Subvertisements:
Using Ads and Logos for Protest
Your Sneakers,
your iPod or your life. Branding has never been hotter. Adults and children alike are targeted by ads
and pressured by peers to buy the right clothes, the right toys and the right
cars. Many items have become worth killing for just for the logo. Urban landscapes are visually overwhelmed
with advertisements on billboards, buses, and benches, not to mention in
publications, on television, and increasingly in movie theaters. Even clothes use
logos as a fashion statement—and many of us pay extra
for the privilege of being a walking advertisement.
This visual commercial overload offers many
opportunities for the art of dissent. Throughout the world, political artists
take advantage of highly marketed advertising campaigns to bring diverse social
causes to the forefront. At first glance, the image attracts the viewer because
it appears familiar. But something isn’t
quite right, provoking the viewer to examine more closely and hopefully begin
to analyze the content.
Subvertisements features posters that use well-known logos and
advertising imagery to tackle ongoing struggles for social change at home and
abroad. They employ satire, mockery and various devices to draw attention to
current issues. Posters often ask rhetorical questions, and fake ads answer
dramatically. Some are amusing while others are outrageous, and they are often
quite over the top. Some posters may even contradict others. Whether they are
protesting the
The images in Subvertisements
take
a variety of forms and cover diverse issues. There are real boycotts
against real products, such as Gallo Wine, Nestlé, Coca Cola, Starbucks and
Shell Oil. There are fake or modified
ads about real issues, such as the
The works in Subvertisements
offer the viewer a chance to both participate in the shared pop culture
reference and to re-examine their relationship to the world around them. While the purpose of advertisements is to
encourage consumption, these posters ask viewers to look at the world more
critically and to redefine their roles as community participants and consumers.
Posters like Guess Who Pockets the
Difference? challenge viewers to consider the source of the products they purchase. Andy Warhol’s soup
cans become a statement against genetically modified foods. In one poster, the
Marlboro Man is transformed into an anti-smoking statement while in another he
calls attention to the AIDS crisis. All of these messages are at once engaging,
entertaining, educational and provocative.
With familiar images and
humor, Subvertisements offers ideas and issues not presented in
the commercial realm of everyday life. Political posters promote ideas that are
not shared by everyone, and unlike many of the images that bombard us daily,
posters are blatant in their opinions.
In a non-threatening way, these posters can challenge viewers to rethink
their roles and become active participants for social change. Whether the
posters in Subvertisements amuse or enrage, their purpose is to challenge all
of us to look at the world more critically.
I. Subverted Ads-From Parody to Protest
Cedomir Kostovic
Silkscreen, 2005
24654
The artist is commenting on how the
G. Duoos; Celestial Arts;
Orbit
Offset, 1974
12107
President Richard M. Nixon and his top aides were
deeply involved in an extensive coverup of many White
House sanctioned illegal activities to gather political intelligence on
perceived enemies and preventing news leaks. The illegal acts included the
wiretapping of reporters critical of the Viet Nam War and a massive campaign of
political spying and 'dirty tricks' initiated against Democrats, leading to the
Watergate Hotel break-in to plant bugs (tiny audio transmitters) inside the
offices of the Democratic National Committee. . Nixon resigned in 1974 to avoid
being impeached.
San Clementi Brand is a parody of the Del Monte logo, and refers to
Estér Hernandez
Silkscreen, 1982
02279
The San Joaquin valley, where Ester
Hernandez was born and raised, is the center of the
"Trio" Sarajevo
Offset, 1995
Yugoslavia
11039
In 1985, three graduates from the
http://www.backspace.com/notes/2002/08/21/x.html
Karen Redfern
Adbusters Media Foundation
Offset, 1990s
25415
Box based on Tide Detergent.
Dennis Dent
Wespac
Offset, 1969
18032
Combines the General Mills Wheaties
brand with the Zig Zag Man’s head on an athlete’s body. The Wheaties slogan
is Breakfast of Champions.
7. Cannabis
Artist unknown
Offset, circa 1969
17726
Jim Fox
Dick Dagres Distributing
Offset, 1969
18006
Both the original Lipton Tea Box and this parody using
the Zig Zag Man use the
expression Brisk Tea.
9. UC Regent Rebate
Upstart
Offset, 1996
7907
The three politicians listed below replace the cartoon
characters “Snap”, “Crackle”, and “Pop” who have been the Rice Krispies mascots since the 1930s.
L-R: Newt Gingrich, Ward Connerly
and Pete Wilson
All three men supported
Newt
Gingrich, Republican Congressman from
Ward Connerly, a
University of California Regent until 2005, is considered to be the man behind
Pete Wilson, Republican Governor of
10. Ethnic Cleanser
Mark Huntington
Make It Stick!
Offset, 2002
25436
Design closely copies product packaging for “Miracle Gro,” a plant food that has nothing to do with the poster’s message.
In 2002, Ariel Sharon, then Prime Minister of Israel,
faced possible prosecutions for two war crimes that occurred 20 years apart:
the September 1982 massacre of Palestinian civilians in the Sabra
and Shatila refugee camps in
During the 1982 Lebanon
War, while Ariel Sharon was Defense minister, the Sabra and Shatila massacre took place, in which between
460 and 3,500 Palestinian civilians in the refugee camps were killed by the Phalanges, Lebanese Maronite
Christian militias. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) had been sent to the camps
at
The Kahan Commission, an
Israeli body convened to investigate the Sabra and Shatila massacre, found the Israeli Defense Forces
indirectly responsible for the massacre and charged
On 18 June
2001, relatives of the victims of the Sabra massacre began proceedings in Belgium to have Ariel Sharon indicted on
war crimes charges. In June 2002, a Brussels
Appeals Court rejected the lawsuit because the law was subsequently changed
under heavy
In April 2002, in response to escalating attacks on
Israelis, the IDF launched a large-scale anti-terrorist offensive against the Jenin refugee camp.
