43 Comments on Light Criticism by Steve Lambert
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Artsy yet cool ;-)
That music is really nice, yet it did become a bit repetitive in the end!
Hmm, I should cut back on the yet-ting..
The link to “abstractor tv” simply times out when I try to open it. Maybe there is a typo in it?
If advertising is graffiti, then a Rocketboom podcast is a computer virus.
If I wrote a list of 500 urgent issues facing the world, advertising wouldn’t make the cut. Neither would graffiti.
http://sunsite.icm.edu.pl/graffiti//faq/graf.def.html
We have more info on the what and why of the piece at our site: http://antiadvertisingagency.com/.
I liked the clever product placement for those cute yellow bags near the end. They come in backpack or over the shoulder in matching colors. Collect the set.
Steve, this is the correct link I believe :-)
http://antiadvertisingagency.com/
But isn’t it disingenuous to criticize advertising when this blog itself has sold ad space? It’s kinda like the people who wear leather coats to an anti-fur demonstration.
If hackers redirected web traffic from antiadvertisingagency.com to the website of the American Association of Advertising Agencies, would that be a constructive way to advance the dialogue?
Even when Joanne distributed candy canes at Christmastime, she jotted a little ad for Rocketboom at the bottom of her note.
It’s always more fun to limit somebody else’s free speech. When it comes to our own speech, we tend to think we can decide for ourselves if it should be limited.
I barely see ads any more. Signs pass me by, even road signs that I need to see, and I miss them.
On the web, some ads are useful, some not at all. I think what people need is a way to find the useful stuff and it does seem to me that vote-on-links websites help with that, so I created one which is, luckily, UNCENSORED (unlike Digg).
It’s here: http://Muvy.org
fff
I agree that’s disingenuous to criticize advertising when RB profits from the present system of commerce. Heck, you could even say that Joanna’s makeup is a form of gratuitous advertisement ;-) Let’s be honest here.
Let’s also recognize that what’s happening now in the world of the Web is that small-time operations such as personal webpages are illegitimately being called “spam” when references to large corporate operations that sell products and/or have ads are being called legitimate and not spam. This shows how the corporate system is corrupting the web and the people involved with it.
See the most popular and fresh internet content at http://Muvy.org
Excellent RB today. Reminds me of the one Amanda did with the guys on the subway with the fish being projected on the walls by card board cut out/flashlight beam.
I searched the RB archives, but could not find that episode. Anyone else know the date of that show?
@Zack:
1.
Essentially what’s going on is a struggle for eyeballs and therefore profits.
2.
But the unscrupulous players are wrongly calling other people spammers for providing websurfers with links they don’t like, e.g. for competing websites.
3.
I’ve seen people accused of being spammers simply because the accuser doesn’t like the content of a webpage, even if that page has no ads on it. The accusers rely on the public not checking on the validity of that claim. It’s simple villification, like an ugly girl calling a pretty one a slut.
4.
Some people who accuse others of being spammers, if an offending webpage has ads, will wildly allege that the page is making $1000’s of dollars in profits from the ads even though the page may be obscured and receive little or no traffic. This again is villification, but it’s can’t be verified except by the accused, who has already been condemned by the accuser as dishonest.
5.
Some people clearly favor large corporate websites, and will shill the products of those corporations while denegrating any individual’s page. It stands to reason that some such people are operating in their own self-interest or are sitting in “click shops” in India being paid to promote corporate products and interests.
Etc.
Unfortunately, advertising makes the world go round. Do you feel good about your body? You hands? Yours eys? Your lips? Your legs? What about those abs? Triceps? Are you sure you’re driving the right car? Living in the right house, in the right part of town. Do the neighbors approve of you? Wanna impress your girlfriend/boyfriend? Are those clothes last month’s fashion? You mean you haven’t been to Dubai yet? Come on, pretend you’re rich and famous. Are you rich enough, tall enough, are you too blind to see?
I hate graffitti!
@JaySeaAre:
Some activists have noticed that one can project other things on walls, like “Impeach Bush” and images of injured US soldiers.
how many thousands of those little lithium batteries do these guys think it takes washing down the storm drains of NYC before what they’re doin’ should be considered pollution?
