Sign
on letter to support French ad-busters!
Actions
against advertisement-terror in the streets
(french
translation below)
Advertisement pollution is growing all the time (transport, medias, school etc...) and citizens have no legal possibility to protect themselves from it. This issue of democracy motivated a civil disobedience action (non-violent and assumed) to claim the right to respond to this brainwashing and denounce advertising as a form of privatization of public space. The last few months have seen the creation of a spontaneous movement and hundreds of people have daubed advertising spaces all over France. Following actions in the Paris metro, RATP (company operating the metro) and Metrobus (Public branch) brought a case against 62 seemingly abitrarily chosen people, to repair damage estimated at 1,000,000 Euros. The trial took place on the 10th of March and the court's decision will be made known on the 28th of April. This petition is addressed to everyone who considers human beings to be more than just consumers, and who have had enough of the market invasion. It asks for the suit to be cancelled on the ground of freedom of expression. It is also moral support for those who took action to create a debate within society.
To sign: http://lecollectifdes62.free.fr/petition
The French authorities are facing a massive threat at the moment from the followers of Public Enemy nr.1 Robert Johnson. Investigations have revealed that he has taken a break in the Tokelau islands (http://209.167.42.61/interface/tokelau.jpg) to prepare his next adbusting storm.
The movement is growing with groups in Paris, Marseille, Grenoble, Lille, Rennes, Avignon, Toulouse..... the last action day was on the 28th of February. There is of course a long way to go but you can now see white spaces in the Paris metro left free for public expression which, a few weeks ago, would have been occupied by a big brand new car offering you its services. Marseille decided to reduce the number of advertising spaces by a third next year and allow some of the rest to be used by local organisations.
JC Decaux (yes the same people who are decorating the tram stops here in Amsterdam so tastefully) is furious; they have already had to pay for guards to protect their spots in Sweden and now they need lawyers in France... if things continue this way, they warn, they will let people think for themselves!
The best quote from Robert Johnson after painting on a billboard in the Paris subway: "The advertisement is talking to me, so i am talking back."
Petition
de soutien au collectif des 62 et au mouvement antipub
La pollution publicitaire ne cesse de croître (transports, médias,
école, etc.) et les citoyens n'ont pas de recours légaux pour
s'en protéger. Revendiquant un droit de réponse face à
ce matraquage, et dénonçant la publicité comme forme
de privatisation de l'espace public, ces enjeux démocratiques ont
motivé une action de désobéissance civile (non violente
et assumée). Ces derniers mois, un mouvement spontané s'est
créé et, partout en France, plusieurs centaines de personnes
ont barbouillé les espaces publicitaires. Suite aux actions dans
le métro parisien, la RATP et Métrobus, sa régie publicitaire
(filiale de Publicis) ont porté plainte et assigné 62 personnes
arbitrairement choisies, afin qu'elles réparent un préjudice
qu'elles évaluent à 1,000,000 d'euros. Le procès aura
lieu le 10 mars 2004. Cette pétition s'adresse à celles et
ceux qui considèrent que l'être humain n'est pas qu'un consommateur,
et qui en ont assez de l'invasion marchande. Elle demande que la plainte
soit retirée au nom de la liberté d'expression. Elle est un
soutien moral à celles et ceux qui sont passé-e-s à
l'action pour créer un débat de société.
