YouTube is a Culture Jammers Dream.

I will admit that I'm a huge pop culture addict. I mean who wouldn't want to buy the newest iPod or know if Jennifer Aniston is in a feud with Angelina Jolie? Trying to figure out exactly what culture jamming is, I found a lot of what these activists are saying are funny but at the same time very true. Culture jamming is basically going against anything that is the cultural norm. They expose the true content of an advertisement. They could be seen as ad busters. They do not only invade advertisements, but all forms of media. I think the best example of a ad buster is Ron English. During the U.S election this year he produced many of his anti-propaganda billboards and has also produced many other billboards for companies such as shell, and McDonalds.

This years U.S. election saw an increase in the use of the internet as a campaigning tool. What also increased was the amount of youtube videos produced by fans about the election. In an interview with Stephen Duncombe an expert on culture jamming, he discusses a site that invited the submission of these type of videos. At www. moveon.org they invited people to send in videos that were anit-Bush advertisements. He explains that it displays the awesome power of the audience who use the pop culture language and desire to make their own message. So now the public are now becoming their own culture jammers because they are now themselves underatnding the message.

It is assumed that we are all of a pop culture nature and should follow the staple of what society thinks we want. But with this increase of cultural mash up in music and internet videos, the people are now saying what they want using the media's own outlets. Buy Nothing day was declared just for this reason, to stand up to the advertisers and media and take a stand on consumerism the worst type of pop culture. Culture Jamming is the best type of media because it lets the people stand up for what they actually want, and not what a company thinks they want.

Sources:

Jenkins, Henry. "Manufacturing Dissent: An Interview with Stephen Duncombe (Part One)." Confessions of a Aca-Fan The Offical Webblog of Henry Jenkins. 23 Jan. 2007. 25 Nov. 2008 .http://www.henryjenkins.org/2007/07/manufacturing_dissent_an_inter.html.

Dery, Mark. Culture Jamming: Hacking, Slashing and Sniping in the Empire of Signs. 10 Oct. 2004. 25 Nov. 2008. http://www.markdery.com/archives/books/culture_jamming/.

Photo Found at: http://www.popaganda.com/billboards/index.shtml