Culture Jamming the Love of Our Lives

There are so many things we grow to love in life. We go around telling everyone that we "sleep, eat and breathe it". One thing we forget to mention in our list of things we love is brand names. Whether or not we deny this passion for brands, we "blindly slave"(Rasool, 2009) to big corporations and "brands that control our lives from their steely grey watchtowers with pet vultures that circle overhead and report back on our behaviour"(Rasool, 2009). These companies know exactly what we want and prefer, so they manufacture and produce for our specific needs. We unknowingly tend to love this special treatment.


However, coming back to consumerism; as some individuals who are aware that the commercial culture is dominating aren’t necessarily too keen about this happening. And what better way to protest against the multinational corporations and boycotting their product by culture jamming. As award winning student director Chad Gillespie says, it is "an organized, social activist effort that aims to counter the bombardment of consumption oriented messages in the mass media"(Gillespie) in his work called What Is This Jam In My Culture.

The number one food consumer brand in the world today is McDonalds. This food brand knows exactly what the public wants; a family oriented restaurant that provides children with a happy and fun-filled environment. It promotes itself with McDonald the clown which shows everyone that this is the perfect place for togetherness. What McDonald doesn't say is that their Big Mac’s contain a total of 540 calories and fat component of 29 g or that that their Cheeseburger Happy Meal contains a total of 550 calories , 25g of fat and 63 g of carbs. This culture jamming is an amazing display of McDonald our people friendly clown. There is a masking tape that is literally shutting him up of his sweet talking words to show a GREASE sign. Geez, that’s something you don't see McDonald promoting everyday.

Tiger Woods

Tigers Woods' swoosh smile is famous. The perfect culture jamming ad for celebrity endorsement. It shows how a celebrity basically becomes the product and the brand while selling a brand. In this ad, they literally pasted the brand on Tiger Woods face to emphasize his well known smile.

Works Cited

Gillespie, S. Chad. "What Is This Jam In My Culture. Studies in Global Media. 2007. 22nd November 2009.

"McDonalds". Livestrong. 2008. 22nd November 2009.

Rasool, Farzana. "Culture Jamming". Cybertreehugs. 4th November 2009. 22nd November 2009.

Activist Program - Free the Children

FREE THE CHILDREN VIDEO - CLICK TO WATCH

I am an active participant and volunteer for Free the Children cause. It is one of the most well known charity causes in the world which travels all to foreign places in search of areas that enforce child labour. After searching for many causes to support, I came to establish a relationship with Free the Children because it “empowers children in North America to take action to improve lives overseas”(Kielburger). The leadership council inspires leadership to youth in developed countries like U.S.A and Canada. What brought me forward is the hands on experience it offers. Sure, any organization will allow us to donate, but Free the Children aims to get people involved physically so they can truly understand the conditions of those in need. They encourage the youth and others to promote leadership because the organization believes that the children are the leaders of tomorrow, and every child, just like those in developed countries like Canada should have the right to become rightfully successful and also evolve into leaders.

At the moment, I am taking speech lessons at the organization so I can become an influential spokesperson for the cause. A recent project that I’ve worked on with them was “Be the Change – Adopt a Village” campaign. We held many food fairs at our school so we could raise money for our partners who worked in developing countries (Kenya was our choice of country) to build schools and clean water systems while also providing health care and sources of alternative income. Craig Kielburger encouraged all of us by constantly reminding us that “you can be the change you want to see in the world”(Kielburger). I know it sounds pretty cheesy, but you’d be surprised at how much of an impact those words had on us while we were in action helping others in need. Craig Kielburger once said, “I wanted to know what it is like working in the conditions, how they felt, how did they get up each morning knowing that this is what they were going to do, what their dreams were for the future”(Kielburger). While working for the organization, my mind also spoke the same language. By helping these children, it feel like I bring more peace to this world. Helping children escape from child slavery and giving them a better life makes me feel like I’m being the change. Every time I do something for Free the Children, I feel like I’m one step closer to world peace because I don’t just sit back and see what they do, I actually do and see it for myself. This coming summer, I plan to be a part of the team that will travel overseas to help build schools for children.

