Cutulre Jamming

Culture Jamming is defined as "the act of turning meda against themselves" (Conley 105). 

Today's media artists are promoting more than simply a product, they're promoting a culture and a standard of life. This provides for cultures jammers true aim: to question the culture being advertised by highlighting the hidden and necessary details omitted in the original advertising campaigns. The classic example of culture jamming is with tobacco products, specifically Joe Camel (the mascot of Camel cigarettes). 
 
This advertisement is promoting a cigarette, yes, but it is more importantly promoting an ideal style where cigarettes are a necessity to be 'cool' or 'smooth'. The sunglasses, the smirk, the blazer, and the overall confidence and attitude of the camel present a vibe of being socially accepted. That combined with the large bold letters of "SMOOTH" promote the idea that smoking cigarettes is culturally encouraged. However, these media artists are leaving out some details. 

In this great example of culture jamming, the artist has contradicted the idea of smoking as being culturally encouraged by implying that smoking actually leads to death. The idealized camel is now shown with an x-ray for a body (showing the idea that cigarettes lead to medical issues), and the contrasting bold yellow letters show that the previously advertised 'smooth' and ideal way to live will actually lead to death. The original ad omitted the major health risks associated with this 'cool' lifestyle necessity, so this picture shows that the targeted culture in the previous ad is actually far from the culture we should be wanting to establish. 

In a way, culture jamming, when viewed from a sociological standpoint, does a great job of employing the sociological imagination. According to C. Wright Mills in The Promise, "individuals... often become falsely conscious of their social positions," (Mills, 3) and in order to see these social positions, we have to use the sociological imagination. In other words, we need to use this to see 'the strange in the familiar.' The original Camel ad presents a desired culture where cigarettes contribute to the norm. Through Joe's demeanor, it promotes an idea of familiarity similar to: "if you want to be liked and culturally accepted, smoke cigarettes." The culture jammers then take the presented norm and twist the message so that viewers can see the strange (the x-ray and the eye-opening message) in the familiar (the suave Camel with the cigarette). The edited art displays key details that the original work failed to show, and highlights these falsely conscious norms via the sociological imagination. 

Some culture jammers create their own work without spoofing a specific previously publicized advertisement. Continuing with the example of tobacco use, www.thetruth.com creates their own examples of culture jamming based on the generic culture that tobacco products promote. 



Interesting links and videos relevent to culture jamming:

 http://www.nytimes.com/1990/12/23/arts/the-merry-pranksters-and-the-art-of-the-hoax.html?src=pm  
http://markdery.com/?page_id=154 

Works Cited:

1) Conley, Dalton. "3: Culture and Media." You May Ask Yourself: An Introduction to Thinking like a Sociologist. New York: W.W. Norton &, 2011. 104-05. Print.
2) Mills, C. Wright. "1: The Promise." The Practical Skeptic: Core Concepts in Sociology. By Lisa J. McIntyre. Boston: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2006. 3-4. Print.