Although claims of massacres were made, Human Rights Watch found
no evidence for a massacre, but said "Israeli forces committed serious
violations of international
humanitarian law, some amounting prima
facie to war crimes." The
human rights organization also criticized Palestinian militants for having
endangered the lives of Palestinian civilians in part by
"intermingling" with them.
In January 2006, Ariel Sharon suffered a stroke and
remains in a vegetative coma.
11. Mumia Abu-Jamal-Think different?
Parody Productions
Offset, 2000
13227
Think Different was a highly successful and
long-lived advertising slogan (1997-2002) for Apple
Computer that featured black and white photos of significant historical figures
such as Albert Einstein, Pablo Picasso, Martha Graham and Muhammed
Ali. This parody so closely follows the
visual formula of the original ads, that many have thought it authentic. The primary visual difference is the colors
of the African American pride flag (Red for
blood that has been shed, Black for the people, Green for the land) have
replaced the rainbow striped apple in the actual Apple Computer logo.
Mumia
Abu-Jamal joined the Philadelphia Black Panthers in 1968 when he was 14 years
old. At the age of 15, the Federal Bureau
of Investigation—with the help of the Philadelphia
Police Department—placed Mumia under surveillance in
the covert Counter Intelligence Program known as Cointelpro, amassing a file on him over the next decade that
would run to 700 pages. Mumia became Minister of Information for the
Philadelphia Panthers. Later he became a journalist and radio commentator. He was known for his support of the activist
group, MOVE, and for his condemnation of the
Unable to make a living as a conventional journalist
because of his controversial views, Mumia supported himself by driving a
taxicab in
In December 2001, Abu-Jamal's death sentence, but not
his conviction, was overturned by Federal District Court
judge William Yohn.
Both the prosecution and the defense have appealed Yohn's
ruling. Abu-Jamal is presently incarcerated in the maximum-security State
Correctional Institution Greene, near Waynesburg, Pennsylvania.
An international campaign is currently being waged to obtain a new trial.
II. Real Products—Real
Protest
Corporate Campaign, Inc.
Offset, 2003
26468
The Killer Coke Campaign and other activists are
focusing their attention on Coca-Cola’s human rights
abuses in
The International
boycott was launched in 2003, and many student activists joined in the fight against
Coke’s crimes. In October, 2003, students at the
University College Dublin, the largest university in
The Campaign will
soon be aggressively promoting protests against Coke's financial support
network. This will include activities directed at SunTrust Banks and Barclays
Bank in
Supporters of the Coke Boycott include:
AFL-CIO
International and
Longshore Union (
United Steel
Workers of
International
Labor Rights Fund
United Auto
Workers. Local 22, the largest GM local in
The United Hebrew
Trades Division of the Jewish Labor Committee
United Students
Against Sweatshops
Witness for Peace
School of the
Americans Watch
It is important
to note that the position taken by the AFL-CIO is in sharp contrast to the union’s policies during the 1980s that openly supported
President Ronald Reagan’s military funding of Central
American governments involved in the violent repression of union activities.
In addition to
the violence against workers in
Corporate Campaign, inc.
Offset, 2003
20371
Peter Fine
Digital Print
26411
Corporate Campaign, Inc.
Offset, 2003
20399
16. Side with the Farm Worker
Leave Gallo
For The Rats
Silkscreen, early 1970s
08242
UFW and Gallo Wine Boycott
From 1973-1979, the United Farm Workers of America (UFW), led by Cesar
Chavez and Dolores Huerta, called for a boycott of E. & J. Gallo Winery,
claiming the winery exploited its vineyard workers in Sonoma County, provided
low wages, and no benefits. The boycott against Gallo was part of a campaign
that included lettuce and field grapes.
That boycott ended in 1978, after the UFW won a string of union
elections held under
San Francisco
Offset, late 1970s
5257
National INFACT (
Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (
Offset, ca late 1970s
25628
Nestlé Boycott
Every 30
seconds a baby dies from unsafe bottle feeding.
Each year ten million infants suffer from severe diarrhea, malnutrition
and disease because they are not breastfed.
Over one million of them die, while those who survive often suffer
permanent physical and mental damage.
From 1977-1984 an international boycott against Nestlé Products was organized to protest the promotion
and sale of infant baby formula to developing nations. Mothers were told that formula was better
than breast milk, and sufficient "free samples" were given to last
until the new mothers' own milk dried up. Due to lack of sanitation, high
illiteracy rates and poverty, the necessary preparation conditions and adequate
quantity of formula were rarely available.
The boycott was the largest non-union consumer boycott in history,
targeting Swiss-based Nestlé which has 50% of
the market share of the infant formula industry. The boycott was reinstated in 1988 when Nestlé and others broke their promise to abide by the
World Health Organization, and is still in effect. The problem is no longer
limited to developing nations. It is a
pressing issue in the
19. Guess Who Pockets the Difference?
Common Threads Artist Group
Offset, 1995
5661
Guess?
