advertising
Publishers with a Purpose. “A group of online publishers who have pledged 5% of their total ad inventory to selected nonprofits and social causes, with the shared goal of making a difference in our neighborhoods and around the world by grouping together.” Some big, independent blog networks are doing this.
16 October 2009 | Don't Buy Any Food You've Ever Seen Advertised. 
After agribusiness coopted his “5 ingredients” rule, Michael Polan came up with a new rule of thumb for buying healthy food: most healthy food is not advertised.
After agribusiness coopted his “5 ingredients” rule, Michael Polan came up with a new rule of thumb for buying healthy food: most healthy food is not advertised.
Better World Advertising. “I started Better World Advertising because I saw the power that social marketing could have in helping individuals, and society as whole, in solving issues that cause a lot of pain and suffering. I still believe that getting information to people and delivering messages that motivate them to make better decisions has unlimited potential for good.” BWA is an ad agency that focuses on LGBT, HIV and public health campaigns. Some of the work is quite good. Groundswell and Osocio have published an interview with the founder/creative director and art director.
Add-Art. “Add-Art is a free FireFox add-on which replaces advertising on websites with curated art images. The art shows are updated every two weeks and feature contemporary artists and curators.”
In Paris, Anti-Ad Insurgency. “The Dismantlers, as a nationwide group of anti-ad crusaders call themselves, aren’t violent or loud or clandestine. In fact, they invite the police to protest rallies where they deface signs. With a copywriter’s flair, one of their slogans warns: ‘Attention! Avert your eyes from ads: You risk being very strongly manipulated.’ The goal of the Dismantlers is to get arrested, argue the righteousness of their cause in court and gain publicity.”
Via Just Seeds I found this condescending story in the LA Times. But it’s interesting nonetheless: “Baret, who like his fellow insurgents is a veteran defendant, had refused to pay the $58 fine. His lawyer argued that his actions were less destructive than the 57,000 giant signs that fill the train stations of France.... ‘The advertising budget in France is $39 billion a year.... That’s equivalent to the entire education budget in France.... Our movement goes a lot further than a simple symbolic gesture. And that’s what we want the public to understand.’”
This two-pronged attack on aggressive advertising, fighting with both graffiti and law, seems to be a growing pattern, a combination of legal and extra-legal civil disobedience (with a dash of spectacle) in the battle over what constitutes public space.
Via Just Seeds I found this condescending story in the LA Times. But it’s interesting nonetheless: “Baret, who like his fellow insurgents is a veteran defendant, had refused to pay the $58 fine. His lawyer argued that his actions were less destructive than the 57,000 giant signs that fill the train stations of France.... ‘The advertising budget in France is $39 billion a year.... That’s equivalent to the entire education budget in France.... Our movement goes a lot further than a simple symbolic gesture. And that’s what we want the public to understand.’”
This two-pronged attack on aggressive advertising, fighting with both graffiti and law, seems to be a growing pattern, a combination of legal and extra-legal civil disobedience (with a dash of spectacle) in the battle over what constitutes public space.
IllegalBillboards.org. “Activists estimate that half the billboards in New York City are illegal. Between fudged permits, lack of enforcement, and millions in profit, outdoor advertising has become a corporate black market that wont flinch at breaking laws to get your attention.&helip; IllegalBillboards.org is a new effort initiated by the Anti-Advertising Agency with IllegalSigns.ca to help organize and support the removal of illegal billboards in New York (we’ll get to the rest of the country soon I hope!). IllegalBillboards.org consists of a forum and blog where you can learn how to investigate an illegal sign and track progress.&helip; Canadian activist group IllegalSigns.ca is responsible for the removal over 100 illegal billboards in the City of Toronto.”
