Cultural jamming - week 5 tutespark

This week, we learnt how consumers of the digital age have become producers with active consumption, after the internet and computers became part of our everyday lives. In other words, people do not just receive information anymore, but we also contribute via post blogs, news, videos etc on the Internet.

Now, the task of this week is:

Q) In line with the lecture content that the lecture covered this week, we want you engage with the term "Culture Jamming". Look it up, see if you can find what is considered to be the first Culture Jam, find the most influential Jam, the most damaging. These 3 examples should be posted in your blog with an explanation of where and why they were found and used. You can show what impact they had or are having too.


So I did some research about Culture Jamming. I read several websites that explain it, but this one was the most simple and I thought identified clearly what Culture Jamming is:

"Culture jamming, is the act of using existing media such as billboards, bus-ads, posters, and other ads to comment on those very media themselves or on society in general, using the original medium's communication method. It is based on the idea that advertising is little more than propaganda for established interests, and that there is little escape from this propaganda in industrialized nations." (cultural jam, Urban Dictionary, viewed 24/08/10, http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=culture+jam)

It is similar to appropriating arts, but it is different as Culture Jamming aims more destruction of the commercialism.



The first Culture Jam:
There was a similar art movement of Dada in 1920s, but first noticeable Culture Jam was appeared in 1977 at San Fransisco bay area. A team of guerrilla artists called Billboard Liberation Front begun changing ("improving") billboard signs on the street and started taking credit. (Segal, P., History and Timeline, Billboard Liberation Front Creative Group, viewed 24/08/10, http://www.billboardliberation.com/history.html)

The most influential Jam:

I think it was the Google bombing. I remember a viral email that spread all over which was telling when you type in google 'miserable failure' and click 'I'm feeling lucky', it would then give you links to the bibliography page of the White House regarding George W. Bush. The impact was huge. Everyone was amazed how it happened and they had a cynical smile about President Bush and an apparant hacked Google system. Google soon appeared to adjust the search results.

The most damaging Jam:

When I searched information about culture jam, the name of company which most appeared as a target was Nike. Especially, the email between MIT graduate Jonah Peretti  and Nike was quoted on so many websites. This must be the most damaging propaganda for a company like Nike, as it helped to spread the image that Nike is employing people under unhealthy conditions in Asia, and moreover, they did not handle an activist like Peretti very well.

details about Nike 'Personalized Shoes' Email at About.com: http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/blnike.htm