Culture jamming

Culture jamming is tactic of anti-consumerist social groups, designed to subvert or disrupt mainstream components of media culture, such as corporate advertising. Its core purpose is to foster progressive change in social mind by exposing the methods of cultural domination. As a kind of subverting, culture jams should obviously disclose questionable and disturbing political assumptions that lie behind commercial, popular culture. As for the crucial tactics, culture jamming utilize fashion statements, product images and refiguring logos, so that to challenge and doubt the criteria of “what’s cool”, stressing the importance of the freedom of consumption. The interpretation of the authentic communication medium is often ironical and satirical, as cultural jams are a stance opposing social conformity and passivity. Among the most prominent cases are adulteration of the advertisement billboard by Ron English with BLF (Billboard Literation Front) and street protests organized by Reclaim the Streets movement. Personally, I would not mark cultural jamming as solely political phenomenon in nature, as it focuses not only on critiquing political or advertising messages, but even boost cultural collaborations between scholars, activists and artists, which transcend rather than criticize status quo. As jammers are eager to disrupt the unconscious flow of thoughts that occurs when majority of consumers perceiving popular commercials, they appeal to the strong emotions of fear, shock, shame and anger, so that to catalyze social change. Memes are another vivid instances of cultural jamming basic products that stimulate behavior, musical, visual or verbal associations, which can be easily transmitted to other involved in cultural jamming.