Advertising Turf Wars
Amidst all the increasingly invasive, extreme, (or, on a lighter note, interactive) advertising out there, here’s an intriguing little border war. Textually reports that a teenaged graffiti artist named Skullphone hacked into a bunch of digital billboards in Southern California, replacing the ads with his logo of a, er, skullphone. Probably most arresting less because of the hack and more because of the visual style of the skull holding a cell phone. (via Blogrunner)
Speaking of which, what’s the deal with all the skull imagery these days? Tattoo-style skulls on clothing (like my shoes), Damien Hirst’s diamond encrusted skull. A sign of our Thanatos-driven times, I guess.
There are 2 Comments to "Advertising Turf Wars"
Nora, it’s all about the race to the bottom. And the kid who did this is a symbol of the response of youth culture to advertising.
On the one hand they shrug because of the utter ubiquity of brand messages and their almost total ineffectiveness; on the other, they are far more brand-conscious than preceding generations (hell, I’m over 40 and I AVOID wearing anything that’s recognizably branded. They want brands on EVERYTHING they have, as if their identity is an accretion of all the brands they buy into).
Perplexing.
Very interesting comment, Bob. I know exactly what you mean. I am quite brand averse too, but it’s amazing how much that’s changed.