This past Friday in Paris, over 600 posters by more than 80 artists and designers were installed in bus shelters managed by JCDecaux. The posters were installed on the occasion of the COP21 conference on climate change, which starts today. Participants in the campaign include Barnbrook, Bill Posters, Fra.Biancoshock, Jon Burgerman, Listen04, Paul Insect, Revolt Design, Stanley Donwood, Unga, and many more.
Seeing as JCDecaux is an official sponsor of the COP21 conference, it makes sense that they would open up their bus shelters to messages about climate change. Of course, that’s not what happened. This was an unauthorized action, a mass ad-takeover organized by Brandalism, who say that the posters “highlight the links between advertising, consumerism, fossil fuel dependency and climate change.”
Here’s a video of the action:
And of course, more posters:
It’s worth noting that some of the posters appeared in both French and English. Like with most mass-adbusting campaigns, there’s no telling exactly how sure these things will live in the wild, but at least there are plenty of photos for the internet.
One thing that sets this campaign apart from past mass-adbusts is that Brandalism is linking advertising, public space, consumerism, and climate change. This isn’t just about replacing ads with art because public advertising sucks, or throwing up protest posters to have a voice. It’s all interconnected. On unnamed artist in the project said, “We are taking their spaces back because we want to challenge the role advertising plays in promoting unsustainable consumerism. Because the advertising industry force feeds our desires for products created from fossil fuels, they are intimately connected to causing climate change. As is the case with the Climate talks and their corporate sponsored events, outdoor advertising ensures that those with the most amount of money are able to ensure that their voices get heard above all else.”
Visit the Brandalism website to see the full set of takeovers by dozens more artists.
Photos courtesy of Brandalism