What did you think about this book? Write a mini-review.
or...
After reading it and discussing it in class, what is a concept that Lasn presents that still resonates with you?
How will you, or will you, Culture Jam?
Students from the University of Georgia were asked to do culture jamming projects for their finals, for a communications course, the projects are posted here: Consumer Culture Jammers
A poignant blog about Culture Jam: here
Adbusters: The Culture Jamming Headquarters
6 comments:
When I started picking up copies of AdBusters in 2004, I began to realize just how much people are really influenced by advertising and corporate brain washing. Everywhere we look there’s some kind of advertisement saying “YOU NEED THIS”, but after reading AdBusters, I started to ask myself why? Why do I need those shoes? Why do I need a new cell phone when mine works perfectly fine? Why do I feel better about wearing something that is brand name opposed to something of equal quality that may be generic or brandless? I started asking myself these questions, but I didn’t make many alterations to my lifestyle to address my concerns. I figured since everyone else is going to be sucked into the corporate lifestyle, what’s the point in trying to defeat it when one person won’t make a difference. Then we read Culture Jam.
Few books have left a lasting life altering impression on me, and Culture Jam is one of them. As a follow up to the AdBuster’s magazines, Culture Jam has really jump started my inner rage towards corporations and the media influence we face every day here in the United States. Lasn is absolutely right when he says that America is no longer a country, but a multi-trillion dollar brand. This book has taught me that everything we do, think, and purchase is influenced by the media and corporate brain washing. We live to buy. Before reading Culture Jam, I didn’t think we had a choice, but we do. We can make choices by jamming corporations and preventing monopolies through buying local and from small name businesses. Culture Jam has given me hope that my generation can change how America makes consumerist choices. Each purchase is a vote. Cafe Ambrosia versus Starbucks. Farmer’s market versus Meijer. For the last year and a half I’ve eliminated television from my daily activities, and I’ve noticed that since I haven’t been watching commercials all this time, my views have changed on things like clothes, cell phones, electronics and things of the like. Now that I’m not constantly seeing advertisements on TV for this and that product I have significantly less desire to buy a new phone or iPod. This has really shown me how much of a grasp corporations have on our wants and desires. After reading this book I’ve become angry enough at the state of our consumerist economy that I’ve become motivated to make changes in my lifestyle to support what organizations that I believe deserve to thrive. I don’t feel as powerless as I once did, especially now that I’m aware there are others out there like myself who believe that a change can be made, and is starting to be made through culture jamming and making better purchasing choices. This is the start of a new movement, and I’m very intrigued to see where culture jammers like Lasn will lead us.
Maggie Baczewski
Section 5
I thought of Culture Jam when I saw a commercial on T.V. about clean coal and how it doesn’t exist. I remembered how Lasn wrote about trying to get different advertisements aired on television to no avail. The top networks that are in charge of what advertisements go on the air turned away his ads that were too controversial. His advertisements spoke against most of the messages that T.V. ads promote such as the fashion industry, and the auto industry. I’m curious how this ad against what the oil companies call clean coal got onto the air but I realized I’ve seen a lot of advertisements against oil companies. Even oil companies are making ads almost against themselves promoting research of alternative fuels but it’s just so people think that filling up at a BP over another gas station will help pay for the research.
Now that You Tube exists the controversial advertisements made by artists and other activists can be seen for free by potentially millions of people. It’s more takes more effort to get your video seen on such a large scale but if it’s memorable it will catch on fast and everyone will be watching it. Another issue with that is the audience the videos on You Tube reach. The viewers are mostly people my age and younger but in a few years You Tube will be watched by people who have the means to make a major difference. This book was copyrighted in 1999 so You Tube didn’t exist at the time. It would be interesting to see how different the section about advertising could be. Some friends and I were talking about how facts and other promotional images could be stamped onto the soles of shoes so in the winter people could learn facts like the ones presented in Culture Jam while walking down the sidewalk but someone already beat us to the punch. http://wkstudio.typepad.com/studio/2008/09/obama-force-one.html
I also thought I'd share this...
http://www.nanobama.com/
Doesnt Kalle Lasn just sound like someone saying "Carl Larson" with like a bunch of grapes in their mouth or something?
More on this later
Carolyn Nowak
(lol my word verification is "bucka")
Okay here's my review fo realz
I liked the book, and I think it's really important. He makes a lot of good points about what America has become. I agree that corporations have come to have
"more rights" than the average person. And that's sick. Corruption is abound, surely, but we cannot forget the fact that corporations are employing millions, maybe billions of people. And I know, included in those people are little burmese children who get a half a penny a day or whatever, but that's beside my point right now. If I have one. I work okay through analogies, so here goes. Let's say America is a person, a human body. All the parts are working so that body can survive. Corporations, which used to be things like...groupings of random cells or...fingernails...have sadly become much more important components, like kidneys, or your liver. I'm not going to say heart or brain because I've been trying to avoid my beloved cynicism as of late even though that's probably an accurate description. Moving on, corporations have become a pulsating and vital part of our nation, which is bad, because they're getting sickly. It would be no big deal if way back when they were fingernails they got fungusy or whatnot, but now they are so damn important to all of us, that removal isn't really an option. And what's really a huge shame is that our sickness has started to affect other bodies (countries) as well. But what are we going to do about that? I know I'm pretty attached to my own personal liver.
Well that's how the book made me feel.
My complaint is that Kalle did a lot of dehumanizing in his book. I know he doesn't think that's his fault, because according to him we've all become sad cogs in a broken device, but I just don't see people that way. As delusional as Lasn would consider me for that, I don't care. Maybe I'm trying to uphold my own faith and happiness. Whatever, I don't care. I'm not going to go around judging people for buying blackberries. Who has time for that? I feel like Lasn tries to push us towards that. He wants us to look around at our peers and get angry at them for eating at McDonalds. Fuck you, Lasn, I know a lot of good people who eat at McDonalds.
Carolyn Nowak
Lasn's Culture Jam was a truly inspirational book for me. He examines the many problems of our culture and presents them in a way that leaves you wanting more. His passionate voice compels you to rethink our capitalist society. I could easily read this book multiple times, just to prevent myself from forgetting how consumptive America is or how everything we do today is so "unnatural." Everything we do is with the help of machines and similar technologies. We can't even talk to our closest friends without flipping open a cell phone which, like all items we own, is heavily branded in some way or another.
One idea that I have taken with me in reading Culture Jam is the idea that we have stopped standing up for ourselves. Nowadays, people are just going with the flow and could care less about anything beyond their electronic gadgets and name-brands. And honestly, to some extent, I'm a part of that loop and can't seem to detach myself from it. I believe that it is of utmost importance that we jam, but personally, it's so difficult and unrealistic that I sometimes just don't want to try. Then there are times when I try jamming and fail, because I'm too powerless or other people in the loop just bring me back. If the act of jamming doesn't become part of the culture then there is no point.
-Louise C.
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