Boycott
GUESS? is the line of American name-brand clothing and fashion accessories that uses a question mark as its emblem. They
also own the line Marciano.
Founded in 1981, Guess? was one of the first companies
to create designer jeans. They
introduced their trademark black-and-white ads in 1985, featuring photographs of
fashion models and actresses such as Drew
Barrymore, Anna Nicole
Smith, and Paris Hilton.
During the 1980s, Guess was one of the most popular brands, but began a
downturn during the nineties as a result of increasing competition, and growing
criticism of their use of sweatshops and sexist ads.
-In 1990, a women's rights group based out of
-In 1992, Guess
contractors faced litigation from the US Department of Labor due to failure to
pay their employees the minimum wage or adequate overtime. Rather than face a
court case, $573,000 in back wages was paid to employees.
-In 1996, the company was sued by the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees (UNITE),
again because of failure to pay the minimum wage or overtime to workers. The
settlement, supervised by the US Department of Labor, saw the reinstatement of
8 workers found to have been illegally fired and another $80,000 in back pay
given to workers, but almost immediately afterward Guess announced that it was
moving its sewing production to Mexico. The company denied that the move was
related to these court cases, but its public image continued to suffer.
-In October 1997, Guess filed a libel suit against
Common Threads, a
-In 2005, Guess began catching the eye of many new
people (mainly teens) who were unaware of Guess's earlier history. Since
mid-2003, the Guess stock has continuously risen, eliciting nothing but
positive reviews from stock holders and Wall Street, though the wider community
has more mixed opinions.
from
materials provided by the Union of Needletrades,
Industrial and Textile Employees (UNITE) and the Asia Monitor
Resource Center
After revelations in 1996 that Guess clothing was being produced in sweatshops
and illegal industrial homework operations, Guess was put on probation by the
U.S. Department of Labor. Then, five Guess sewing firms, including the #1
violator in the country, were cited in a Labor Department report on minimum
wage and overtime violations in the garment industry for the 4th quarter of
1996. The top violator, a
In March, 1997, another key Guess contractor, Jeans Plus, was indicted by the
National Labor Relations Board for the illegal discharge, intimidation and
surveillance of workers who spoke out against sweatshop conditions.
In September 1997, Guess filed a libel suit against Common Threads, a
Two film makers have joined college students protesting Guess' sweatshops at
each stop in a Guess Independent Film Tour. Guess is the corporate sponsor of
screenings of "
On March 8, International Women's Day, a sewing machine operator at V.T.
Fashion Image Inc in the Philippines, died 11 days after collapsing in
exhaustion at her job. Co-workers denounced the system of quotas set by the
factory, which produces clothing for Guess, the GAP, Liz Claiborne and other
major brands. (Liz Claiborne is a member of the Presidential task force on sweatshop
issues.)
For a Guess campaign action packet, contact UNITE at
(212) 265-7000 x 821, gcough@uniteunion.org, 1710 Broadway,
Common Threads Artist Group
Offset, 1996
9371
Eric Lindroth
Digital Print, 2006
26406
Starbucks: Issues of Fair Trade and the Use of Growth
Hormones
In February 1994, the Food and Drug Administration
approved a new drug, rBGH, to inject into dairy cows
to make them produce more milk.
Virtually every industrial country, except for the
Fair Trade means an equitable and fair partnership
between consumers in North America and producers in Asia, Africa, Latin
America, and the
While Starbucks has slowly bought more certified Fair
Trade coffee, it represents only a very small percentage of their total coffee
(about 3.7%). Starbucks rarely offers certified Fair Trade coffee as their
coffee of the day, nor has it followed its own policy of brewing Fair Trade
coffee, on demand.
For more information, please contact
http://www.organicconsumers.org/ or
http://www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/fairtrade/coffee/background.html
Eric Lindroth
Digital Print, 2006
26407
Nike Boycott
Nike is a major American
supplier of athletic shoes, apparel and sports equipment. The
company takes its name from Nike,
the Greek Goddess of Victory. It has
factories throughout the world, but its largest strongholds are in
Nike moved into these countries after workers in
The offenses committed by factories contracted by Nike
are numerous: sexual abuse, physical abuse, child labor, and a lack of
protection for whistle-blowers. Additionally, wages are kept at poverty levels.
Indonesian factory workers did not receive a minimum wage until 1997. Workers
are subject to exposure to high levels of toxic chemicals, combined with the
lack of sufficient ventilation systems in some cases. In 1997, it was revealed
that one site had 177 times the legal Vietnamese limit for toxic fumes.
Nike’s profit margin is so high that it could double the
workers’ wages without raising retail prices.
Although the primary target, Nike is not the only
athletic shoe company that tolerates abuses. Workers for FILA, adidas, Puma, New Balance and Asics also commonly face low
wages, long hours, verbal abuse, dangerous working conditions, denial of trade
union rights and high levels of sexual harassment (80 per cent of sportswear
workers are women). There is a global campaign to persuade
sports brands to respect workers’ rights.
