Brandalism

The first major Brandalism project occurred during the UK summer Olympics in July 2012. Over a five-day period, a team of 28 artists installed satirical parodies of corporate advertisements over 36 large format billboards in Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol and London.[10] The project was titled ’48 sheet’ and sought to comment on the impacts of advertising on culture and community, specifically targeting the “brand mania” surrounding the London Olympic games.[4] Artists involved in the project included post-situationist artist Robert Montgomery (artist), pop artist Ron English and Banksy collaborator Paul Insect.[11] The works appropriated advertisements from brands such as Foot Locker, McDonald's, JD Sport and Nike. The project gained international media attention, provoking widespread public discussions about the legitimacy of corporate advertising. After this, the Brandalism network began to develop and expand, with installations popping up in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Liverpool, Oxford and Brighton.

The 2015 UN Climate Change Conference was held in Paris, France from the 30th of November to the 12th of December 2015. During the conference, attending parties negotiated the Paris Agreement, an international commitment to reducing carbon emissions and combatting climate change.[12] During the Conference, Brandalism activists posted 600 pieces of satirical artwork in bus stop advertising spaces across Paris.[13] The art was designed by 82 artists from 19 countries. The art sought to protest against what Brandalism activists called the “greenwashing” of the UN Climate Change talks, and “the links between advertising, consumerism, fossil fuel dependency and climate change".[14] Across Paris, Brandalism activists covered over posters from JC Decaux, an outdoor advertising multi-national corporation and major sponsor of the climate conference.[15] Many of the posters distributed were parodies targeting other companies who were sponsoring the COP21, including Air France and Volkswagen. Other posters satirically depicted world leaders of the time, calling on them to take action on climate change and other environmental issues. 44th President of the United States Barack Obama, 24th President of France François Hollande, then-Prime Minister of the United Kingdom David Cameron and chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel were among the political figures displayed.[16]

During the 2019-2020 Australian summer season, intense bushfires occurred across Australia. 33 people died in the fires, 12.6 million hectares of land were burnt, 434 million tonnes of CO2 were emitted and over 1 billion animals were killed.[17] In response to the bushfires, a group of 41 artists collaborated on a Brandalism project dubbed “Bushfire Brandalism".[18] 78 roadside advertisements were replaced with satirical posters across Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Each poster featured a call to action and a QR code to the charity of each artists’ choice. The posters sought to draw awareness to the underlying causes of the bushfires, focussing on a range of subjects including climate change, drought, the fossil fuel industry, the Australian Federal governments’ response to the bushfire season and damage to Australia's native flaura and fauna.[19] The posters depicted popular Australian iconography as well as major political figures, such as Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

In November 2020, Brandalism activists covered more than 250 billboards and bus stop advertising spaces across 10 cities in the United Kingdom with satirical advertisements targeting HSBC, a British multinational investment bank.[20] This Brandalism project emerged in response to HSBC's announcement that it would aim to reduce its carbon emissions to zero by 2050, with activists claiming that this target was inadequate. Brandalism campaigners produced satirical advertisements accusing HSBC of “climate colonialism” and protesting against its investment in fossil fuels, links to deforestation and alleged involvement in human rights abuses.[21]

The artistic techniques and forms used by Brandalism artists are often dependent on the resources available to them or the resources they can borrow from nearby artists. Some Brandalism artists hand draw or paint over advertisements in public spaces. Others use software such as Adobe Photoshop to create their artworks digitally, and then print them using large format digital printers or screen printers. The standard size of a Brandalism artwork is 120 by 180 cm (47 by 71 in), as this is the average display size of bus stop advertising spaces.[24]

Brandalism involves activities that are considered illegal in many parts of the world. As such, artists from the Brandalism movement often follow a strict method to avoid legal penalty or sanction for the distribution of their subverted advertisements. Brandalism artists usually work individually or in small groups, and connect with one another using social media application such as Instagram or Facebook. In order to install their satirical adaptions of advertisements, Brandalism artists sometimes create their own high visibility vests with fake brand labels of large outdoor advertising companies such as JCDecaux and Clear Channel Outdoor printed onto them. This way, they can operate in plain sight and avoid drawing attention to themselves. They typically use 4-way utility, H60 or T30 keys to open locks and gain access to bus stop advertising spaces.[24] After gaining access to the space, they remove existing advertisements and replace these with their subverted and satirical advertisements or paintings.

Brandalism involves the satirical adaptation of corporate advertisements for the purpose of criticising corporations and the presence of corporate advertising in public spaces. In many cases, the subverted advertisements distributed by Brandalism artists are deliberately intended to look similar to the original advertisement. Some brand owners have consequently claimed that some instances of Brandalism may violate copyright or trademark laws. Defences used in response to claims of copyright or trademark infringement include fair dealing and rights to freedom of expression.[26] In the United Kingdom and Australia, the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 permits the fair dealing of copyrighted material for the purpose of parody, satire, criticism or review.[27] Section 10 of the Trade Marks Act 1994 also implies that infringements of trade mark may be defendable if 'due cause' can be established. This could occur if the defendant establishes due cause by claiming the distribution of the subverted advertisement was in the interests of the public.[28]

If a subverted advertisement has brought a company or label into disrepute, a brand owner may bring a claim of injurious or Malicious falsehood against the artist. For a claim of injurious falsehood to be successful, the complainant must prove malice on behalf of the publisher, substantial damage suffered due to the publication, and that some (or part) of the publication contained a falsehood.[29]

Freedom of expression remains the most common defence usable by Brandalism artists in response to claims of Copyright infringement, Trade mark infringement or injurious falsehood. The right to freedom of expression is stipulated in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (1953) and is also constitutionally protected in many democratic nations.[30][31] It constitutes ones individual right to freely express their opinions, views and ideas, and to seek, receive and impart information.