Banksy makes us think ; Ads make us act.

The philosophy and morality behind infamous street artist Banksy is compelling; he points out the flaws of society in poignant and graphic ways. The popularity of his kind of work has increased over the years as well. Personally I've known of Banksy for years, often by word of mouth discussion in high school about his "cool" work. It's interesting to see these as subvertising expressions; granted they make you think, but do they make you act like advertising does. Before exploring this idea more-so, I can say that Bansky and other subvertisers and culture jammers do play an invaluable role in battling the advertising bombardment; as Klein describes: "the belief among jammers that concentration of media ownership has successfully devalued the right to free speech by severing it from the right to be heard". Within the very act of manipulating an ad creates awareness that advertising's rights have become culturally accepted and inevitable. But it is a step. The problem then is that advertising is infinitely more subtle, especially in the last ten or twenty years with the development of postmodern thinking and culture.

Although subvertising like Banksy's graffiti-like artwork about environmental issues, consumerism and education is powerful, it proposes to its viewers that there are problems with North American (and European) society that need drastic solutions. The molehill becomes a mountain when the message is heard: to boycott a product or buy organic food; or to invest time and energy into a local project for better education opportunities can inspire a person to think but not necessarily to act. I suppose this thesis comes from an idea that human nature tends to be inherently selfish. While someone might see Banksy's BP oil statue another person sees a commercial on TV for the new BMW 7 Series Sedan. We thrive on climbing social ladders to convince ourselves we matter. It's difficult to see beyond that so much of time. Awareness of this human phenomenon doesn’t make it go away; I still buy the brands I like to wear even though I am intensely aware of the branding conspiracy. A culture jammer like Banksy therefore comes up against not only against the faceless Madison Avenue conglomerate but against a larger force at work: human tendency. I like what Kalle Lasn (of Adbusters) has to say in the Klein article about culture jamming, society and human nature: “we are culture “addicted to toxins” that are poisoning our bodies, our “mental environment” and our planet.” Perhaps as he suggests, we need constant bombardment of the kind of work Banksy and others produce in order to see a paradigm shift in our public consciousness. I’d like to say we might see this within the next generation as we educate ourselves about the kinds of discourse advertisers use, but I think it’s safe to say adbusters have one big enemy that’s not going to make it easy: us.