Projects tagged "Advertising & Consumerism"

Is A Barbie Body Possible?
Practitioner:
Rehabs.com
Date:
Apr 18 2013
With her long slender limbs, small waist and 'flawless complexion' (at least when she has makeup on), it is no surprise that many young girls dream of being just like Barbie. However, it turns out that attaining Barbie’s dream bod is almost close to impossible—as highlighted in an infographic by Rehabs.com.
LUSH Launches Massive Campaign to End Shark Slaughter on World Oceans Day
Practitioner:
LUSH Fresh Handmade Cosmetics
Date:
Jun 6 2019
Vegan-friendly cosmetics brand LUSH is launching the “Shark Attack” campaign to save sharks from slaughter on World Oceans Day (June 8). Starting today, LUSH will re-launch its popular vegan Shark Fin Soap online (available in-store starting June 8) and donate 100 percent of the $5.95 sales price to The Rob Stewart Sharkwater Foundation, an organization created to continue the work of late ocean conservationist and filmmaker Rob Stewart.
Putting a Stop to Supermodel Minnie Mouse
Practitioner:
Health at Every Size, Dances With Fat, Ragen Chastain
Date:
Sep 18 2012
When Disney and Barneys partnered together to create a runway-ready Minnie Mouse, outrage ensued from size and body acceptance activists claiming that the new Minnie Mouse was too skinny. Ragen Chastain, a leader in the Health at Every Size movement, and founder of popular blog "Dances With Fat," jumped on the controversy, and started a change.org petition that garnered over 145,000 signatures.
A Call That Makes Change Approachable
Practitioner:
The Story of Stuff Project
Date:
Jul 11 2012
The Story of Stuff Project launches a new video. What is instructional, educational, and inspirational is a call for all the people in America to exercise their citizenship rather than their right to consume. Here is what Annie Leonard (co-founder and spokes person for the project) has to say about this new film:
Corrected Billboard Defends Transparency at Guantanamo Bay
Practitioner:
California Department of Corrections
Date:
Mar 24 2014
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE San Francisco, California Corrected Billboard Defends Transparency at Guantanamo Bay The California Department of Corrections (CDC) has unveiled a new billboard campaign to assist the U.S. Navy with transparency at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility.
"Goo Phone" Chinese Company Used Leaked iPhone 5 Specs to Build Knockoff, Hopes to Sue Apple for Patent Infringement
Practitioner:
Goophone Company
Date:
Sep 6 2012
Just the other day, we were hearing about Samsung getting in legal trouble over patent violations with Apple. A federal court decision ruled that Samsung owes Apple more than $1 billion in restitution.
The Merit Shop
Practitioner:
Daniel Soares, Pedro Sampaio, Joao Stein
Date:
Jan 1 2014
This shop is more interested in people than it is in profits. If you've got some mad dance skills, or even just some mediocre ones, you can purchase a variety of goods at The Merit Shop in San Francisco.
Art, Activism, and the City: Illuminating Social Change
Practitioner:
Donkeys
Date:
Mar 13 2025
The creative fusion of art and activism in urban spaces has propelled the British collective Led by Donkeys into the spotlight, garnering millions of views for their interventions on social media. Their critical visual occupations - whether billboard messages during the day or large-scale projections at night - raise a compelling question: which medium holds the greater persuasive power?
Support Breasts, Not Dictators
Practitioner:
Burma Campaign
Date:
Dec 10 2001
Barbed-wire bra protest over Burma investment 
How Song Dong's "Waste Not" Elicited Much Sympathy
Practitioner:
Song Dong, Zhao Xiangyuan(Song Dong's mother)
Date:
Jan 1 2005
Song Dong's Waste Not consisted of a single installation comprising over 10,000 commonplace, domestic items of daily life that had been used and amassed by the artist’s mother (Zhao Xiangyuan) over fifty years.
How Selective Enforcement of Illegal Advertising Laws Punishes Creative Activism
Practitioner:
The Illuminator, Occupy Museums
Date:
Sep 29 2014
The enforcement of city and state law pertaining to graffiti, advertising, and other signage has enormous power to visually shape public space. In New York City, enforcement is heavily skewed to ignore illegal commercial advertising, while simultaneously aggressively targeting graffiti and, in some cases, symbols of dissent.
