This morning I read the article I’ve quoted from below. It was posted by an organization that promotes and reports on the ideas and activities of the Occupy movement.
The Importance of Being Sassy
Truth in Advertising
Corporations may try to influence our perceptions through advertising, but who’s to say activists can’t give their messages a little editing? San Francisco’s Billboard Liberation Front has been “improving” ads for clients ranging from Wachovia Bank to McDonald’s for more than 30 years. One recent campaign helped telecommunications giant AT&T refine its message from an obtuse “AT&T works in more places, like Chilondoscow” (Chicago, London, Moscow, get it?) to the more discerning “AT&T works in more places, like NSA Headquarters.”
The collage above comprises some random examples of images depicting work by the Billboard Liberation Front. As you can see, it’s sort of like grafitti that comments on important social issues. In other words, it’s an example of a phenomenon that’s been around since ancient times.
What I’ve done (apart from assembling that collage) is to take a beer ad that’s already been targeted by BLF and modify it to make a satiric comment on Republican male hubris in underestimating the perceptiveness and power of women. And at the same time to make a PG- or maybe R-rated comment on their obsession with sex.
