Starving for Attention...Won't Somebody Please Look at Me!

Culture Jamming

     Culture jamming is a hard term to grasp at first, even though we are surrounded by it everyday. We see it on billboards, street signs, in emails, and even in videos. Cultural jamming is when billboards and advertisements attempt to counter hegemonic culture by commenting on the media itself or issues in greater society. Within in our society, individuals are exposed to thousands of corporate ads each day. Cultural jamming advertisements, for example, may mock the original advertisement done by the company, while at the same time communicating myths or truths about the product or media itself.

Culture jamming is thus the practice of fighting back against the corporate advertisers and offers an alternative medium for individuals to voice an opinion about anti-corporation, anti-consumer, anti- materialism and overall anti-advertising.
     Culture jamming often focuses on issues within society, and does so in a playful manner. Such advertisements are often satirical about a wide range of topics and poke fun at little stupid things, as well as expose big names in a comical way. Ultimately, they make us rethink reality and highlight problems with our culture.

     For example, I choose a 'Buffalo David Bitton' advertisement. The original advertisement displays a woman dressed in Buffalo clothing. It is a simple black and white advertisement who’s main purpose is to display and the sell the clothing. Within the advertisement, an area of discussion is how astonishingly thin the woman appears. A 'Jammer' appropriately placed a sticker right on her head reading the message, 'starving for attention'. “If the words lock in the “meaning” of a sequence, then the pictures can really take off”.[1] A simple statement as 'starving for attention' is able to take the picture to another level. The picture is presented with a new and effective message.
      This is a direct message towards women who face dissatisfaction wi0th their bodies. Women, who are constantly being told to improve their appearance and advertised by our culture unhealthy eating portions, the ’Jammer’ advertises that it is alright to not be as thin as the model.
     As a male, I can honestly say that being extremely thin is not attractive. However, advertisements showcase unnatural body sizes that put the idea in woman's mind that this is what attractive looks like. Nevertheless, with a simple phrase the Jammer was able to alter the message of the advertisement and at the same time criticize social norm.
      As stated by Lessig, “creative work has value”[2] and culture jammers take these pre-made works, and add some kind of flare to it, giving it that imaginative touch”. In the case of the Buffalo advertisement, the Jammer has creatively turned a clothing advertisement into a social commentary about women and the unrealistic standards portrayed by the media..

Work Cited

[1] McCloud, Scott. Understanding Comics. Print. 159. New York: Harper Collins, 1994.
[2] Lessig, Lawrence. Free Culture: How Big Media Uses Technology and the Law to Lock Down
Culture and Control Creativity. Print. 18. New York: Penguin, 2004.