Billboard hacking

Illegal alteration of a billboard

Part of a series on

Anti-consumerism

Theories and ideas

* Affluenza
* Alternative culture
* Anti-capitalism
* Autonomous building
* Billboard hacking
* Buyer's remorse
* Bioeconomics
* Buddhist economics
* Buy Nothing Day
* Collaborative consumption
* Collapsology
* Commodification
* Commodity fetishism
* Commons
* Commune
* Compulsive buying disorder
* Conspicuous consumption
* Consumer capitalism
* Consumerism
* Conviviality
* Criticism of advertising
* Culture jamming
* Degrowth
* Do it yourself
* Downshifting
* Durable good
* Earth Overshoot Day
* Ecological economics
* Ecovillage
* Ethical consumerism
* Environmental justice
* Feminist political ecology
* Food loss and waste
* Freeganism
* Gift economy
* Green consumption
* Hyperconsumerism
* Local food
* Microgeneration
* Overconsumption
* Planned obsolescence
* Political ecology
* Post-consumerism
* Post-growth
* Post-normal science
* Right to repair
* Self-organization
* Simple living
* Slow Food
* Spectacle
* Steady-state economy
* Subvertising
* Sustainable consumer behaviour
* Sustainable consumption

Notable works

* Walden
* The Theory of the Leisure Class
* Brave New World
* The Affluent Society
* One-Dimensional Man
* The Society of the Spectacle (book, film)
* The Consumer Society: Myths and Structures [fr]
* Steal This Book
* Small Is Beautiful
* To Have or to Be?
* Future Primitive and Other Essays
* Fight Club (novel, film)
* Escape from Affluenza
* No Logo
* Profit over People: Neoliberalism
and Global Order

* The Cultural Creatives
* Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic
* Evasion
* The Corporation
* Surplus: Terrorized into Being Consumers
* So, What's Your Price?
* What Would Jesus Buy?

Organizations and groups

* Adbusters
* Crass
* CrimethInc.
* Deep Green Resistance
* Democracy Now!
* Earth Liberation Front
* Fifth Estate
* Freecycle
* Green Anarchy
* Institute for Social Ecology
* Monthly Review
* Rage Against the Machine
* Reverend Billy
* The Venus Project
* The Yes Men
* 350.org

People

* Mauro Bonaiuti
* Noam Chomsky
* Erich Fromm
* Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen
* Edward Goldsmith
* Paul Goodman
* André Gorz
* Ivan Illich
* Serge Latouche
* Donella Meadows
* Pierre Rabhi
* John Ruskin
* E. F. Schumacher
* Bernard Stiegler
* Henry David Thoreau

Related social movements

* Alter-globalization
* Amateurism
* Anarcho-communism
* Anarcho-primitivism
* Anarcho-punk
* Anti-capitalism
* Anti-corporate activism
* Anti-globalization movement
* Communism
* Diggers (theater)
* Ecofeminism
* Eco-socialism
* Environmentalism
* Feminism
* Food Not Bombs
* Fossil fuel phase-out
* Green anarchism
* Green left
* Green politics
* Hippie
* Libertarian socialism
* Neo-Luddism
* New Left
* Occupy Wall Street
* Postmodernism
* Punk
* Situationists
* Slow movement
* Social anarchism
* Social ecology

See also

* Works about consumerism
* Advanced capitalism
* Advertising
* Barter
* Capitalism
* Consumer behaviour
* Consumption (economics)
* Consumption (sociology)
* Cooperative
* Counterculture
* Cultural hegemony
* Ecological economics
* Economic materialism
* Economic problems
* Frugality
* Green economy
* Gross National Happiness
* Heterodox economics
* HosPex
* Influence of mass media
* Informal sector
* Intentional community
* Left-wing politics
* McDonaldization
* Mutual aid
* Natural resource economics
* Non-monetary economy
* Permaculture
* Post-materialism
* Productivism
* Shopping
* Social movements
* Subsistence economy
* Sustainability
* Sweatshops
* Veblen good
* Workaholic

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Billboard hacking or billboard hijacking is the practice of altering a billboard without the consent of the owner. It may involve physically pasting new media over the existing image,[1] or hacking into the system used to control electronic billboard displays. The aim is to replace the programmed video with a different video or image. The replaced media may be displayed for various reasons, including culture jamming, shock value, promotion, activism,[2] political propaganda,[3] or simply to amuse viewers.

