Put up July 28, 1982, at the corner of Cedar and Center Streets in Santa Cruz. Appeared on the front page of the Santa Cruz Sentinel on August 4. Despite the publicity, it was not covered over until August 31, after being up for 34 days.
The old days, specifically, the early 1980s. Before internet activism, and the ease of creating subversive memes, artists had to take a few more risks to get their message across. I was privileged to see a couple of these in person, and they pretty much delighted everyone. Well, okay, most of the younger crowd. It may well be time to get subversive once again, off the net.
The year was 1980 and no billboard was safe. A loose group of artists, designers, and troublemakers called Truth in Advertising were makjing not-so-subtle changes to advertisements all over Santa Cruz. The goal was to subvert lowbrow doublespeak with clever turns of phrase that made fun of the product being sold or revealed the truth behind the slogan. One example is is cigarette campaign with the vaguely positive language, “Kent III, Experience It!” tweaked to say “Cancer, Experience It!”
Bob Stayton, a.k.a., “William Board,” invented a method for “updating” these monumental ads that would spread to friends and friends of friends, all operating under the Truth in Advertising moniker. “No one knows how many people participated over the years,” Stayton writes on his website. “There was no roster, and no email list (there was no email back then). Since the activity was illegal, it was best not to know names.” He tells The Creators Project that his process involved carefully studying the typography of the ad words, projecting Polaroid photos onto graph paper to nail the proportions, and then pasting wallpaper painted with acrylic over the billboard.
[…]
Stayton was personally involved in at least 12 rewrites, which he planned or photographed. “I’m retired, but I published the directions in case someone else wants to give it a try,” he says. While he’s focusing on his day job as a computer consultant and the author of a book about solar energy, he’s left an open invitation to artists looking to take up his mantle. “If someone uses our method then they can use the Truth in Advertising name. No trademark there!” he says. While we don’t condone the destruction of private property, you can read the official guide to Truth in Advertising here, and do with it what you will.
The Creators Project has the full story. It’s always time to get creative!
People are still doing it in London: Brandalism group claiming outdoor advertising ‘shits in your head’ stages London Underground takeover.
Dunc, I know. Brandalism is mentioned and linked to in the article.
This is a bit embarrassing. I lived and worked in Santa Cruz at precisely that time, but have no recollection whatsoever of actually seeing any of the reworked billboards. I (very vaguely) recall seeing photographs, probably in one or more of the local leftwing newsheets, but that’s about it.
(Pedantically, he’s wrong about there being no e-mail at that time — there most certainly was — what there wasn’t was widespread or easy to the Internet as it then existed (and the PC itself was very new). Hence, outside of universities, the military, and some corporations / companies, e-mail was mostly unknown, and a considerable amount of the e-mail was either confined to a local machine / site, or sent using technologies like UUCP.
</rant>)In a similar vein, I have some friends who were responsible for putting up this image in legitimate advertising spaces (bus stops, etc.) just prior to Bush’s visit. (To explain the joke, I have to say that while I like the sentiment, the message is thoroughly misogynistic.)
In any case, I’m a big fan of this kind of um subversive, thought-provoking art, because of its subtlety. Mostly the eye just slides right past the changed image, but then one day something in the brain catches on.