For more information visit
http://www.oxfam.org.au/campaigns/labour/action/links.html
Artist unknown
Offset, 1990
9781
Mexica Movement
Digital Print, 2006
Los Angeles, California
25820
In 2006, The Mexica Movement,
an Indigenous Rights Educational Organization, called for an immediate
international boycott against The Walt Disney Company and all of its holdings
because Disney employs talk show hosts Paul Harvey and Doug McIntyre, who have
spread the Minutemen/SOS white supremacist agenda against the Mexican and
Central American communities in the
While on
the air, Doug McIntyre agitated a bomb threat against school children in
McLibel Support Campaign
Offset, circa 2003
25999
III. Globalization
26. Democracy
"O"
Offset, 2003
18433
Mark of the Beast
Silkscreen, 2007
Los Angeles,
California
26477
28. Baby
Ruth
Artist unknown
Offset, circa 1960s
Country unknown
26490
29. Break All Ties With Apartheid
Offset, early 1970s
25627
Rupert García
Silkscreen, 1972
3389
Ernesto Padron
Organization in Solidarity with the Peoples of Asia,
Africa and
Offset, 1969
1593
The flame emitting from an indigenous pre-Columbian
carving, burns up US corporate logos.
13
Rene Mederos
Silkscreen, 1973
Havana, Cuba
15065
This scene shows the Cubans protesting the corruption
of the Batista government,
Part of a screenprint series
commemorating the 20th anniversary of the July 26, 1953 assault on the Moncada Barracks, the event signaling the beginning of the
armed resistance to
Those are the
people who suffer so much misery and are therefore capable of fighting with so
much courage! To the people whose desperate roads through life have been paved with
the bricks of betrayals and false promises, we were not going to say, “We will eventually
give you what you need,” but rather: “Here you have it, fight for it with all
your might so that liberty and happiness may be yours!”
33. American
Investment in
Patrick Thomas
Silkscreen, 2002
26476
This portrait of revolutionary Che
Guevara is based on the iconic photograph by Alberto Korda,
but recreated out of corporate logos.
Artist unknown
Offset, date unknown
Place made unknown
22668
35. Starving
child drinking a coke
Alternative Libertaire
Offset, early 1990s
Rodolfo
Tejera
Silkscreen, 1980s
San Francisco,
California
10023
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, Russian revolutionary and the
first head of the Soviet Union,
is shown drinking a coke. Designed by a Cuban artist while in the
IV. Olympic
Logo
37. Wir Rufen
die Jugend der Welt
(We Call to the Youth of the World)
Klaus Staeck
Offset, 1988
11632
By
transforming the Olympic rings into the corporate logos of Mercedes, Coca-Cola,
Adidas, McDonald's, and BMW, this 1988 poster focuses on the increasing commercialism
of the Games through corporate sponsorship. The words ‘We call upon the youth
of the world’, normally used as an invitation to the next Olympiad, are
subverted to become a comment on consumerism.
Offset, circa 1968
Italian Communist Party (PCI)
5818
Translation:
Fist
Closed Against Racism in the
Smith and
Carlos at the Olympic Games
Bare Feet: the
poverty of the black people
Black Glove:
the mourning of the black people
Closed Fist:
the willingness to fight
The Italian
Communists are with them against imperialism and racism
Tommie Smith and John Carlos, winners of the gold and
bronze medals for the1968 Summer Olympics 200 meter run in
The three remained friends. When
Fireworks Graphics
Silkscreen, 1984
3130
S.T.O.P. (Stop The Olympic Prison)
Offset, 1979
21054
The New York Moratorium on Prison Construction
and the National Moratorium on prisons produced this poster as part of a
campaign to challenge plans to convert the dormitories being built for the
athletes participating in the 1980 Olympics in
V. Big Oil
41.
Pan-African Liberation Committee
Offset, 1972
6666
Gulf Oil was the largest
* Until 1975,
42. Stop the Draft
Lee Whitten
Photograph: Joe
Rosenthal
Silkscreen, 1980
09322
The famous WWII photograph by Joe
Rosenthal of Marines raising US flag in
Congress abolished the military draft in
1973, near the end of the Viet Nam War, due to mounting protests and a general
belief that the draft was unfair. Mandatory draft registration
was reinstated by President Carter in 1980, as the
43. Olie Boycot/
Oil Boycott
Komitee Zuidelijk Afrika
Werkgroep Kairos
Silkscreen,
Circa mid-late1980s
17477
The
bleeding logo of Royal Dutch Shell, commonly known simply as Shell, is a multinational oil company of Dutch
and British
origins. It is the second largest private sector
energy
corporation in the world. This poster
demands a boycott of oil from
Jos Sances
Silkscreen, circa 1991
11973
No Blood for
Oil was a popular slogan to oppose
the 1990-1991 Persian Gulf War. This
poster twists the slogan to affirm that the
Jumpstart Ford
Photocopy, 2005
25629
46. EsS.O.S!
Anthony Garner
Digital Print, 2003
26442
Esso is an international trade name for ExxonMobil. The poster plays
on the corporate name Esso and S.O.S.,
the international distress call. EsS.O.S! was originally a small pen and ink drawing to
illustrate an article entitled Oil
that discussed world distribution, diminishing supply, greed, etc. The article
was published in a Catalan newspaper in 2002.
Following the invasion of
Fund for the Feminist Majority
Digital Print with hand-colored letters, 1990s
10149
In 1998, women's rights organizations accused UNOCAL,
a
entering into a business partnership with the Taliban
government of
When the fundamentalist Islamic Taliban seized control
of the
September 1996, women and girls were forbidden to work
outside the home, all schools and
universities were closed to female students, all women
were forced to wear the Burka, completely covering
them from head to foot. Women who defied these orders reportedly have been shot
or stoned.
