Consuming consuming consuming.
Sunday afternoon, seeing the shopping centers full of parked cars. Full of people with a dull life, having nothing else to do then consume.
Cars, gadget, kids toys, implants, diets, clothes, food, another TV, radio, video, jewels, makeup, dishes, electronics – spending money to fill the gap.
How often i told myself ‘they dont need this’ but they dont know it… Maybe we should help them remember…
Download or order the stickers on the Anti-Advertising Agency website.
Unfortunately, too often, we’re “jammed” in a society where over consuming is normal, and where wanting to consume less tags you as a lunatic.
But if you can do it, do it!
Our employers don’t really need to “consume” what we have to sell them — i.e. our work — either. So if we follow this thought process to its logical conclusion, then we should all stay home and declare Earn Nothing Day, to be fair.
If you don’t like an ad, don’t buy the product. If an ad offends you, write to the advertiser and the ad agency.
However, attacking the soft target of ads consumer choice isn’t going to solve the problem of fairer income redistribution, or general spiritual emptiness in our society. When it comes to pernicious forces in our society — frankly, I’d rather spend $1000 at the Gap than give one cent to Archer Daniels Midland or Monsanto.
And hey, one day my shirt wears out and I need to get a new one, how else am I to make an informed choice if I don’t know who has something to sell?
If anything, I’d welcome much more efficient advertising, that would know when I’m in the market for something and deliver tailored offers to my inbox — but that’s another topic.
Ultimately, while it might seem “radical” to vandalize an ad, to me it is naive, and furthermore, unethical. A group pays money to place ads in public, money which subsidizes our public transit in the case of metro and bus ads. What’s the difference between that and someone hacking your blog or portfolio site? Ultimately, what are we saying here, that people don’t have the right to communicate their products and services to the public?
If so, well, doesn’t that make all our jobs in design redundant? Shouldn’t we take our blogs, company sites and portfolios offline voluntarily, just to be consistent?
In the specific case of the calling cards ad — how do you know someone “doesn’t need that?” Many people — particularly immigrants from Central America, Africa and Asia still have entire families waiting back home — and still pay a LOT in long-distance charges.
We can’t blithely assume that they all have access to the Internet. Heck, we can’t assume they even have their own phones (have you ever gone anywhere and had zero credit history?) Calling cards are a staple for these communities, and who are we to say they don’t “need” them?
ultimately…i mean…what’s the alternative they’re offering? Advertising that’s inoffensive, done by committee, dumbed down and boring? A Soviet-style command economy where advertising isn’t necessary? A complete return to local economies and handicrafts?…going to church?
http://asdf.com