 When Canadian born Craig Kielburger was a 12 years old, he read an article about another young boy named Iqbal Masih. He read about how Iqbal Masih worked for a carpet factory and was used as a child laborer. At 10 years old, Iqbal escaped and joined the Bonded Liberation Front of Pakistan which protested against child slavery. Unfortunately, a few years later while riding a bicycle outside his home, Masih was shot to death. 

Iqbal Masih

 This story had a great impact on Kielburger as he built this organization called Free the Children with his friends and peers from the inspiration of Iqbal Masih. Today, his organization is the one of the world’s biggest charity causes.

Works Cited

“Craig Kielburger on Be the Change! Share the Story!”. YouTube. 24^th October 2007. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mikv2P-_8Ww> 21^st November 2009.

“Free the Children Promo Video”. YouTube. 5^th December 2009. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKOv2HTaQOE> 21^st November 2009.

“Adopt A Village”. Free the Children. 2009.< http://www.freethechildren.com/whatwedo/international/ >21^st November 2009.

"Facebook Me!"

The only participatory culture I can picture myself in at the moment is the one and only Facebook. I say one and only because it is the number one social networking website in the world.

Ever since I was younger, I used to travel constantly due to my dads work and social connections. We have family around the world, so my social circle was pretty much limited to just family as I was homeschool for the most part. Fortunately, that isn't the case anymore because I started going to school when I came to Canada. My networking happened either face to face or over the phone. Little did I know that one day I'd be a part of a whole social network culture online where I could connect with family and friends within seconds. Now, there is no more constant planning, appointments, eight hour flights or international phone calls.

 Facebook has certain features that makes it convenient for people to connect with each other very easily:

"Facebook is designed to make it easy for you to share your information with anyone you want. You decide how much information you feel comfortable sharing on Facebook and you control how it is distributed throughout privacy settings. You should review the default privacy settings whenever you share your information."

This way I can connect with my cousins and friends and they can always see what Im up to because of my pictures, my status update, my conversations with other Facebook friends, my applications and quizzes I take and other pictures that I comment on. In the same way, I find myself knowing what is going on in their lives.

In fact, I know what is going on in peoples lives of those who I don't even know that well if not know them at all. However, since there is a limited profile privacy setting, I am able to hide things from certain people and certain people are able to choose what to hide from me.

It's special networking site because we can now access it as an option over our BlackBerry's and iPhones easily. When I randomly encounter someone I haven't met in months, I already know what has been going on in their professional and personal lives from before and vice versa. Since we both have more in-depth knowledge about each other already, we don't wind up updating each other but discussing the issues and events taking place in our lives. If I meet someone new and interesting on the subway, all I have to say is "Facebook me!".The funny part about this is that somehow, I am aware that the person already has a Facebook account, just like they may have a cellular phone, a phone number or a home. This culture has brought unity and a new style of language into our lives. If five years from now, someone came up to me and said "Facebook me!", I;d think they're psycho and need to seek help - on another planet. But now, it is like a universal saying. Majority people in the world are participating in this growing culture, and "Facebook me" can and will never go wrong. From when I was younger to now, my social circle has expanded so much due to an online empire that stands on its own as Facebook!

P.S. Don't forget to Facebook me!

Works Cited

"Facebook's Privacy Policy". Facebook. 19th November 2009. 21st November 2009.

Big Daddy Disney!

I don't think I realized how much of an impact cartoons, movies, musical theatre and other media productions have had on me till now. In other words, I don't think I realized how much of an impact Walt Disney has had on me. Confused yet? Of course you are. I was the same way when I found out that almost every source of media I've consumed throughout my life, and that has influenced me has been the result of "Big Daddy's", the Walt Disney Company's upbringing all along.