UNOCAL has also been criticized by human rights groups
and pro-democracy activists in
Although UNOCAL, denied all charges that it was
dealing with the Taliban, a delegation of high ranking Taliban officials met
with UNOCAL in
The plight of women under the Taliban regime provided
the
48. We’re All About Shells
Scott Boylston
Two Brothers Custom Silkscreen
Silkscreen, 2007
Design:
Printing:
26483
Shell Oil
Boycotts
• In the 1970s and 1980s, Shell Oil supported
apartheid.
Shell Oil was singled out by anti-apartheid
campaigners for providing fuel to the notoriously brutal South African army and
police. During the same period, Shell
was accused of breaking the UN oil boycott of
• In the 1990s, Shell Oil Murders Human Rights
Activists in
In
• 2005 Boycott in
The most recent organizing effort against Shell Oil is
taking place in Rossport a small community in
49. Komene Famaa National Tour
Phil Bradley
Friends of the Earth
Offset, circa1997
17454
Komene Famaa, European
Representative of eMOSOP (Movement for the Survival
of the Ogoni People), traveled throughout the world,
including Australia and Europe, speaking about the torture, death and homeland
destruction of the Ogani people by the oil extraction
process. Shell and other companies
maintain over 100 oil wells and supported the dictatorship of General Abacha (1993-1998), who repressed the Ogani
people's civil liberties with cruelty and violence.
50.
Klaus Staeck
Offset, 1989
13143
Alaskan
Sardines in Oil
Exxon Mobil Corporation is the parent of Esso, Mobil and ExxonMobil, companies that sell fuels and
lubricants around the world under the Esso brand
name. This poster refers to the
disastrous oil spill that occurred On March 24, 1989, when the oil tanker
Exxon Valdez
struck Bligh Reef
in Prince William Sound, Alaska, spilling more than 11 million gallons (42,000 m³) of
crude oil. The spill was the second largest in
Bruce Kaiper
Silkscreen, 1974
12055
The 1973/74 oil crisis first began on October 17, 1973
when the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC), consisting
of the Arab members of OPEC plus Egypt and Syria, announced as a result of the ongoing
Yom Kippur War, that they would no longer ship petroleum to nations that had
supported Israel in its conflict with Syria and Egypt. This included the
In 1974, at the height of the crisis in the
VI. Anti-War
Coalition to Stop ITT
Offset, circa 1974
112
Before Chile's democratically elected Socialist President Salvador Allende (1970-1973) began nationalizing the country's
natural resources, ITT (International Telephone & Telegraph) owned 70% of Chitelco, the Chilean Telephone
Company, and was one of the U.S.-based
companies facing major financial losses. Prior to Allende’s
election, the CIA had used ITT to filter money to Allende
opposition campaigns, including large sums of money for the right-wing
opposition newspaper, El Mercurio. John McCone, CIA director in 1973, was also
an ITT board member. The CIA-directed
coup to overthrow Allende began on September 11,
1973. As the presidential palace was bombed, Allende
committed suicide. The coup ultimately resulted in the brutal 16-year dictatorship
of General Augustus Pinochet.
53. It's the
Real Thing for S.E.
Artist unknown
Silkscreen, 1970
4949
Bombing of
In March 1969, President Richard M. Nixon ordered the
secret bombing of
In April 1970, Nixon ordered US troops into
Some of the striking students at UC Berkeley began silkscreening hundreds of protest posters onto used
computer paper, such as this one using the Coca-cola slogan "it's the real
thing" to depict napalm.
Violet Ray
Offset, 1969
5870
In the 1960s, before appearing in films, Ali McGraw
modeled for Chanel perfume and bath oil. This poster juxtaposes the Chanel
slogan and ad promoting luxury with a photo of desperate Vietnamese women and
children.
Sture Johannesson
Offset, circa 1969
26474
Gary Short
Offset, 1969
16087
Poster about Police Brutality in the 1960s
"Our medium is the massage," one of the many
slogans and logos used in this poster, is a paraphrase of a 1967 bestseller and
cult classic by Marshall McLuhan and Quentin Fiore. The book was originally
titled, "the medium is the message," but a printer's typo resulted in
"the medium is the massage." McLuhan
subsequently used both titles as the error proved his point.
Metamorphosis
Offset, 1970
4086
In February 1970, a rally was held at the stadium of
the
58. Johnson's
Baby Powder
Gary Brown
Felix Greene, photographer
Silkscreen on sheet metal,
5912
Johnson’s Baby Powder has nothing to do with the actual Johnson
& Johnson product, but targets Napalm, a syrupy kind of jellied gasoline
that showers hundreds of explosive pellets upon impact. Johnson authorized the use of Napalm in 1965,
and it was used in
Air Force Lt. Col. John Pratt (retired) used to
"go along on flights" where napalm was dropped. "When it goes
off, it's sort of like dropping gasoline and lighting it at the same time. It
covers (the ground) like a fiery blanket, burns everything that it hits."
