Hey meme warriors, jammers, creatives,
Three months from now, a Carnivalesque Rebellion against consumerism will
sweep across the globe. We want to set off seven days and nights of unpredictable, creative mayhem in hundreds of cities around the world. We want to catalyze a global flash point – a sudden, unexpected moment of truth – the birth of a "slow" revolution that, over the next few years, will radically alter the way the world is run.
Folk in cities across the globe are now planning for this rebellion. They've sent us myriad ideas for how it could unfold: everything from holding mass hummings in shopping centres/commercial areas to standing naked in front of our oppressors in banks carrying signs that say "What more will you take from us now?" … all the way to critical massings, street parties, flash mobs and visceral acts of civil disobedience. What will you do? Send your most inspiring action ideas to [email protected].
Did you miss TACTICAL BRIEFING #1 or #2? Sign up today to make sure you don't miss a single Tactical Briefing
Tactical Briefing:
A tantalizing glimpse into the daily lives of Afghan insurgents. Nothing helps us look at the world in a different way more than seeing what a war looks like from the other side.
Inspiration:
Wikileaks shocked the world by releasing 91,000 classified documents about the US war in Afghanistan and a video showing an American Apache helicopter firing on unarmed Iraqi civilians and journalists. On the run from the US military who want to silence his organization, Wikileaks co-founder Julian Assange continues to prove his mettle as a meme warrior of global proportions.
Action:
In TACTICAL BRIEFING #1 and #2 we initiated a worldwide boycott of Starbucks and called for a rejuvenation of local indie coffee culture. Now we continue our attack on megacorporations by calling for the unswooshing of Nike.
After purchasing Converse in 2003, Nike thought they could buy the rebellious spirit once embodied by wearing Chucks. But neither revolution nor cool are up for sale and now the time has come to divest from this truly pathetic megacorporation and its subsidiaries: Converse, Hurley, Umbro, and Cole Haan. Here's the hash tag that will fell goliath: #UNSWOOSHNIKE
Just do it: don't buy another pair of Nikes and urge your friends to do the same. If you already own a pair then take a marker and paint a blackspot over the logo for all to see. And next time you walk past a Niketown, slap a Just Douche It or All Empires Must Fall poster on the front door or window … or better still, go inside and draw little blackspots everywhere.
And help spread the #UNSWOOSHNIKE meme so that the whole world knows that Nike's production of top down, megacorporate cool is finally coming to an end.
Call for Input to Adbusters #92
The next issue of Adbusters is a theoretical and practical handbook for the November rebellion. Send your most inspiring memes and action ideas to [email protected] by next Monday August 23 at the latest.
Don't Miss out on Adbusters #91
It's not too late to pick up the I, Revolution issue on newsstands now worldwide. Subscribe online, or call us 1 800 663 1243
52 comments on the article “Tactical Briefing #3”
Displaying 11 - 20 of 52
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Anonymous
Your post is absurd. Adbusters has no "anti-corporate sponsor".
Anonymous
Your post is absurd. Adbusters has no "anti-corporate sponsor".
P. SKunk
so true! thank you for flipping it around and exposing what is really going on here. and adbusters, if this inference is mistaken, i'm sure you can come up with a truly anti-capitalistic/anti-corporate solution...i'd be happy to blot over nike's swoosh on your behalf- but i won't market your merch...
peace.
P. SKunk
so true! thank you for flipping it around and exposing what is really going on here. and adbusters, if this inference is mistaken, i'm sure you can come up with a truly anti-capitalistic/anti-corporate solution...i'd be happy to blot over nike's swoosh on your behalf- but i won't market your merch...
peace.
Anonymous
the blackspot is not an advertisement. it is a symbol of resistance.
Not everything needs to be lowered to the level of a marketing... would you consider the communist hammer & sickle an advertisement?
Anonymous
the blackspot is not an advertisement. it is a symbol of resistance.
Not everything needs to be lowered to the level of a marketing... would you consider the communist hammer & sickle an advertisement?
TN
It says right on the advertisement, sitting right next to the post that I'm typing now "An experiment in grassroots capitalism". Pasting a circle over a swoosh would be a way of grass roots marketing, no?
If some one started a shoe company called Commies and started putting a hammer and sickle on their merch then, yes; although the hammer and sickle carries revolutionary connotations, in this context it would be an advertisement and ironic because of the contradiction to its usually cultural associations which was my original point. I.e the idea of black spotting ads is theoretically great, but selling shoes using the idea kind of shits on the whole thing, turning it into what seems to me like a gimmick that attempts to reach a demographic that has been jaded by traditional marketing techniques.
I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with the Blackspot company or their shoes like I'm sure they pay their workers well and are Quality and all that, but if you're going to get revolutionary with footwear, why not just lose the shoes all together? Since mechanically that's more logical anyway.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barefoot - or if the whole no shoes no service and street grime and glass bother you, maybe go vibram, or find some other sort of foot condom. Alternatively, you could demand clean streets.
The idea of blackspotting ads is aesthetic relief from an overwhelming number of unnecessary and ubiquitous symbols by changing them all into one symbol, which 'represents revolution'. Maybe colorshaping is a better idea - just paint a geometric shape of whatever color fits the atmosphere over an ad instead eliminates all chances of a covert marketing use through the randomness of shapes and colors.
TN
It says right on the advertisement, sitting right next to the post that I'm typing now "An experiment in grassroots capitalism". Pasting a circle over a swoosh would be a way of grass roots marketing, no?
If some one started a shoe company called Commies and started putting a hammer and sickle on their merch then, yes; although the hammer and sickle carries revolutionary connotations, in this context it would be an advertisement and ironic because of the contradiction to its usually cultural associations which was my original point. I.e the idea of black spotting ads is theoretically great, but selling shoes using the idea kind of shits on the whole thing, turning it into what seems to me like a gimmick that attempts to reach a demographic that has been jaded by traditional marketing techniques.
I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with the Blackspot company or their shoes like I'm sure they pay their workers well and are Quality and all that, but if you're going to get revolutionary with footwear, why not just lose the shoes all together? Since mechanically that's more logical anyway.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barefoot - or if the whole no shoes no service and street grime and glass bother you, maybe go vibram, or find some other sort of foot condom. Alternatively, you could demand clean streets.
The idea of blackspotting ads is aesthetic relief from an overwhelming number of unnecessary and ubiquitous symbols by changing them all into one symbol, which 'represents revolution'. Maybe colorshaping is a better idea - just paint a geometric shape of whatever color fits the atmosphere over an ad instead eliminates all chances of a covert marketing use through the randomness of shapes and colors.
Anonymous
Yes, I would consider it an advertisement. Advertising an ideology is the same thing as advertising a product. Not everything needs to be raised above the level of marketing.
Anonymous
Yes, I would consider it an advertisement. Advertising an ideology is the same thing as advertising a product. Not everything needs to be raised above the level of marketing.
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