Culture Jam / Adbusters

“Culture Jam: How to Reverse America’s Suicidal Consumer Binge–And Why We Must” (Kalle Lasn)
This book came out in 1999 and the Adbusters site (Lasn is its founder).

Summary of the book is that capitalism and the power of corporations have grown so strong that they have changed the way we as Americans live. We live to be consumers, this is our primary telos (purpose).

He states in the introduction (directly from p. xii-xiv):
1. America is no longer a country. It’s a multitrillion-dollar brand.

2. American culture is no longer created by the people [it is created for the people — to buy].

3. A free, authentic life is no longer possible in America today [because we are manipulated and trained to consume].

4. We ourselves have been branded.

5. Our mass media dispense a kind of Huxleyan Soma [a pretend sense of belonging which can be had by giving in to American consumerism].

6. American cool is a global pandemic.

7. The earth can no longer support the lifestyle of the “coolhunting” america-style consumer.

Lasn then continues on throughout the book to explain,
a) how we’ve been co-opted by consumerism both knowingly and unknowingly,
b) the effects this kind of consumer manipulation has on us and
c) what things we can do about it.

One thing that we can learn from Lasn is how to use practices to redeem the powers we are countering.

At Adbusters they don’t reject everything the culture throws at them they flip the tables around and try and disrupt the culture’s message. You can also see their “subvertisements” here.

Nearly 50% of automobile fatalities are linked to alcohol. 10% of North Americans are alcoholics. A teenager sees 100,000 alcohol ads before reaching the legal drinking age.

www.adbusters.org

Adbusters TV ADs