Dow Chemical was the military's sole supplier of
Napalm, which meant that when its use in the Viet Nam War became controversial,
Dow was the only corporate target. Anti Dow slogans can be seen in several
other anti-Viet
VII. From
September 11 to
Steve Bodzin
Silkscreen, 2001
16978
With the stripes of the
Joshua Bienko
Digital Print, 2007
26489
Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, the
Bush administration claimed that Saddam Hussein was involved in the attack on
the
Ruben MacBlue
Stencil, 2002
18427
President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney’s names recreate the Enron corporate logo. Before its bankruptcy
in late 2001, Enron employed around 22,000 people, and was one of the world's
leading electricity, natural gas, pulp and paper, and communications
companies. In 2000, it claimed revenues
of $111 billion, and was named "
As the scandal was
revealed, Enron shares dropped from over US$90.00 to less than 50¢. When Enron
collapsed, thousands of their employees and investors lost all their savings,
children's college funds, and pensions.
In addition, the scandal caused the dissolution of Arthur
Andersen, which at the time was one of the world's top five accounting
firms, after it was convicted of obstruction of justice for shredding documents
related to its audit of Enron.
Ken Lay, convicted Enron
founder and chair, had been a major contributor to Bush and Cheney and considered
a good friend (Bush nicknamed him “Kenny Boy”) until the scandal. By reversing the anti-war slogan, “No Blood for
Oil” into “Blood and Oil,” the poster accuses Bush and Cheney of waging war for
oil.
Camille
Not In Our Name
Offset, 2005
24081
Based on Pablo Picasso’s
The
Qian Qian
Digital Print, 2005
25590
This poster makes both an anti-war and an
anti-corporate statement by reversing the McDonald’s
golden arches to make a “W” for George W. Bush, and altering McDonald’s slogan from “I’m Lovin’ It” to “I’m Loathin’ It.” “I'm
lovin' it” was the company's first global advertising campaign and was launched in Munich, Germany
on September 2,
2003, under the German
title ich liebe es. The English part of the campaign was launched on September 29,
2003 with the music of Tom
Batoy and Franco Tortora
(Mona Davis Music) and vocals by Justin
Timberlake, in which the slogan appears.
64. Over 1000 U.S Troops Killed in
CH
Offset, 2004
23164
In 1961, the McDonald signs proclaimed, “Over 125 million
served.” The signs now state that the quantity of hamburgers sold is in the
tens of billions. Anti-war posters have
appropriated the McDonald’s sign since the Viet Nam
War, changing “how many served” to “how many killed.”
Eric Lindroth
Digital Print, 2006
26405
66.
Forkscrew Graphics
Silkscreen, 2004
22001
Seymour Hersh,
the same journalist who exposed the My Lai Massacre during the
Simultaneously, a striking series
of Apple Computer ads were posted in magazines and billboards throughout the
world. The ads used dancing silhouettes
with white wires against a flat brightly colored background to promote the
iPod, a pocket-sized device for playing music files. Artists soon merged the
iconic Abu Ghraib hooded man with electric wires
hanging from his fingers, with the iPod ad.
The two best know were Copper Greene from
67.
Forkscrew Graphics
Silkscreen, 2004
22007
68.
Forkscrew Graphics
Silkscreen, 2004
27296
69.
Forkscrew Graphics
Silkscreen, 2004
27298
John Carr
Silkscreen, 2005
Los Angeles,
California
26479
VIII. Environment
71. Burning the
Planet for Profits
Greenpeace
Offset, 2002
25998
In 2001, a campaign
to boycott Esso was launched in
-Esso donated more dollars than any other oil company to
help Bush win the 2000 election and soon reaped the rewards when Bush ditched
the
-Esso refuses to accept the link between burning oil and
global warming.
-Esso invests none of their massive profits in renewable
energy or green fuels.
72. Acid Rain Plagues U.S.
Mariona Barkus
Offset, 1982
Los Angeles, California
1254
ACID RAIN
Acid rain is a toxic rain produced by nitric and
sulfuric emissions. Through studying the layers of glacial ice, it was
discovered that a large increase in acid rain production began with the onset
of the industrial revolution. Electricity generation, factories, and motor
vehicles are the largest exporters of these harmful emissions. Though acid rain
was discovered in 1852, it wasn't until the late 1960s that scientists began
widely observing and studying the phenomenon. When acid rain falls back onto
the earth, it directly affects water, and has adverse impacts on forests,
freshwaters and soils, killing off insect and aquatic life as well as causing
damage to buildings and having possible impacts on human health.
Greenpeace
Digital Print, circa 2000
Country Unknown
13036
74. No Patents
on Life!
Artist unknown
Offset, circa 1994
Munich, Germany
22671
Greenpeace
Offset, circa 2000
Hamburg, Germany
25416
Genetically
Altered
One cannot be nourished with genetically modified food
Genetically
Manipulated
1. So that you can be quite certain to have genetic
technology on your plate.
2. Manipulated additives for questionable quality. We
offer you the flesh of animals that have eaten genetically manipulated food.
3. With us you can really eat with genetic technology,
our well known suppliers guarantee it.
No genetic technology in food.
Genetically
Modified Organisms (GMOs)
Genetically modified organisms (GMOs)
can be defined as organisms (and micro-organisms) in which the genetic material
(DNA) has been altered in a way that does not occur naturally by mating or
natural recombination. While traditional cross-breeding methods have been
practiced for centuries, GMOs may be derived from the
recombination of gene material from differing species, including humans. The
development of GMOs has caused large debate in terms
of unanticipated environmental effects, food safety, and morality. European are refusing to import GMO foods,
and US consumers are demanding that they be labeled. To-date, the US food industry has refused.