Gimme a break, Joanne! Have you seen the videos for the throwies? WTF?
Why dont they just pour used motor oil, battery acid and feces on the advertising? It would make as much sense as the “statement” they are trying to make, whatever that is…..
filth is filth.
BTW, advertising made of a few spare electrons is not the problem.
B-man:
Check out this video about
Edward Bernays and his effect
on the selling of products in
the USA:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8953172273825999151
I found the subway episode from Sept 16, 2005.
http://www.rocketboom.com/vlog/archives/2005/09/rb_05_sep_16.html
I would really like to say something more than “I really love this show and everything it represents” and “Isn’t Joanne a darling” but nothing more intelligent comes to mind.
Oh yeah, I think the new directions the show is taking are brilliant and I look forward to watching it everyday!
Nope, still kind of dull, sorry.
Leron, what BRAND of tin foil? Do you want it super shiny or holographic? Do you want it to reflect the foreheads of passersby or reflect the sun at just the right crumple angle so you don’t have to wear shades. How thick do you want your tin foil hat? .002 mm….003 mm.
Do you want tin foil that picks up radio signals from Planet Xenon or just your local bar satellite dish? Better rustle through “Tin Foil Magazine” the ultimate consumer accredited and information-packed mag on what tin foil would be best for you, your situation and your complexion.
AS you said , advertising is a part of modern day life. However it has been taken to the extreme…RDIF chips, for instance. Corporations won’t be satisfied until they know your blood type and how many brains cells your paticular cavity holds. What bugs me is that the methods used to promote product or service is becoming more and more invasive. They keep drilling for neurons inside your head…full speed ahead. And the main message of 95% of advertising today is that “you’re not good enough…until you buy me, no me, no me… And even if you say you’re not affected or ignore advertising…what is that tube of Crest doing in your bathroom?
Superb.
I like!
I’d seen Steve Lambert’s video before the Rocketboom one. It’s a fantastic edit. Nice to see the RB edits fit in well.
>> But isn’t it disingenuous to criticize advertising when this blog itself has sold ad space?
>> I agree that’s disingenuous to criticize advertising when RB profits from the present system of commerce.
I love arguments like this. Be sure to let me know when present your argument that those who worry about global warming shouldn’t ride in cars or use electricity. :-p
Good topic - episode was very… cute?
A nod back to the likes of BUGA UP and the Billboard Liberation Front without the permanent defacing.
Still, makes you think and believe me we should. We are absolutely over-exposed to advertising. Combined global expenditure on advertising in 2005 amounted to $570bn. To put it context, the entire value of global official humanitarian/development aid in 2004 was $79bn. Eh???
If you do not consider advertising can be harmful you are sorely mistaken. It’s relentless cultural hegemony. It’s not about dialogue, it’s about telling you what you want, what you need, what you should be. There is a reason tobacco advertising is being wiped out. Studies have shown that 3 year old toddlers can recognise up to 100 brand logos (that’s not even including the jingles and slogans). It’s not good.
I’m not saying get rid of all advertisements (and I’m not picking on the corporates necessarily). But give us a breather eh?
Stellar piece!
My take on the whole anti-ad thing on my blog: http://theaestheticelevator.com/2007/01/25/anti-advertising/
i’d rather use the word vandalising than graffiti. graffiti is an artform. ok, vandalising can be cool as well, but the expression is considered more negative by more people.
rock the city with your name :D
I am very into Ratatat right now, thats funny that you guys picked that song today.
Alternative and original way to dismantle the structure of the environment imposed and to restructure a new one.
Joanne, with her bonnet and her small yellow back bag, has a really cool look.
S.
Cool stuff, my favorite show in a while. Culture Jamming can be so sublime!
I love a little passive resistance and civil disobedience from time to time, whether I agree with the point being made or not.
In the immortal words of Montgomery Burns:
“Excellent…”
I guess living where I do, I’m still in the stone age, but I wish someone would pay me to advertise. I could use the money. lol
I know it sounds preposterous, but as to the parity between grafitti and advertising, don’t you think that the correlation between grafitti and art is a little bit overblown whith the simple fact of the grafittists canvas being private property ?
