Hi all, this is Mildred and Kathy. Tomorrow we will have a presentation on the topic of resistance. We will mainly focus on the relationship between culture jamming (a form of digital activism) and resistance. At first, we will explain the term: Culture jamming: Culture jamming is a form of activism and a resistance movement to the hegemony of popular culture; culture jamming is also a form of media activism that incorporates the use of advertising language and imagery to subvert the expected advertising messages. Culture Jamming incorporates political and cultural criticism with the conventions of advertising. Culture jamming is also called 'semilogical guerilla warfare'. It has become a wide spread and popular form of media activism, it is eye catching, effective and is possible for anyone with a sense of humour and a spray can or computer.

We also quote the statement from Harold (2004) to help us explain culture jamming: “Jamming need not be seen only as a damming, or stopping of corporate media….It may be more useful to consider jamming as an artful proliferation of messages, a rhetorical process of intervention and invention, which challenges the ability of corporate discourses to make meaning in predictable.”

Prank, as a term that always related to culture jamming, is also another form of activism, sometimes, the prankster refigure logos, fashion statements, and product images to challenge the idea. The pranksters, who resists less through negating and opposing dominant rhetorics than by playfully and provocatively folding existing cultural forms in on themselves.

In the presentation, we will use Adbuster as the first example to talk about the culture jamming. Adbuster, a activism magazine, known for its parodic “subvertisments” and scathing critiques of consumer culture, launched its most ambitious anti-branding campaign yet.

We would like to use the example from Harold’s article as well. The second example we chose is about the “INKFT Truth” campaign which held by American Legacy Foundation. This example is one of the most successful models of media pranking comes in the form of institutionally sanctioned public service campaign. Here are some features of the campaign: 1.the campaign used modern graphic design to raise public attention rather than telling kids not to smoke directly; 2.the truth campaign does not just tell kids not to smoke; 3.Truth encourages young people to become culture jammers, or pranksters, themselves, and even provides them with the tools to do it; 4. 2-page spreads in magazines in orange and white screaming messages: “CIGARETTE SMOKE HAS ARSENIC” and “AMMONIA IS ADDED TO CIGRATTES”; 5. Truth provides stickers in the shape of blank conversation bubbles as in a comic strip. Next to the free stickers is a picture of a Marlboro Man advertisement “augmented” by one of the stickers; 6. Truth launched its bubble campaign, folding Tobacco’s enthusiasm for the rhetorical power of comic book imagery over on itself and, in doing so, allowing kids to participate in the construction of a new narrative. From this, we can realize that the current INFKT campaign experiments with a mode of rhetoric that is not grounded in the proclamations of any individual speaking subjects. It promotes a kind of word-of-mouth dissemination of arguments against the tobacco industry. As such, it capitalizes on what may be two favorite pastimes of many teens: rebellion and gossip.

Next, many local and foreign examples of culture jamming will be presented as well: pranking on Starbucks, Dove and iphone. Moreover, we will talk about the changing in culture jamming that it is no longer just challenge the consumer and popular culture, but also challenge or criticize the current social/political issues/phenomenon.

See you guys tomorrow, thank you!!

Love,

Mildred

Kathy