Blog #7

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.

Culture-jamming is all about resisting and protesting the consumerist culture. It is not about one topic in particular, but this is what makes it so versatile. Adbuster’s version of culture-jamming is rooted in the philosophy that people should be able to think as individuals, and that they themselves have the right to free speech. One of the points in this article that found most interesting was the need for culture-jamming since consumerism and corporate logos and signage has become so rampant that we don’t even acknowledge it. And instead of this being a good thing, as if we pay no notice, it is instead a bad thing that we are desensitized to this emphasis on consumerism. Culture-jamming can come in amny forms, from “uncommercials” on television to billboards with these alternative messages. That is the defining factor of culture-jamming: the message must in some way be in opposition to the norm or raising awareness that some promoted norm is not as harmless as it seems. This certainly is the goal of Adbuster’s “Buy Nothing Day” ad, which personifies American consumer culture, especially during the holidays, as a huge pig, and describes the negative impacts of this consumption, which is much more than other countries. So certainly this type of culture-jamming can be used as activism, especially in promoting an idea that challenges one to think critically.

Here is one example of culture-jamming about the definition of beauty in the fashion industry:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pfbqpXSUp8