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FILM 340 Term Paper Proposal
Culture jamming and alienation make consumers aware of how consumer culture affects
desire and identity by exposing advertising manipulation tactics. This paper argues that in
2024, campaigns such as Buy Nothing Day demonstrate that culture jamming remains an
important tool for challenging consumerism and advocating for social consciousness.
First, the essay will begin by explaining the meaning of culture jamming and alienation.
Culture jamming is the manipulation of consumer culture by spoofing advertisements and
brand logos to make consumers see the consumer culture. Consumers are made to realize that
advertisements are not neutral but are used to manipulate people's desires. Alienation is when
people buy things without even thinking about how they are produced. Culture jamming is to
make people reflect on advertisements by being funny and sarcastic, and alienation is to
remind people of the hidden problems behind consumption.
Then the essay will analyze three strategies of culture jamming. One is that culture
jamming uses visual irony to grab the audience's attention by modifying the original
advertisements and logos, thus making people re-examine the real role of these brands and
their impact on society. Secondly, culture jamming breaks down the “harmonious” messages
in advertisements to make viewers realize the distortions and effects of consumer culture on
human relationships. Thirdly, culture jamming is the use of counter-advertisements, graffiti
or art installations in public spaces to make people re-examine consumer behavior.
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The essay will then explore why culture jamming is still a relevant and important
practice in 2024. On the one hand is that digital communication has expanded the reach of
culture jamming. On the other hand is that culture jamming adapts to the challenges of social
media and platform algorithms. Moreover, in 2024, consumerism remains one of the central
factors in social and environmental issues. Furthermore, the essay will analyze in detail Buy
Nothing Day, a culture jamming campaign initiated by the Canadian anti-consumerist group
Adbusters, and deconstruct this campaign in the essay in order to analyze it in detail and to
support the ideas presented in the essay.
Annotated Bibliography
Chung, Sheng Kuan, and Michael S. Kirby. “Media Literacy Art Education: Logos,
Culture Jamming, and Activism.”Art Education (Reston), vol. 62, no. 1, 2009, pp. 34–
39, https://doi.org/ 10.1080/00043125.2009.11519002.
The article explains the definition of culture jamming and describes that culture jamming
works through visual irony on brand logos and advertisements. It allows viewers to re-
examine the truthfulness and social impact of advertising information. The case studies in the
article demonstrate the implicit manipulation of advertising through counter-advertising and
logo design. This form of “anti-advertising” is closely related to the culture jamming
strategies of “visual irony” and “subversion”. This approach directly corresponds to the
culture jamming strategy I mentioned in my essay, which is to modify the design of an
advertisement in order to achieve the effect of culture jamming. The article also mentions the
tactics of culture jammers intervening in public spaces. These actions bring the critique of
consumerism into people's everyday spaces, making them involuntarily revisit consumer
behavior in familiar settings, which is in line with the point ofmy essay.
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Sandlin, Jennifer A., and Jennifer L. Milam. “‘Mixing Pop (Culture) and Politics’: Cultural
Resistance, Culture Jamming, and Anti-Consumption Activism as Critical Public
Pedagogy.” Curriculum Inquiry, vol. 38, no. 3, 2008, pp. 323–50,
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-873X.2008.00411.x.
The article mentions that culture jamming reveals the manipulative nature of advertising by
breaking harmony and creating transitional spaces, allowing consumers to rethink the
distortions of advertising on relationships and society. The article explores how culture
jamming serves as a form of critical public education for social consciousness. It emphasizes
the educational value of culture jamming in exposing the hidden ideologies behind consumer
culture. In addition, the article suggests that culture jamming not only challenges the
naturalizing effect of advertising, but also promotes a process of social awakening and
collective reflection, which is consistent with the “exposing and critiquing” purpose of
culture jamming. The article mentions that culture jamming reveals the manipulative nature
of advertising by breaking harmony and making consumers rethink the distortions of
advertising on human relationships and society. This aligns with the strategy of “breaking
harmony in advertising” mentioned in my essay.
Wood, Rachel. “‘What I’m Not Gonna Buy ’: Algorithmic Culture Jamming and Anti-
Consumer Politics on YouTube.” New Media & Society, vol. 23, no. 9, 2021, pp. 2754–
72, https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444820939446.
This article presents the concept of Algorithmic Culture Jamming, showing how culture
jamming strategies are being redefined and practiced on digital platforms. The article
identifies Anti-Haul Videos on YouTube as a new form of culture jamming that spreads anti-
consumerist messages by manipulating the algorithmic mechanisms of social media. It
manifests itself in the way culture jammers make critical messages more appealing and
persuasive by incorporating emotional elements into anti-advertising and video content. This
strategy is consistent with the way culture jamming adapts its communication to the digital
age in 2024 by expanding the reach of anti-consumerism through algorithmic mechanisms
and social media. This approach not only improves Culture Jamming's communication
effectiveness, but also proves its adaptability in the digital age. This relates to the notion of
digital communication expanding the influence of culture jamming in my essay.
Rumbo, Joseph D. “Consumer Resistance in a World ofAdvertising Clutter: The Case
of Adbusters.” Psychology & Marketing, vol. 19, no. 2, 2002, pp. 127–48,
https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.10006.
This article using Adbusters as a case study, this article examines in detail how culture
jamming can be used as a tool for consumers to resist advertising interference. The article
emphasizes the collective action and widespread media publicity of this culture jamming
campaign. Adbusters challenges the ideological manipulation of mainstream advertising
through visual irony and subversion, prompting a rethinking of the potential manipulative
power of consumer culture. This is consistent with the strategy of culture jamming, which
exposes the false value of products through visual impact and message distortion, and makes
people aware of the manipulative tactics of advertising. The article explores how Adbusters, a
representative example of culture jamming, exposes the psychological manipulation of
consumers by advertising through visual irony. The article emphasizes the collective action
of this culture jamming campaign, which supports my essay's analysis of Buy Nothing Day as
a culture jamming case study.