How often do you see a product or a product advert that annoys you? Our shared space has been systematically sold off and now we are subjected to a barrage of advertising messages as soon as we leave our homes. Much of this messaging may promote products that are unhealthy for us or harmful for the planet. Are we okay with this?
Over-consumption of: industrially produced food, material possessions and energy drives environmental degradation. We should be consuming less, sharing more, slowing down the economy, spending more time with friends and family, growing food and enjoying life. Instead, we are whipped by corporations, their political lackeys and the warped cultural imperative deeming that our lives should just be about driving economic growth. Work harder! Buy more! Don’t pause to think or enjoy life! Obey!!
This ubiquitous bullshit propaganda is wearing thin. Only a rat can win a rat race.
We need to exert the requisite political pressure to change the rules of the game so citizens have a better deal – and a higher quality of life. After the revolution a people’s government can regulate corporations and bring their impacts under control so that the biosphere can recover. Whilst the political will to shake some sanity into the system musters we have to fall back onto good old consumer pressure. All of us can avoid dodgy products from dodgy corporations and help our friends do the same.
Enter the Do Not Buy Sticker. This is a handy tool for us to intercept and disrupt harmful corporate messaging wherever we see it – on the product, at the point of sale or on an advert. This registers your totally valid disapproval in a satisfying way and communicates to other passers-by that there is harm associated with this corporate mind-fuck.
Here are some examples of good places to whack up a sticker. Please send in a photo of your best hits.
Lurpack – we all like good, homely cooking but why yank heart strings to hawk Danish butter in England? Why would we pay to ship it over the North Sea when we can make great butter more locally? Anyway, its the global economy that has blown community in the West apart!
Evian – in what way is drinking water out of a plastic bottle going to make us younger!? The plastic leaches phthalates making it much healthier to drink fresh natural water – or straight from the tap. Plus – why drive water from the Alps to the UK? The pollution released from that unnecessary movement of goods drives climate change and acidifies the ocean – youthful my spotty botty. [More on water here]
Naturess!!?? WTF!? Like our homes are not already filled with enough synthetic, carcinogenic chemicals? Now you want us to plug in a nasty device made in China that will pump more chemicals around? I don’t care what it smells of – get that shitty over-packaged product out of my face… and how dare you call it Naturess you perverts?!
Top Shop – don’t use that poor girl to sell products. Take her down the pie shop and give her some munch. Jeeeezus… you are bumming us all out at this end whilst ruining the lives of the poor slave children you have hunched over sewing machines in Asia.
BP – you filthy, lying bastards. You market yourselves and Beyond Petroleum while casually ripping a whole in the earth and spilling millions of gallons of oil in the sea. You have the money to take renewables to the next level but you would rather horde the black gold. Stick this up your logo!
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