No Measure of Health
April 15, 2019 4:37 AM Subscribe
No Measure of Health profiles Kyle Magee, an anti-advertising activist from Melbourne, Australia, who for the past 10 years has been going out into public spaces and covering over for-profit advertising in various ways.
Recently, he painted over the advertising video screens at Melbourne Central station with a modified fire extinguisher.
I am so 100% here for this. I really loathe advertising intensely, and especially in places where it is designed to be inescapable. Don't get me started on the televisions inside taxi cabs that blare crap at my face from 8 inches away and lack a functioning *off* button. Cheers to this person for doing something about it. The statement on the linked page is also (and this is showing my biases / low expectations I guess) rather coherent and well-said regarding the motivations and logic behind the protest.
posted by lazaruslong at 6:33 AM on April 15, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by lazaruslong at 6:33 AM on April 15, 2019 [3 favorites]
As a former television commercial director and Communication major, I approve of this message.
I hope someone discovers a method to ban/disconnect/eliminate the gigantic billboards continually flashing video ads on roads all over the USA. Soon.
posted by CrowGoat at 7:24 AM on April 15, 2019 [3 favorites]
I hope someone discovers a method to ban/disconnect/eliminate the gigantic billboards continually flashing video ads on roads all over the USA. Soon.
posted by CrowGoat at 7:24 AM on April 15, 2019 [3 favorites]
What can you do with those giant full vehicle wraps that blight busses and trains? They're ugly enough from the outside, but from the inside they inevitably block 50% of the light coming in. I was shocked when I was in DC and wanted to ride one of the tourist Hop-On-Hop-Off busses; even these things built for sightseeing had sight-obstructing full vehicle wraps. Hideous.
Advertisements are mind viruses. Nearly any measure is appropriate to protect yourself from them.
posted by Nelson at 7:34 AM on April 15, 2019 [3 favorites]
Advertisements are mind viruses. Nearly any measure is appropriate to protect yourself from them.
posted by Nelson at 7:34 AM on April 15, 2019 [3 favorites]
Props to this dude for taking a stand. We should not have to commodify every inch, or even most inches, of our public spaces in order to have them.
posted by Grimp0teuthis at 8:06 AM on April 15, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by Grimp0teuthis at 8:06 AM on April 15, 2019 [2 favorites]
He needs to work on the engineering of his paint thrower.
posted by GenjiandProust at 9:27 AM on April 15, 2019
posted by GenjiandProust at 9:27 AM on April 15, 2019
A few years ago there was a squat, pro-life billboard featuring a 5 or 6 month old baby, using the same emotionally manipulative bullshit they all do. It infuriated me. I'd thought about getting a paintball gun to try and at least show that it wasn't welcome, but I moved and it's no longer there. This guy is much more dedicated than me. More power to him. He's %100 in the right
posted by FirstMateKate at 9:37 AM on April 15, 2019
posted by FirstMateKate at 9:37 AM on April 15, 2019
Come here to recommend The Monkey Wrench Gang. It's nice to see the ideas being carried forward.
posted by booksarelame at 11:29 AM on April 15, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by booksarelame at 11:29 AM on April 15, 2019 [2 favorites]
I typed out an snarky response and a thoughtful response to this. Then, I remembered Emily Heller got that shit right talking about fitness goals.
posted by es_de_bah at 12:36 PM on April 15, 2019
posted by es_de_bah at 12:36 PM on April 15, 2019
> I hope someone discovers a method to ban/disconnect/eliminate the gigantic billboards continually flashing video ads on roads all over the USA
I don't understand how they're legal, they're so distracting.
posted by The corpse in the library at 12:47 PM on April 15, 2019
I don't understand how they're legal, they're so distracting.
posted by The corpse in the library at 12:47 PM on April 15, 2019
Nice!
There's a whole lot of these peeps back in the day with billboards as well... Props to my home state of maine which has zero billboards.
I took a very small part in a couple art shows with Public Ad Campaign many years ago, coordinated multi city takeovers with lots of small artists doing pieces that were then put into bus station ad windows. They also have a guide to the sets of keys that open bus terminal ad spots in various cities. http://www.publicadcampaign.com/PublicAccess/Index.html
posted by danjo at 2:26 PM on April 15, 2019 [1 favorite]
There's a whole lot of these peeps back in the day with billboards as well... Props to my home state of maine which has zero billboards.
I took a very small part in a couple art shows with Public Ad Campaign many years ago, coordinated multi city takeovers with lots of small artists doing pieces that were then put into bus station ad windows. They also have a guide to the sets of keys that open bus terminal ad spots in various cities. http://www.publicadcampaign.com/PublicAccess/Index.html
posted by danjo at 2:26 PM on April 15, 2019 [1 favorite]
Seapking of those horrible vehicle wraps, there is a related activist group in Melbourne called tramclean that goes around trying to pull those off.
posted by bashism at 5:24 PM on April 15, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by bashism at 5:24 PM on April 15, 2019 [1 favorite]
My hero. The screen I stand next to every evening has yet to be cleaned. It makes my day.
Some background to his comment:
the screens used to play advertising interspersed with segments from sky news (the pay-TV news channel that makes the free-to-air corporate news look progressive) but now they are playing ads interspersed with bullshit american celebrity news, which is perhaps a marginal improvement
The Victorian government ordered Sky News off screens in our train stations 'amid a sustained backlash to the broadcaster’s decision to interview the far-right extremist Blair Cottrell [...] the broadcaster was accused of “normalising racism and bigotry”' (yep, pretty much constantly).
posted by brushtailedphascogale at 5:37 PM on April 15, 2019
Some background to his comment:
the screens used to play advertising interspersed with segments from sky news (the pay-TV news channel that makes the free-to-air corporate news look progressive) but now they are playing ads interspersed with bullshit american celebrity news, which is perhaps a marginal improvement
The Victorian government ordered Sky News off screens in our train stations 'amid a sustained backlash to the broadcaster’s decision to interview the far-right extremist Blair Cottrell [...] the broadcaster was accused of “normalising racism and bigotry”' (yep, pretty much constantly).
posted by brushtailedphascogale at 5:37 PM on April 15, 2019
Pepsi plans to use cubesats to display ads in the night sky from Boing Boing sounds too bizarre to be real but how can Magee cover this one up?
posted by Botanizer at 6:24 PM on April 15, 2019
posted by Botanizer at 6:24 PM on April 15, 2019
See also Clean City Law: Secrets of São Paulo Uncovered by Outdoor Advertising Ban.
posted by Captain Fetid at 10:39 PM on April 15, 2019
posted by Captain Fetid at 10:39 PM on April 15, 2019
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posted by Etrigan at 6:13 AM on April 15, 2019 [1 favorite]