Its supporters claim that GMO's
offer a way to quickly improve crop characteristics such as yield, pest
resistance, or herbicide tolerance, often to a degree not possible with
traditional methods. Further, GM crops can be manipulated to produce completely
artificial substances, from the precursors to plastics to consumable vaccines.
GMO critics state that the power of genetic
modification techniques raises the possibility of human health, environmental,
and economic problems. These include
unanticipated allergic responses to novel substances in foods, the spread of
pest resistance or herbicide tolerance to wild plants, inadvertent toxicity to
benign wildlife, and increasing control of agriculture by biotechnology
corporations.
Global Exchange
Labor/Community Strategy Center
Design Action
Offset, 2003
Berkeley, California
26011
Klaus Staeck
Offset, 1985
Heidelberg, Germany
13196
Édouard Manet’s Le déjeuner sur l'herbe (The Luncheon on the Grass) of 1863
outraged 19th century audiences by showing a naked woman next to
fully-clothed men in a contemporary context without using the pretext of a
mythological story. By adding coke cans, picnic bag and a Mercedes, Staeck hopes contemporary viewers will be as outraged now
by the trashing of nature.
Klaus Staeck
Greenpeace
Offset, 1988
Heidelberg, Germany
13147
Translation:
We Bring the Poles to the Melting Point—Most
Catastrophically
Everybody only talks about the climate—we
break it and make a good profit on it:
by the production of 140000 tons of FCKW [Fluorine chlorinated
hydrocarbons] per year.
Kali and Hoechst, the Climate killers.
Chlorofluorocarbons,
Ozone Depletion, and Global Warming
Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are compounds containing
carbon, chlorine and fluorine. CFCs were created in 1928 and first used on a
large-scale basis in the 1950s. Sold
under the trade name of Freons, CFC’s
were extensively used in refrigerators and air conditioners, in the production
of plastics used for insulation and packing materials, as solvents for
electronics, and as a propellant in spray cans for paint, insect repellants,
and deodorants. After the 1970s, CFCs were discontinued in their use as aerosol
propellants. When they were disposed of before 1990, they were not tightly
controlled and were allowed to escape into the atmosphere, simply contributing
to the problem. After the Clean Air Act of 1990, tight new regulations and
requirements were put on service stations and car manufactures in an attempt to
limit the amount of CFCs unnecessarily released.
CFCs destroy the ozone in the stratosphere (15 - 20 km above the earth's surface), and the greatest
Ozone loss is over Antarctica. Ozone (O3) is poisonous to humans if
breathed in, but is important to life in that it filters out or absorbs short
wavelength ultraviolet radiation (u.v) in the 280 -
320nm range which can cause serious sunburn, skin cancer and eye disorders. The
inertness and lack of water solubility of CFCs mean they are not destroyed nor
are they dissolved in rain water so they stay in the atmosphere for a very long
time and diffuse up to the stratosphere.
In the 1980s, Greenpeace launched a
campaign against the largest producers of CFC’s in Europe: the
chemical companies Kali-Chemie and Hoechst. Hoechst
also translates as “Highest”, so the poster uses the double meaning of the name
to both highlight the company, and its role in contributing to global warming. In the 1990s, many Hoechst and Kali-Chemie plants throughout the world ceased production of CFC’s.
Friends of Animals
Offset, circa 2000
Darien, Connecticut
26042
Friends of Animals
Offset, circa 2000
26040
81. Pizza Topped With Any Two Animal Remains!
Friends of Animals
Offset, circa 2000
Darien, Connecticut
26044
X. Health
Herschberger
Offset, 1991
New York, New York
5180
ACT UP/NY
Offset, 1990
6484
84. Cancer Sticks
Community Printers
Offset, 1992
San Jose, California
10066
California Department of Health Services
Offset, 1998
Northern California
26475
Parody of the Marlboro Man ads, see poster 82.
86. Mr. Camel's
Kid Club
Doug Minkler
Silkscreen, 1990
Berkeley, California
26491
XI. Immigration
Lalo Alcaraz
Pocho Productions
Offset, 1994
Los Angeles, California
02556
In the satirical tradition of Jonathan Swift’s A Modest Proposal, this
cartoon/poster ridicules
Proposition
187
In 1993, a Californian political group developed the Save Our State Initiative, later known
as Proposition 187. The initiative
proposed to cut all state funding and assistance to undocumented
immigrants. It proposed cutting school
funding for undocumented children, denying them an education, as well as
requiring undocumented college students to pay out-of-state fees. It also
required teachers and administrators to report any suspected illegal immigrant
students. The proposal denied so-called “illegal
immigrants” the right to obtain any medical attention, including prenatal care,
unless it were an emergency. Proposition
187 was strongly opposed by the Latino community and other minorities, many
religious leaders, and community organizations.
It provoked student walk-outs from high schools throughout the city, and
increased racial tensions. The measure
was passed in the November 1994 election, but was tied up in court for many
years until a federal court judge declared most sections of the initiative
unconstitutional. Further, on July 30, 1998, the measure was dismantled through
mediations between anti-187 activists and newly elected Governor Gray Davis.
88. iMigrate
Sasha Costanza-Chock
Digital Print, 2007
Los Angeles,
California
26486
Another poster playing on Apple’s popular iPod ads.
