Adbusters

Adbusters is an “international collective of artists, designers, poets, punks, writers, directors, musicians, philosophers, drop outs,

and wild hearts” based out of Vancouver BC. This collection of creative heads works in collaboration to produce a bimonthly magazine

full of spoof ads and manifestos, as well as unCommercials, which they post to their Youtube account. Their content is meant to reach

the disgruntled employee, the dreamer, and the outsider—they pride themselves on being an independent magazine,

considering it a hallmark of their honest message.

   

The anti-capitalist and pro-environment platform was founded by Kalle Lasn and Bill Schmalz. The publication is created by
a staff of about 10-15 employees, but relies on the help of volunteers to handle some logistics such as shipping and packaging.
The platform soared to popularity after it was attributed with starting the Occupy Movement on Wall Street. According to the
Vancouver Courier, the editor in chief at the time suggested the peaceful protest in their email newsletter and the charge
“was spontaneously taken up by all the people in the world.” The staff at the magazine actually created the hashtag that ended up
breathing life into the idea that the American economy, with a push from the public, could indeed start over.

The FAQ section on their website suggests that people committed to against-the-grain thought will feel at home among their pages: “Adbusters is one of a handful of magazines in the world that receives zero funding from advertising (print or online), corporate sponsorship or government/foundation grants. We are entirely reader-supported, allowing us to remain fiercely independent in what we do and say. We operate as a non-profit organization, which means that very dollar we raise through the sales of our magazine and other merchandise goes directly back into our campaigns and the production of the magazine. When you subscribe to Adbusters, you are  joining a network of artists and activists committed to speaking truth to power around the world.”

Adbusters’s mainly relies on design anarchy to communicate their geopolitical leanings, constantly urging people to buy out
and tune in. On their site, readers can purchase the Corporate America flag (for showing true colors) and buy a five part set
of pamphlets entitled Field Guide to a New World Order. These pamphlets discuss “the total elimination of Facebook,”
breaking the consumer “trance” corporate America relies on, and Adbusters favorite form of culture jamming
known as détournement. This French technique has come to be known as image hijacking, and is present in Adbusters
spoof ads and unCommercials. Their spoof ads are print and digital posters that try to reach political and consumer
nerves, taking a focus on the tobacco industry, Absolut vodka, McDonald’s, Nike, and the overall consumer culture that’s
perpetuated by these fiscal giants. Their unCommericals are simply recorded adaptations of the same campaigns.

             
 

Adbusters brazen reverse image psychology and their social movement suggestions have been criticized for essentially doing nothing and maintaining a reliance on the same marketing techniques their corporate counterparts have come to cement. Their current campaign #MOONSTRUCK poses itself and participants as key players in a “meme war” to save the planet. Their delivery of the campaign is near terrible from a communication standpoint, relying on middle and upper class people to essentially quit their normal behaviors a day at a time. The campaign began recently, on February 19th. Adbusters proposed that this “Full Snow Moonday” should entail 24 hours of screen-free content for the sake of “purify[ing] our souls” and “preparing for the year ahead.” The next “event” is scheduled for March 20th and is known as “Full Worm Moonday,” when committed busters will “slap blackspots on every fucking ad on the planet...brek the media-consumer trance.” Their third “event” will take place on April 1st, which they’ve coined as “Fools Day.” They urge their followers to engage in “politically charged pranksterism,” essentially daring their audience with the question “will Donald get a pie in the face?” Adbusters privileged view of protest comes to a head with their final “event,” statured for MAYDAY, a turbulent and real event worldwide. This day for civil disobedience born out of struggles over labor has now resulted in a sort of anarchist show-and-tell, with large black parades filling city squares everywhere. This year, Adbusters wants May 1st or Mayday to be a “Worldwide General Strike” wherein “a billion acts of civil disobedience” will occur “in the spirit of Extinction Rebellion.” This campaign ends with the tagline “This year let’s say fuck-it-all and have some fun!,” undercutting the serious messages they pose throughout the mag. But this tagline captures the essence of Adbusters—they are a platform committed to culture jamming, not culture changing.