The Inkstained Mind: Advertising, au contraire

23 Oct 2010

Advertising, au contraire

I don't know if it's a growing movement - but it's out there. It's highly creative, and the mission is simple: To subvert Advertising, especially in public spaces. It goes by many names, including Subvertising, AdBusting, Meme Hacking, and Culture Jamming and Shopdropping (the opposite of Shoplifting)...

Some are organised, like the Antiadvertising Agency and its team of professionals led by the artist, Steve Lambert, and The Yes Men. Others are art that makes a statement against what they see as untruths and distortions of the Advertising.

Still others resort to savvy use of digital space. Watch...

Introduction to Add-Art from Steve Lambert on Vimeo.

So has Advertising really crossed 'the line'? From catching attention to being intrusive? From being informative to being manipulative? From being fun to being pretentious?

Ok. Now you are wondering what stone I live under...

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WHAT IS ADVERTISING?

It's often called the world's second oldest profession.

But while the scope of the oldest one has changed little over time, the evolution in the way we communicate has had profound impact on Advertising.

In the ancient and medieval world, Advertising meant word-of-mouth. In the 1500s with the development of printing it became a 'paid public notice', disseminating the message to many. And it had Copy & Art.

Then came radio, TV, computer, cable TV, Internet, mobile phones, Internet on mobile, and it's still not done... Even what we perceive as 'change' is changing. Continuously.

So what is Advertising today?

Honestly, I don't know.

But I do know from a dozen years evolving with the business, that Advertising is most valued when it can make a tangible difference for the advertiser.

That has not changed. And probably won't.

UPDATE: Nothing's changed. But in a way, everything has.

As you see, my focus has shifted - evolved in a way - to a larger canvas. The shift or evolution was gradual, and may be have been discernable to the more observant reader.

While I was delving into the influence of media in society to better understand how perceptions are created, evolved and disseminated, I chanced upon a thread of knowledge that I frankly never knew existed.

My conclusion is that a deep pool of awareness and consciouness exists beyond the shallow narcissistic boundaries created by the convention view of social media and the Internet.

My aim is to send my readers down any path that can lead to this quenching pool.