I have a love/hate relationship with advertising. I hate it’s effect, I abhor the way it reduces the cultural mindset to pulp and abbreviates reality into something you can read on the back of a cereal packet. I do however love it for exactly the same reasons, in that I mean if it wasn’t for the appropriation of art by the world of advertising and then more recently vice-versa, I probably wouldn’t be writing this post, I’d be painting a seascape (yawn) or making a pot or something useful I am sure. The exact reasoning behind this paragraph can never be fully explained, or at least not without testing your patience to the max, but be reassured I’ve had a few brushes with the world of advertising, and escaping their clutches was the best decision I have ever made.

I spent half of my degree years, alongside consuming vast quantities of illegal substances, waking up in strange beds and talking crap, creating subvertising. I didn’t realise I was, the word hadn’t been invented yet. Still I got my art degree and then most unfortunately, for a number of obvious reasons, found my ploy to destroy the advertising industry from the inside foiled from the word go. Yes I was and always will be a troublemaker who’d rather see a instant snack company or theme park or electronics giant or ringtone site economically collapse than hear any member of the public cite the appropriate ad campaign theme, joke, or action.

I used to collage billboard posters, it was the late eighties and everyone thought I was insane, no change there then. I begged borrowed and stole from the local bill posters for spares, sections of giant posters that lay redundant after a campaign had finished. I took them back to the studio and cut and pasted them, in essence subverting their messages, I am the creator of subvertising. Of course I am probably not, but hell it’s worth a try just incase no one else can be bother to stake the claim.

Anyway let’s take a subvertising break and see what’s on offer, the first few are from Flickr’s Subvertising Pool.

If you have an Apple Mac you should recognise the graphics in this piece entitled ‘Go Home’.

No, not quite classic subvertising, but the idea is so profoundly true, it would be lovely to see the art of subverts and culture jamming be included directly in more technology. I’d buy this mod anyday.

If you’ve ever seen the movie They Live you’ll understand this one straight away. If not watch it!

A new breed of insect police are coming to town.

A new take on an old sports brand. A more classic example of subvertising for the purists.

A subvertised subversive – a new take on Shepard Fairey’s OBEY Giant brand. Which is, for all intensive purposes, a brand.

Corporate Patrioism – taking the pledge too far.

Let’s take a look Adbusters, the leaders in culture jamming on the net, and in particular their outrageously effective spoof advertising.

Here’s a couple of anti-alcohol subverts undermining the Absolute Vodka campaign.

Adbusters.org have taken subvertising to the enth degree, they are running several campaigns of their own including this one for Buy Nothing Day.

Here’s a truthful news network poster I found at NYnerd.com.

Finally here’s a great example of the process of subvertising, showing before and after images of a subverted Sony campaign I found at the Media Literacy Blog.

Take a closer look and click the images to see the changes. Why not try your hand at a little of your own subvertising? There’s a handy guide to subverting your surroundings and jamming culture at WebUrbanist.com.

This post is tagged art, arts, culture, graffiti, society, street art, subversion, subversive advertisements, subversive art, subvertising, take control