Culture Jamming

Culture jamming can be described as an art movement that takes advantage of different forms of the media to raise awareness of a particular issue.“Culture jamming presents a variety of interesting communication strategies that play with the branded images and icons of consumer culture to make consumers aware of surrounding problems and diverse cultural experiences that warrant their attention” (www.depts.washington.edu). It manipulates current advertisements to send a different message that was originally intended by the advertiser. Culture jamming usually has a humorous component and is intended to entertain.

Culture jamming is also very effective to help raise an important issue and gain awareness. Advertisements are a very effective way to communicate a message. Every day we are surrounded by advertisements on television, on the internet, through the radio, on billboards, on posters, etc. Companies spend billions of dollars in advertising each year. “In 2006 alone, The Coca-Cola Company spent more than $2.5 billion on advertising” (www.reportonbusiness.com). Companies are aware that in order to sell a product and communicate a message, they need the help of advertisements. This is why culture jamming is so effective and brilliant. Culture jamming has taken advantage of the fact that advertisements are a great way to communicate a message.

The above ads are examples of culture jamming. The first ad is a parody of an Apple IPod advertisement. The ad reads “Iraq: 10000 Iraqis killed, 773 US soldiers dead”. Although the advertisement is a parody and may be funny to some viewers, the advertisement has a deeper meaning. It is attempting to raise awareness of the huge amount of people who are dying in Iraq because of the war. The second advertisement reads “Slavery, If the Shoe Fits!” Also, this is a parody and is intended to have some sort of humorous element however, the advertisement is also bringing awareness to the issue of Nike and the human rights concerns that faced their company.

By making a parody of an advertisement and using a billboard, poster, or the internet, culture jamming is very effective in communicating a particular message. Culture jamming can be humorous however, there are important messages and issues that are raised through the advertisements that are created.

Work Cited

Liedtke, Michael. “Google Skimps on its own Advertising.” Report on Business. 15 October 2007.


Culture Jamming. Center for Communication and Civic Engagement. 25 November 2008. [http://depts.washington.edu/ccce/polcommcampaigns/CultureJamming.htm].