THINK AGAIN
Offset, 1999
San Francisco, California
10220
Gap Boycott
Since the 1990s, both the US Gap Inc and Gap International
have been accused of making extensive use of sweatshop labor. In 2002, Africa Forum and Unite, the union
of textile employees, joined forces to demand a boycott the international
retailer, which operates a global network of 3600 factories and more than 4,000
retail shops.
Activists charge Gap with encouraging the exploitation
of workers in Cambodia, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Lesotho, El Salvador and Mexico.
Workers gave accounts of working long hours for low pay, and facing health
hazards and brutal working conditions at factories making Gap products.
- Tebello, a Lesotho garment
worker whose family members have become seriously ill as a result of working in
a factory supplying Gap, said: "The factory is dusty. We can't escape
breathing in the fibers. When we cough, if the T-shirt we were working on was
made of blue fabric, then our mucus would be full of blue fibers."
- A Bangladeshi worker employed at a Gap factory in Chitagong recounted physical abuse at her plant. "If
we make simple mistakes, they beat us up. I made some small mistakes one time,
so the supervisor came and slapped my head and pulled my ears. And if we make
mistakes, they don't pay us for our work."
• -An Indonesian worker from a Gap plant in north
Jakarta described how low wages left employees unable to buy enough to eat.
The union accused Gap of systematically driving down
wages. "We want Gap to stop exploiting sweatshop labor around the
world," union organizer Steve Weingarten said. "We want them to pay a
wage that allows a decent standard of living and allow workers to organize
unions to improve their conditions in factories."
Research International polled 1,500 young urban
shoppers in 41 countries and found consumers were prepared to turn a blind eye
to ethical malpractices when they involved favorite brands. A study by the UK
food industry's Institute of Grocery Distribution found the majority of
shoppers were equally unmoved by ethical considerations.
Xico Gonzalez
Royal Chicano Air Force
Silkscreen, 2006
Sacramento, California
26346
XII. Prisons
91. It's the
Prisons
Critical Resistance
Freedom Winter
Offset, 2000
Berkeley, California
11473
Poster design
based on the popular orange-and-black “It’s the Cheese” advertisements promoting California
cheeses.
California
Proposition 21, known also as Prop 21, was the largest crime-related
measure in California history. Passed in
March 2000, it increased a variety of
criminal penalties for crimes committed by youth and incorporated many youth
offenders into the adult criminal justice system. The No on Prop 21 movement opposed spending millions of dollars trying
juveniles as adults and locking them up in adult facilities while underfunding
education. The proposition received considerable controversy and was subject to
vigorous protests by youth and human rights groups, but was eventually passed
by 62% of the voters.
Prop 21 was funded by Governor Pete Wilson, Republican
(1991-1999), Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), Chevron, TransAmerica, Atlantic Richfield, San Diego Gas and
Electric, and the Union Oil Company of California. At least one of these
companies, Chevron, is known to employ prison labor (no benefits, no workplace
rights, below minimum wage salaries).
The California Prison Guards Union gave $2,000,000 to Governor Gray
Davis, Democrat (1999-2003),
for his 1998 campaign.
Since Prop 21, thousands of youth have been
transferred into adult court regardless of the circumstances of their
cases. It also expanded the number of
crimes designated as violent and serious felonies, subjecting youth to longer sentences—often life sentences. Proposition 21 is not
limited to violent crime. It turns
low-level vandalism into a felony. It requires alleged gang offenders, with
misdemeanors like stealing candy, to serve six months in jail.
In February
2001,
state Court of
Appeal in San Diego
invalidated provisions of the law requiring 14 to 17-year-olds to be tried in
the adult courts.
92. Education
Instead of Incarceration
Galen Hong
Digital Print, 2005
Frostburg, Maryland
24901 (Digital Student Submission)
From
a class project to design posters for Prison Nation under Fereshteh Toosi, Frostburg State
University, Maryland, 2005/2006
Roy San Filippo
Digital Print, 2006
Los Angeles,
California
26403
XII. Real
Ads: Using Protest Posters To Promote
Music
94. In God We
Trust - Dead Kennedys
Frank Kozik; Decay Music;
Import Images
Offset, 1998
New York, New York
26457
Rolo Castillo
Silkscreen, 1993
Los Angeles, California
9344
Although produced to promote a concert, these posters
were never given out because the distributor was offended by the image of the
burning U.S. flag. This is one of the few surviving copies. The upside-down flag is a symbol of distress,
another form of SOS.
The Native American in the photo is not Leonard Peltier.
Leonard Peltier & The Wounded Knee Massacre
The
Wounded Knee Massacre was the last major battle between
Emek
Offset, 1999
Leicester, England, United Kingdom
26333
97. Jello Biafra With The Melvins
Chuck Sperry
Immoral Minority
Firehouse Kustom Rockart Company
Silkscreen, 2004
San Francisco, California
26453
Jello Biafra, singer with the legendary punk band the Dead
Kennedys, has dedicated his life and music to political activism. His assumed
name juxtaposes the gelatinous Kraft Foods dessert with the name of a
short-lived African nation that was plagued by starvation.
98. Meat is Murder - The Smiths
Morrissey
Jo Slee
Caryn Gough
Offset, 1985
26451
Morrissey took the famous image of a young
99. The
People's Record
Ed Scarisbrick
Warner Bros. Records
Offset, 1976
26080
100. NOFX
Fat Wreck Chords
Offset, 2003
26454
In 1983, a group of
101. American Idiot
Green Day
Cinder Block
Scorpio Posters
Offset, 2004
26458