Culture Jamming - The flag=corporate America

Naomi Klein, a Canadian journalist and activist known for her criticism of corporate globalization. She says in her book No Logo: taking aim at the brand bullies, “The practice of parodying advertisements and hijacking billboards in order to drastically alter their message” (Klein, 280)

Culture Jamming is the practice of rebutting against corporate advertisers to show express their opinions publicly and freely. The jammers change advertisements and billboards to alter the main message the original advertisement portrayed. Common messages expressed by jammers include: anti-corporation, anti-consumer, anti-materialism and anti-advertising (obviously).

There are several other topics expressed such as, the unhealthy skinny models used in ads, sexism, underpaid labour to get goods fast and cheap etc. Culture Jammers want to make the culture a more healthier and safe environment for future generations. There are still many people who do not know there are underpaid child workers in china (see ad above).

This is a typical Walmart store. Walmart is not the ideal place to shop if you consider all parts of the corporation—where they get their goods, how they get their goods etc. In my opinion, Walmart is the largest transnational corporation in the world. I find it scary that Walmart can afford to add a grocery store in all of their superstores and sell the food for much cheaper than the local grocery store (because they can afford to lose that money).

Scott McCloud says in Understanding comics, "Art does not reproduce the visible; rather, it makes visible,” (page 123). In this ad, the art is the advertisement. The culture jammers are making reality visible.

Over 80% of Walmart’s suppliers are based in China—hence the name of the building in the advertisement. In 2008, Walmart was considered its own country. It ranked the eight largest importer of Chinese goods (before Russia and India). (“Wal-Mart and China”)

NOW THIS IS WHY I REALLY ENJOYED MY WORLD ISSUES CLASS IS HIGHSCHOOL.

My teacher was really against shopping at Walmart or supporting the corporation in any way. As much as I know about Walmart, I continue to shop there (maybe it’s because I don’t care). However there are people who think they can change this—the Culture Jammers.

Some facts I found interesting about Walmart:
• A 2008 report by the National Labor Committee found that workers making holiday ornaments for Wal-Mart in Guangzhou, China were paid only 2/3 of the legal minimum wage, often worked 95 hour weeks, and were forced to work for months without a single day off. The report also found that children as young as 12 worked in the factory and that workers handled dangerous chemicals without even the most rudimentary form of protection, leading to serious skin rashes and sores.
• One week of time records for 25,000 employees in July 2000 found 1,371 instances of minors working too late, during school hours, or for too many hours in a day. There were 15,705 lost meal times and 60,767 missed breaks. [Greenhouse, Steven, "In-House Audit Says Wal-Mart Violated Labor Laws," January 13th, 2004, NY Times
• Wal-Mart agreed to pay $135,540 for breaking child labor violations charges in January 2005 in 24 separate incidents.
(“Wal-Mart and China”)

Works Cited

"The Real Facts About Wal-Mart ." Wal-Mart and China (2008): n. pag. Web. 14 Nov 2009. .