Overview of Subvertising

Subvertising Overview

• Subvertising is a tactic to hijack corporate and government imagery to convey alternative messages, replacing or modifying existing ads.

• It involves various methods like redesigning billboards, projections, and interfering with brands.

• Subvertising aims to counter manipulation and damage caused by advertising.

• Groups like Brandalism, Brigade Antipub, and Plane Stupid use subvertising to connect advertising, fossil fuels, and climate change issues.

History of Subvertising

• Organized outdoor advertising subversion dates back to the 1970s.

• The Billboard Liberation Front (BLF) formed in San Francisco in 1977, initiating improvements to outdoor advertising.

• The Australian BUGA UP collective, formed in 1979, targeted tobacco ads and is considered one of the first groups to use "subvertising."

• Motivations for subvertising span from product objections to aesthetic concerns and simple mischief.

Subvertising Methods and Tactics

• Subvertising can range from graffiti-style interventions to coordinated modern campaigns.

• It typically targets original adverts and outdoor advertising spaces.

• Brandalism, for example, uses playful, mimicking designs to confuse audiences.

• The approach draws inspiration from 1960s French Situationism, aiming to disrupt societal perceptions of culture.

Subvertising as Culture Jamming

• Subvertising is a form of culture jamming, intervening in visual landscapes to shape perceptions.

• It's rooted in the Situationist International's concept of "detournement," redirecting capitalist messaging visually and physically.

• Subvertisers aim to challenge established truths and disrupt habitual thinking.

• Effectiveness depends on sustained campaigns rather than isolated incidents due to advertising's cumulative nature.

Brandalism: A Case Study

• Brandalism, started in 2012, targets billboards, aiming to replace ads with art.

• Early campaigns involved Bill Posters and a friend, using billboards to critique consumerism in London, Glasgow etc. during the London 2012 Olympics.

• Later, Brandalism focused on empowering volunteer crews through training to broaden participation.

• The Paris campaign addressed corporate greenwashing in relation to the COP21 climate conference, and the Switch Sides campaign targeted advertising agency workers.

• Brandalism presents its work anonymously, emphasizing a two-way interaction distinct from advertising.

Critique of Subvertising

• Academic Richard Gilman-Opalsky argues that sporadic subvertising might not effectively disrupt a constant accumulation culture.

• Subvertising's impact can be limited if ignored or absorbed into conventional thinking, making sustained campaigns critical.

• Protest art academic Catherine Flood contrasts Adbusters, which aimed for reform, with subvertising, which is a more radical form of detournement.

• It is argued that subvertising's effectiveness is potentially limited to those who are able to participate in the activity.