I'll let you in on a summary of my upbringing with television. From the time I could start interpreting images and understanding words, I'd tell my mom to turn on the TV and switch to Toon Disney (I never lived in Canada, so I had no Tree House if you're questioning me at this point). My favourite shows were Tom and Jerry, Sailor Moon, Mickey Mouse and even a foreign cartoon named Captain Majid. As I grew older, I'd watch Disney movies, "Buena Vista productions, Miramax productions, Touchstone Pictures movies"(The Nation, 2001). All these companies provided me with movies like Cinderella, The Lion King, Snow White, Aladdin, Sleeping Beauty etc."Early cartoons were with knock-offs - slight variations on winning themes; retellings of ancient stories…Disney took these stories and retold them in a way that carried them into a new age"(Lessig 23). During holiday's we'd tune into Fox Family to watch Christmas or Halloween movies. ABC was that channel I watched everyday after dinner with the family. We watched Seventh Heaven, Full House, Family Matters and Fresh Prince of BelAir every time we had the opportunity.  Watching these shows helped me shape my opinions about people. It helped me recognize traits, characters and personality. After my craze for Steve Urkel  and Michelle Tanner blurred, I became closely intrigued with musical theatre when The Beauty and the Beast and Lion King production was first introduced to me when it came out on broadway. Till now, I have tried to watch watch and participate in as many musicals as I could. Now, I watch Soap Net. where I can tune into at least 90210, Gossip Girl, Glee or The City at all times. I have also become very attracted to A&E, the History Channel, Biography Channel and especially E! and Style since it provides me with reality television and and the trends of reality itself.

90210

Being the musical and media oriented girl that I am, I've always told my friends that I want to a part of the media industry. No matter what I do, I want to be on television, being a part of the world that has influenced me. I also want to influence others and shape the thoughts of many (in a good way of course). I've been a part of many musicals and other productions in the hope to one day speak about the forms of media that have influenced me. Now when I think about it, I should have always said, "I want to host for the Walt Disney Company". You must be thinking, why should a 19 year old girl would want to host for the Disney company? Well I can back up my argument and make this more clear for you by saying, Disney owns more than just its name. It has owned everything that I've grown up watching and encountering including all the productions. The Walt Disney Company owns every company I have listed above, and those companies have provided me with the shows I like, and probably more things that I consume, or that I have consumed in the past. Disney is an example of a company that started out with just its name, and branched out to other companies throughout the years. I am sure there are many more media companies that work the same way because "never in our history have fewer had a legal right to control more of the development of our culture then now"(Lessig, 168).

Works Cited

The Nation. "Walt Disney Company". The Ten. 20th December 2001. 20th November 2009.

Lessig, Lawrence. Free Culture. United States of America: Penguin Books, 2004.

My Best Friend...

If you're a big believer in having everything your way, talking to the people you like, searching for the sort information you'd like, and networking with individuals around the world, when you want, where you want, in other words if you want to stay connected to the internet at your free will and love the idea of a global village, this is your blog post!

In order to understand net neutrality better, I made observation results of my time spent on  the internet.

Everyday, I turn on my laptop, and click on Safari (which is the web browser for Mac). When I'm on my web browser, the first place I go to is my Facebook account. Logging on to my account, I find I have about 10 alerts. These alerts usually indicate friends that have posted messages on my profile wall, friends that have commented on my pictures, friends that have commented on pictures I have been tagged in, friends that have commented on my updated status, etc. As I read these messages and comments, I feel bored and decide to listen to some music. The first website that comes into my mind is YouTube. I know I can find almost any sort of genre on this website so I type in "Russian Roulette by Rihanna" to listen. As Im listening to the music, I then check my Hotmail. I log on to my account and read every mail I've received and start replying. My song finish's, so I go back on YouTube and type in "Forever by Drake" to listen to that. As I complete replying to my Hotmail, I log onto the Guelph-Humber websites to check my mail there. I know I have a media assignment due the next day, so I go on the Google search engine, and check out examples of news releases. I start taking notes. While I'm at it, I also read the news. Might as well right? I suddenly remember that I need to update my Twitter status. I immediately go on my twitter page and type in, "All the possibilities the internet has to offer us. My brain has just been in so many places in just 15 minutes….and I love it!".