How Fenty Beauty Changed The State Of Play In The Industry
Practitioner:
British Vogue
Date:
Sep 8 2017
The protracted queue. That was the first thing I noticed when I arrived. It was winding, unending and impossible to see exactly where it began. I asked one of the security guards if he had any indication as to the waiting time. His response was a “your guess is as good as mine” shrug. As the mammoth line snaked around the building, my heart sank further – it is a myth that Brits love to queue; we feel compelled to, we don’t love it.
Sweatshop A Dark Comedic Game on Offshore Manafacturing
Practitioner:
Channel 4 Education and Littleloud
Date:
Jul 17 2011
From the Games for Change website:
Nadia Plesner v Commercialism
Practitioner:
Nadia Plesner
Date:
Feb 6 2013
Danish 26-year-old art student Nadia Plesner designed this T-shirt depicting a Darfurian child holding a Louis Vuitton handbag as commentary on global disparity as it relates to war, developing nations, commercialism, and media. In 2006, the fashion house sued Plesner for her appropriation of their trademark. The case was subsequently dismissed.
Inside Out Project
Practitioner:
JR
Date:
Mar 2 2011
After winning the TED Prize on March 2, 2011, the French-artist JR launched the Inside Out Project, in his first TED Talk. Using his own artistic practice as inspiration, this participatory platform helps individuals and communities to make a statement by displaying large-scale black and white portraits in public spaces. Through their “Actions,” communities around the world have sparked collaborations and conversations.
Wait Watchers
Practitioner:
Haley Morris-Cafiero
Date:
Feb 11 2013
From the photographer's website:
Watermelon Sunday - 100% Plant Based Cookout
Practitioner:
Watermelon Sunday
Date:
Jun 11 2019
Starting in 2019 out of the East Harlem neighborhood in New York, Watermelon has served as recurring series of cookout-themed events that are 100% vegan, while also centering BIPOC businesses. People from all over the city come to the reoccurring events to enjoy different vegan recipes and learn about different aspects of the vegan lifestyle and activism. Brands and organizations are welcome to participate upon coordination with the organizers.
Gay Shame S.F.
Practitioner:
Gay Shame S.F.
Date:
Dec 17 2001
From the screaming queens of the Stonewall Riots to the contemporary Human Rights Campaign corporate gays, the politics and methods of queer activism have clearly fluxuated. By the late 1970s, the radicalism of stonewall was replaced with a more formal Gay Liberation movement that focused on civil rights.
Double Happiness
Practitioner:
Didier Faustino
Date:
Jan 1 2009
Architect Didier Faustino strips a billboard down to its skeleton, repurposes it as a swing set, and names it Double Happiness. This "urban reactivation device" needs to become a world wide phenomenon. Imagine billboard swing sets waiting at every destination. The climb looks worth the view.
Piano Stairs - A New Reason for Choosing Staircases
Practitioner:
Wolkswagen
Date:
Feb 11 2013
“Piano Stairs” is an interactive playful musical stairway installation created into the Odenplan underground station of Stockholm to make people use stairs more often than elevator. The project was part of a Wolkswagen initiative called “The fun theory” whose main objective and mission is to “change people’s behaviour for the better by making it fun to do.”
Ms. Marvel Bus Ad Defacement
Practitioner:
Unknown
Date:
Jan 30 2015
Racist adverts promoting hatred against Muslims are currently being run on buses in San Francisco - but someone has started covering them up with anti-hatred messages from Marvel's première Muslim superhero, Ms. Marvel.
Mamas de la Esquina
Practitioner:
AMMAR/Ogilvy & Mather
Date:
Jun 13 2013
Argentina's Sex Workers Get Creative
Big Tech CEOs Become 7ft Capitol Rioters
Practitioner:
Sum Of Us
Date:
Mar 25 2021
As tech leaders faced tough questions from Congress, SumOfUs, an 18 million member advocacy organization, was right outside with a larger-than-life installation of the January 6th Capitol riot that shows the role Big Tech played in sparking the insurrection.
Vetements old clothes piles against fast fashion
Practitioner:
Vetements
Date:
Feb 8 2018
Vetements' trademark is for subverting the fashion industry’s ways of doing things. Following its recent return to the runway after a short one season break, designer Demna Gvasalia has unveiled his latest project.
UK Brandalism Campaign
Practitioner:
Various Artists
Date:
May 12 2014
From Glasgow to Brighton the streets of the UK looked a little different the morning of Monday 5/12/14. In 10 cities around the UK guerrilla install crews have been swapping over 300 ads with art works, creating the largest advertising takeover in world history.

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