Culture Jam

Dear American Association of Advertising Agencies,

I am writing to you as a concerned citizen in regards to the overwhelming favoritism and monopolizing of corporate sponsorship on television and radio. I have just finished reading the book Culture Jam by Kalle Lasn, and am deeply opposed to the constant rejection of civil human liberties that the Adbusters organization receives when inquiring the purchasing of air time for non-consuming promotion.

At the rate at which our culture is evolving to depend solely consumerism, I believe that the media experience needs to contain some kind of balancing alternative. With Adbuster’s cultural perspective, the viewer has a greater chance of broadening their knowledge on the ecological damages that are resulting from all of the consumption, which needs to preventatively change before we ruin our entire planet.

Although this is obviously an economic boundary that is uncomfortable for any corporate sponsor to cross, it is immensely important and the right thing to do. Although it is understood that you have the right to selective airing, you should enable that right to start allowing the right kinds of messages into the public’s attention. A lot of people are very concerned for the media that their kids are consuming, especially the psychological, physical, and ecological effects. Your selection process is the reason why I do not watch tv or listen to the radio and stay as far away from any corporate influences as much as possible, because I directly oppose the lack of democracy that corporate power demonstrates.

Any paying organization should have full rights to airtime just as any individual should be able to exercise the right to freedom of speech no matter who it effects because that is the divine right of all Americans. Otherwise, your advertising selection process is undemocratic. Once the desires of an organization of individuals gets pushed aside for the desires of an overpowered corporate machine, there’s no freedom of cultural expression, and the truth will grow and explode in your face.

“Fifty years ago Alabama blacks sat in the backs of buses and at their own end of the lunch counter without thinking twice about it. Many women once believed they didn’t deserve to vote… Today, we’re caught in the same kind of reflexive subservience to corporations. We think its normal for them to have more rights than we do. We think it’s proper for them to clear-cut ancient forests, influence elections, run our airwaves, take politicians on jaunts to the Bahamas and draft the world trade rules. But it isn’t, and once you’ve reframed the issues of sovereignty, power and privilege, you’ll wonder why you ever thought it was.” (Lasn, 155)

Sincerely,

Faye Iwata

The corporation:

Surprise: It gave me a new perspective on how important money is, when it’s all just so made up and unreasonable.

Agitation: That what these interwiewees are saying makes so much sense, yet so many people don’t agree or even understand their logic.

Significant item of new learning: reflection, rage and rebellion.

My question is… why has our economy grown so out of touch with ecological needs, and how do we make that connect for people who only care about making lots of money?

Although there was an attempt for a positive ending by exemplifying progressive movement in the world, overall, it made the future look very bleak. I only feel so negative about the situation because of how far our ecological damages have added up thus far, and the corporations in power have so much to lose that in order to stir up enough reflection, rage and rebellion, there will be a huge number of casualties. I think the world war 3 that is discussed in Culture Jam is a very possible outcome, and weapons of mass destruction will put our planet in danger. We’ve become so fake-culture obsessed that there is no alternative. People are comfortable with their immersion in their tv set and that’s enough satisfaction to justify the corporation’s stronghold on their money and self-branding. This is how the movie made me feel, but I hope we are stronger than that. I know that there are past successes in overthrowing of this large power, but this is global and connected to everyone’s life daily. As an individual I feel completely unprepared and maybe un-involved, although I do have the reflection and rage part within my scope I just don’t think that enough people do in order to work together to produce this kind of change. What I really mean is not that things will never get better, but I think they will get a lot worse first.