Culture Jamming

Culture Jamming is sort of like some martial arts that use the force of the attacker to disable him. In this case, the tools of marketing are used to expose the tools of marketing (and sometimes the deceptions of corporations). Note: we do not necessarily endorse the messages or tactics of all practitioners.

One of the best known groups is Adbusters, headquartered in Canada. They are best know for their spoof ads.

Examples: Burger King billboard modification.

The Yes Lab (home of the Yes Men) recently put up a site called CoalCares.com, a parody suggesting that coal company Peabody is interested in doing something about the health impacts of coal on children. (How dare they!) Peabody responded, predictably, by threatening a lawsuit.More. [On the other hand, Children’s books publisher Scholastic is taking money from the coal industry to teach elementary students the benefits of coal.

"Phone Story" the iPhone app contains a mini-game exploring a different problem in the consumer electronics supply chain. How would you like to force children to mine precious metals, save suicidal workers from jumping to their deaths so they can labor another day, or find the cheapest way to dispose of mountains of e-waste—all while keeping productivity up so you can toss shiny trinkets to adoring consumers?

UCSC Community Studies graduate Jen Lopez ('07) talking about her career and working as a line producer with The Yes Men on their recent movie. video interview. You can participate too: currently there's a design competition to counter the Chevron greenwash We Agree ads]