SeirdyDec 26, 2021

Good read: You block ads in your browser, why not in your city?

The article reminded me of this quote:

People are taking the piss out of you everyday. They butt into your life, take a cheap shot at you and then disappear. They leer at you from tall buildings and make you feel small. They make flippant comments from buses that imply you’re not sexy enough and that all the fun is happening somewhere else. They are on TV making your girlfriend feel inadequate. … Fuck that. Any advert in a public space that gives you no choice whether you see it or not is yours. It’s yours to take, re-arrange and re-use. You can do whatever you like with it. Asking for permission is like asking to keep a rock someone just threw at your head.

— Adaptation from a Banksy essay in defense of remixing (“vandalising”) public advertisements.

Fundamentally, all these ads share the quality of showing people content they didn’t ask for to lure consumers into spending money they otherwise wouldn’t have. Why the wouldn’t I block them everywhere? It’s disgusting.

I know many people like to argue that they’re a “necessary evil” to pay for content, but I have little patience for this argument because it assumes that vendors are entitled to the success of their flawed business models, and people should give up freedoms to support the industry.

My consciousness is not for sale, sorry.

You block ads in your browser, why not in your city?

There are defences against badvertising on the internet, and you should use them. But there are defences against bad advertising in real life too, and you should use them too. Put badvertising in its place: nowhere!

bearblog
Jeffry GonzalezJun 7, 2023
Show threadSeirdy

Here’s the full version of the quote:

People are taking the piss out of you everyday. They butt into your life, take a cheap shot at you and then disappear. They leer at you from tall buildings and make you feel small. They make flippant comments from buses that imply you’re not sexy enough and that all the fun is happening somewhere else. They are on TV making your girifriend feel inadequate. They have access to the most sophisticated technology the world has ever seen and they bully you with it. They are “The Advertisers” and they are laughing at you.

You, however, are forbidden to touch them. Trademarks, intellectual property rights and copyright law mean advertisers can say what they like wherever they like with total impunity. Fuck that. Any advert in a public space that gives you no choice whether you see it or not is yours. It’s yours to take, re-arrange and re-use. You can do whatever you like with it. Asking for permission is like asking to keep a rock someone just threw at your head. You owe the companies nothing. Less than nothing, you especially don’t owe them any courtesy. They owe you. They have re-arranged the world to put themselves in front of you. They never asked for your permission, don’t even start asking for theirs.

— Bansky, “Cut it Out” (2004)

This was actually adapted from Sean Tejaratchi’s “Death, Phones, Scissors” (1999). More info: part one, part two.

Reading Frenzy ~ Ledger ~ Taking the Piss

Bookstore and Gallery in Portland, Oregon since 1994.

Dec 28, 2021 at 5:23amWeb