I just had so many choices over the internet. I did just about everything I wanted to do. Net neutrality is what made this possible for me. However, net neutrality is not being taken seriously enough by the government. The acts against it are occurring now and we need to stop it somehow. I can't imagine not having the freedom to do everything I just did in 15 minutes. Net neutrality fights for open media verses closed media, allows access to websites, enforces no restrictions and provides freedom of choice. It acts as the voice of the public and over all is a "democratic device" (CBC News, 2009). Having regulations is like "if the law imposed the death penalty for parking tickets, we'd have fewer parking tickets, we'd also have much less driving"(Lessig, 192). Without net neutrality, we'd have less people using the internet, therefore less views on websites, therefore bringing down the reputation and familiarity of each website, and every company linked to that website. It would be a downward spiral for businesses and the the global village culture. To make it more simple for you and myself to understand, I like to compare this to innovation, since innovation equals to productivity. "If innovation is constantly checked by this uncertain and unlimited liability, we will have much less vibrant innovation and much less creativity"(Lessig, 192). So, this "punitive system of regulation will systematically stifle creativity and innovation. It will protect some industries and some creators, but it will harm industry and creativity generally"(Lessig, 192).

 I have had the freedom of choice over the Internet ever since I was about 11 years old. I've been brought up with it and learned from it. I have become a fast thinker, an analyzer, a more productive person and have connected with more people and organizations around the world due to my freedom I have on the Internet. No net neutrality will equal to no best friend.

Works Cited

Curtis, A. "Net Neutrality". YouTube. 21st April 2006. 20th November 2009.

Lessig, Lawrence. Free Culture. United States of America: Penguin Books, 2004.

"Net Neutrality and Internet Traffic Management". CBC News. 19th October 2009. 20th November 2009.

Buy Nothing Day

BUY NOTHING DAY- WATCH VIDEO - CLICK TO WATCH

"Buy Nothing Day" on November 28th, is a fantastic day which discourages overconsumption. In my opinion, material standards of living has reached such heights, that it has become a core source of happiness. Or at least this is what we are encouraged to believe. Consuming has become an icon which "we use to represent concepts, ideas and philosophies"(McCloud, 27) of what we desire. In fact, I think shopping centres have replaced churches because it is now a symbol of cultural values. Shopping has become a religion, where we are told to consume, and the result of that consumption will come through happiness and self-satisfaction. Just for the fun of it, I decided to research this topic and found that "90% of us visit shopping malls each week more than attend houses of worship"(Miss Changelez, 2009).

Although overconsumption is a fuel for the economy, as we are reminded constantly of the economic benefits, which are usually summed up in these so called wise words, "the more we spend, the more we get back"(Adele, 2009), we must also think about the social and health indicators within the subject area. For example, statistics show, "family breakdown, stress, loneliness and depression are much higher in 'developed' countries"(Altruists International, 2008). Many reasons can explain why this is a result and a cause of increased economic activities. In the past, recreation was spent on non-consumptive activities such as visiting friends or appreciating nature. This is especially hard in a dying social and natural environment. Now a days, depressed people are told to cheer themselves by selfish consuming, whether of food, drugs, digital culture, or even a means of escapism. For example, a result of food consumption has caused obesity which is an obvious symptom of over-consumption. While there are millions of people dying of hunger in other parts of the world, overeating is widely known throughout North America - which is evidence of how the manipulation of large companies is indirectly, unintentionally promoting self-destruction. Also, most people, including myself, spend hours everyday devoted to digital culture. My family no longer spends time together in conversation, but are usually busy on our digital devices which keep us busy. However, we feel as if our lives aren't complete as we feel depressed and lonely because we forget the value of family, friends and togetherness. What we miss out in our daily consumerist lives is that same togetherness which is and has been the true meaning of fulfilment for generations on end. So I ask you one question- what is more important? The growing economy, which lets me spend in return for short- term self- satisfaction or the disadvantages of overconsumption which promotes fulfillment, with a long term elimination of social and health issues. You choose. "Buy Nothing Day" is your day to decide.

Works Cited

Confer, Jess. Buy Nothing Day 2009, November 28 | Black Friday Protest. YouTube. 5th November 2008. 20th November 2009.

Emile and Adele. "How to Become Financially Free". E-Blogger. 1st October, 2009. 20th November 2009.

McCloud, Scott. Understanding Comics - The Invisible Art. New York: Harper Perennial, 1993.

"Oversumption". YouTube. 22nd May 2006. 20th November 2009.

"Re-establishing Altruism As A Viable Social Norm". Helping Others Altruists International. 2008.   20th November 2009.