
"Buy me I'll change your life."
Adbusters
- Full article: Adbusters
- Full article: Adbusters
Banksy
- Full article: Banksy
- Full article: Banksy
Banksy's political satire was lost on Tendring District Council.
References
- ↑
{{URL|example.com|optional display text}} - ↑ 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.Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css must have content model "Sanitized CSS" for TemplateStyles (current model is "Scribunto").
- ↑ Dery, Mark (1993). Culture Jamming: Hacking, Slashing, and Sniping in the Empire of Signs. New York: Open Media.Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css must have content model "Sanitized CSS" for TemplateStyles (current model is "Scribunto").
- ↑
{{URL|example.com|optional display text}} - ↑ Bonner, Matt; Raoul, Vyvian (2022-11-28). "Subvertising: Sharing a Different Set of Messages". The Commons Social Change Library. Retrieved 2023-03-02.Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css must have content model "Sanitized CSS" for TemplateStyles (current model is "Scribunto").
- ↑
{{URL|example.com|optional display text}} - ↑ http://www.billboardliberation.com
- ↑ https://libcom.org/organise/subvertising-billboards
