Culture Jamming

 

Culture jamming is a form of media activism that reworks the intended meaning of the media text. It is also understood as the mode of resistance to the norms and conventions of mass culture that opposes to the media’s underlying message.

The objective of culture jamming is to include a conscious of raising awareness of social issues and using the media to criticise the media and the dominant culture.

 

The image I have chosen to discuss and manipulate in terms of culture jamming can be seen above. It is an image of Nike the brand.

The Nike brand has an image based on high performance, targeted at and associated with top class athletes and sports winners. Performance is their main priority and they have a reputation for high quality running shoes. The average Joe probably cannot afford to just fork out the money for a pair of these top-notch shoes; one would have to save for buying a product of this brand, needless to say they are not cheap.

 

The Nike advert that can be seen above sends out a message that contradicts what the brand is actually about. The advert in based in an environment, which can clearly be seen to be in a rural poverty stricken area, Nikes slogan is placed on the dirty wall with its statement ‘Just Do It’.

In the advertisement a boy can be seen taking a leak against the wall; with rubbish and dirt lying around everywhere. This puts a picture in the boy’s head that it is ok to contribute towards the filth because Nike says ‘Just Do It.’

The boy may have seen the dog doing it and then the sign on the wall which may have reinforced him to think that it is ok or making him believe that it is ok to live like animals and in filth, or that its already dirty so what harm will taking a leak do.

It reinforced the boy to think that it’s ok to ‘Just Do It’ because it is already dirty and because it is a poverty stricken area.

It can also be argued that the dog saw the boy do it and thereafter released himself there too.

Nike does not have much of a target audience in the rural areas, at least not as much as they would have in the urban areas, where they should be demonstrating their brand. This makes me think that Nike are so consumed within their intent for consumerism and materialistic gains that they have failed to see the reality of the world, they have looked straight past poverty as if it normal. Advertisements have the power to influence our thoughts and perceptions on what we see and how we see it; this advertisments message is that materialistic goods are more important than societal issues.

 

The advertisement promotes an ideology that I disagree with, it reinforces the social issue of poverty and contributes to the idea that it is ok to live in filth and be unsanitary just because the area is already dirty. It reinforces minds to think that poverty is normal and it’s everywhere, when people or society should be thinking it’s not normal and that it is a problem that we need to fix. The advertisement was manipulated into a humour but there is no justification why this someone should buy Nike from this advert, it in no way promotes the brand and if anything it is hypocritical because Nike does not rely on the rural areas for their brand support.