The term culture jamming basically refers to the act of altering advertisements. It is a form of speech brought to the world by activists and people who do not support certain messages. It is their way of unveiling their truth to audiences everywhere. They do this by simply taking a popular poster (or any familiar advertisement), and changing the words or image slightly conveying the real message.
“The use of the existing forms to critique those same forms helpfully defines “tactical media,” so that, ironically, the transmission of mainstream news is satirized through content and form while in turn being transmitted via corporate-owned news show.” (Megan Boler p9).
Basically Boler is expressing how the mainstream advertisements are being turned into ironic and sometimes truthfully funny ones. A great example is the picture of a typical truck advertisement. It is turning a commonly used car advertisement into what it really is, a damager of nature. In commercials and posters the vehicle is promoted on different landscapes making it look like it almost belongs or is a part of our environment. This alteration does an excellent job in showing how the car is actually polluting our air and world around us. "Poison for the road" is even cleverly added at the bottom. This is replacing some other stupid catch phrase used in selling these durable vehicle types.
Culture jamming is a brilliant way of getting thoughts and opinions heard over our media systems. This culture will continue in the future, as it is constantly expanding. I believe this is one of the most effective and creative ways for activists to communicate their messages. It's about time some truth can be heard over all of the other noise!
Works Cited
Boler, Megan. "The Transmission of Political Critique after 9/11: “A New Form of Desperation”?." M/C Journal 9.1 (2006). 17 Nov. 2009 <http://journal.media-culture.org.au/0603/11-boler.php>.
“Google Images.” Accessed November 12, 2009
No comments:
Post a Comment