A new, public satire is sweeping Paris, brimming with snark and sarcasm. Described as “a revolt against corporate control of the visual realm”, Brandalism is the largest protest against mass advertising the world has ever seen.
Brandalism was founded in 2012, and has since grown ten fold to include artists and activists from around the world. They work by replacing your regular, run of the mill adverts, desperately enticing you into buying things you neither want nor need, with something subtly different. See if you can spot it…
This spoof advertisement in Paris by @BrandalismUK pokes fun at VW, while making a serious point #climatechangepic.twitter.com/ACYlYOGoYm
— This Week in Germany (@ThisWeekGermany) November 30, 2015
The guerrilla artists mock consumerism, draw attention to companies harming the planet and highlight their hypocrisy in sponsoring the UN climate summit with more than 600 works of art appearing in Paris this week. The brandals’ protest coincides with hundreds of people around the world marching this weekend to show their support for a strong climate change deal. The art work around paris, however, focusses on the brand sponsors, and their perceived hypocrisy in sponsoring a climate change summit.
#Brandalism in Paris—highlighting the links between consumerism & climate change: https://t.co/XN1k3ZAfhs pic.twitter.com/slEbSW33pC — Bean (@SomersetBean) November 29, 2015
Politicians did not escape the withering gaze of the brandals either, David Cameron is seen here in a F1 outfit covered in sponsors such as The Sun, while George Osborne is criticised below for the UK’s continued reliance on oil.
Have you seen these? @NaomiAKlein @SolutionsCOP21 No corporate solutions #COP21Paris #Brandalism pic.twitter.com/BhdGJIkdFA
— BrandalismUK (@BrandalismUK) November 29, 2015
The works of art were then shared widely across social media from the @BrandalismUK account and were shared spontaneously by a wide selection of the general public, spreading their message much further than would otherwise have been possible. In a statement, Joe Elan from Brandalism said, “By sponsoring the climate talks, majorpolluters such as Air France and GDF-Suez-Engie can promote themselves as part of the solution – when actually they are part of the problem.”
@BrandalismUK mocks @COP21 #lobbying with #streetart on #bus stops of @Paris @streetartnews @wadmag @MilkStudios pic.twitter.com/4zSmdEr1HL — Annabelle Azade (@AnnabelleAzade) November 30, 2015
.@BrandalismUK / Don’t Nuke the Climate #Fukushima #COP21 #nucleaire pic.twitter.com/CLOAqUWnOx
— ClémenceD (@clemencejeanned) November 29, 2015
The protests offer up a challenge to the companies and politicians involved, with the danger of a social media crisis never far away. As the protest reaches an ever larger audience on social media, more and more news organisations are bound to begin, or continue, covering it. Should this happen, it will be interesting to see how they respond. The Climate Games hope to cause disruption through further team based creative disobedience, and map the results. Similar events were held in Amsterdam in 2014 and 2015, and more than 200 people took part. You can find out more, or join a team, here,