Look , I love grafitti, don’t get me wrong, I say “keep it up, I want more”
Lets be honest, Art is about making people think! period. Grafitti artists INSIST on making the simple act of defacing private property part of their mission statement. How in the hell does that differ from tearing down signage?
If a grafitti artist wanted to literally tear down the sign for some mom and pop shoe repair, how would that differ from causing the owner to spend money to scrub off offensive tagging on their storefront?
I think those who complain loudest about the lack of freedom to express themselve are the very ones who couldn’t come close to selling the first piece on the open market.
Fact is, most people walk right on by 99.99999% of this stuff and don’t even give a shit about it.
these guys need to stop complaining about rights and the big picture of ART and be honest.
They are starting to come off the same way dope smokers do when they champion the rights of hemp farmers who supply the raw materials for wallets and hammocks!
Yeah , right!
Nice video. I don’t think the idea is to indict all advertising. It’s the “Too much” factor, and the artsiness. Kinda cool to use the ads to protest the ads.
Cool video love the music. :)
Interesting video. At least I can say I’m glad they weren’t permanently marking/destroying with their defacements.
Regarding the “public property” argument… if one supports this notion that the property should remain public, then I believe they’re addressing the wrong audience to solve the “problem”.
Government owns the property and has chosen to lease some of it to advertisers. If you don’t want to see so many ads, you should be trying to get government to not lease out the “public property” so much. How does defacing the property work towards that goal?
Great show. Excellent points, Nab.
The idea that there’s something inconsistent with Rocketboom airing this episode when it accepts advertising revenune itself is absurd. One may avoid exposure to Rocketboom advertising by not visiting Rocketboom. The same cannot be said for the public sidewalks and streets of NYC, where the deluge of advertising constitutes a form of mental pollution.
Today’s comments section was a Work of Art.
Great dialog, exchanges of opinion.
That’s what I thought this section should be about, why I always encourage other RBers to post.
The back & forth exchange of ideas, beliefs, opinions add an extra dimension to the site. I know some very famous blogs that have ongoing dialog between paticipants. I hope this
will continue on Rocketboom, whether I agree or disagree with some of the posts.
Thinking is good for the medullah… let’s try and keep it up.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070125/ap_on_he_me/smoking_brain_damage_4
Spot in brain may control smoking urge
By LAURAN NEERGAARD, AP Medical Writer Thu Jan 25, 5:44 PM ET
WASHINGTON - Damage to a silver dollar-sized spot deep in the brain seems to wipe out the urge to smoke, a surprising discovery that may shed important new light on addiction. The research was inspired by a stroke survivor who claimed he simply forgot his two-pack-a-day addiction _ no cravings, no nicotine patches, not even a conscious desire to quit.
***********
Now this is what pisses me off about advertising…the ad on the net page was for the “Nicoderm” patch. A stop smoking drug. So advertisers control editorial content of magazines, newspapers, net news, TV content, magazine content, and on and on it goes… if they don’t like a story in TIME for instance, they’ll kill it or threaten not to advertise… this is an extremely important issue nobody addressed… and it’s damn dangerous and manipulative.
people in France and particularly Paris are doing advertisement hacking since way back 1999.
They claim street ads are visual pollution antipub.net.
I am surprise it is somethun new in New York.
The AD for the Anti-Ad group at the end was a nice touch of hypocrisy.
Nice thoughts, but I agree with Brad, the ad at the end as well as the ad on one of the graffitti boards is hypocritical. But there is the rub… how do you advertise an anti-advertising agency?
Brad, Random, please see the AAA FAQ:
Q: Don’t you think it’s ironic to utilize advertising methods to get your message out?
A: Yes! It’s supposed to be ironic! We’re borrowing tools that have been researched and tested by marketers for decades and using them to our own ends. Many of those marketing methods are very effective, that’s why businesses are so invested in them. So why reinvent the wheel when we can just insert one gear to make the whole thing run in another direction?
WORD!!! Great work guys. I’ve thought that Advertising = Corporate Graffiti for a long-time now. It’s just everywhere you look these days, you can’t escape it…To the point where it makes you feel a bit mentally violated.
Cool video, keep up the good work! :)