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It's a bird; it's a plane; it's culture jamming

In answer to CNN’s question, it is neither. Rather, this is another example of the culture jamming phenomena. Ryan Watkins-Hughes’ web site (linked here) confirms this answer.

The earliest example of culture jamming I can think of is the “Kilroy was here” message and logo that was placed on World War II ships, but that may not fit the current concept. In this incarnation, consumers attempt to block or distort a message. Auburn football players taped over the Nike swoosh on their shoes.

At a conference, Amanda of consumer cynicism fame noticed the elevator had a television that showed a CNN loop. Later that day, Amanda got on the elevator and saw that someone had placed sticky notes over the television monitor to prevent riders from receiving the message. Still later, Amanda took the same elevator and found that another rider had created a hole in the sticky notes in order to watch CNN. This is culture jamming.

Remember ripped jeans? Hand painted Chuck Connors? These are all examples of trends that started off as culture jamming. Now, Converse will let you design your own shows (linked here. This effort shares as much in common with the original intent as reality television shares reality.

When marketers use culture jamming tactics, it is called viral marketing. Notice both trends, culture jamming and viral marketing, are inter-related. As one becomes popular, so does the other.

Click here for story.

posted by Michael @ 2:22 PM