## History[edit]

Billboard hacking started when commercial messages appeared in public space. In the first centuries BC, inscriptions promoting gladiatorial battles on the houses of the wealthiest in Pompeii commonly encountered passers-by who would inscribe their own humorous or insulting responses.[4] The commercialisation of paint markers and spray paint in the 1960s helped popularise the practice. During May 1968 protests in Paris, protesters wrote over billboards to give voice to their messages.[5]

A decade later, the first collectives of billboard hackers emerged. In San Francisco, the Billboard Liberation Front altered the meaning of a diverse range of billboards by selectively adding or removing words. In Sydney, the Billboard Utilising Graffitists Against Unhealthy Promotions, a collective of activists and medical professionals, used spray paint to alter the words and images of billboards promoting cigarettes and alcohol.[6] In 1984, the art collective Frères Ripoulain collaborated with the American artist Keith Haring to paint over billboards on the platform of Metro Dupleix in Paris. The action is followed by an illicit exhibition on the platform.

## Self-promotion[edit]

A Russian daredevil group called Ontheroofs hacked into a billboard atop a skyscraper in Hong Kong, causing it to display the name of their organization, a video of a previous climb up the then unfinished Shanghai Tower, and the words "What's Up Hong Kong".[7]

Two college students in Belgrade, Serbia hacked into a billboard and then contacted the owner describing the vulnerability. The hack allowed them to play Space Invaders and then display "Hacked4Fun". The students were thanked by the owner for pointing out the vulnerability and each given an iPad Mini.[8][9]

In Republic Square, Belgrade, Serbia, hackers caused a billboard to display an advertisement for The Pirate Bay which read "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win."[10]

## Activism[edit]

A billboard hijacked by the Billboard Liberation Front

A group named "Brandalism" has been hacking European billboards since 2012. Around November 2015, just prior to the Paris climate talks (COP21), street artists joined with this group and gained control of around 600 billboards around Paris making display the message "We'll keep on bribing politicians and emitting greenhouse gases" and a Volkswagen promotion reading "We're sorry that we got caught."[11][12]

In London, students recreated film posters with black leads and installed them in bus shelter advertising spaces. These posters sought to highlight the lack of black representation in popular culture.[13]

## Legal response[edit]

Depending on the circumstances, billboard hacking may be illegal. The FBI opened an investigation following the display of the obscene Goatse image on a billboard in Buckhead, Atlanta.[14][15] In another instance, one man was sentenced to 18 months in prison for displaying pornography on a Moscow billboard.[16] Non-electronic billboard hacks have rarely led to arrests.[17] One study warned corporate clients that attempts to prosecute billboard hackers would likely cause more bad publicity than the original offence, and suggested the best response may be to "address any criticisms raised."[18]

## Methods[edit]

An example of hijacking using détournement

Control over the display of electronic billboards may be achieved by hacking. One possible way of doing this is by knowing the default password provided by the manufacturer as the customer may neglect to choose a new one. Manufacturers increasingly try to prevent billboard hacking by installing CCTV cameras or embedding anti-hacking features into the software and hardware of the billboard.[19]

With non-electronic billboards, the image may simply be pasted over with a new image, or, the original image modified using the technique of détournement.[20]

## See also[edit]

* Billboard Liberation Front
* Billboard Utilising Graffitists Against Unhealthy Promotions

## References[edit]

1. ^ Chen, Yi (19 July 2012). "Street Artists Hijack Billboards in UK [Pics]". PSFK. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
2. ^ Schwartz, James D. (7 March 2011). "Billboard Hijacking To Promote Urban Bicycling". The Urban Country (Blog). Retrieved 6 May 2016.
3. ^ "City billboards hijacked by AL". The Daily Star. 6 August 2013. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
4. ^ Dekeyser, Thomas (9 August 2020). "Dismantling the advertising city: Subvertising and the urban commons to come". Environment and Planning D: Society and Space. 39 (2): 309–327. doi:10.1177/0263775820946755. ISSN 0263-7758.
5. ^ Michel, Jean-Jacques; Schwach, Victor (1973). "Le détournement d'affiches". Communication & Langages. 18 (1): 111–122. doi:10.3406/colan.1973.4014.
6. ^ McIntyre, Iain (10 April 2019). "BUGA-UP - Billboard Utilising Graffitists Against Unhealthy Promotions". The Commons Social Change Library. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
7. ^ McKirdy, Euan (18 October 2014). "On the Roofs climbers scale new heights". CNN. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
8. ^ Jovanovic, Dragana (15 March 2013). "Hackers Play Space Invaders on Digital Billboard, Owner Gives Them iPads". ABC News. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
9. ^ Farivar, Cyrus (14 March 2013). "Hackers play Space Invaders on Belgrade billboard, get rewarded with iPads". Ars Technica. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
10. ^ Healey, Nic (12 March 2013). "Pirate Bay 'ad' shown on hacked billboard". CNET. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
11. ^ Metcalfe, John (30 November 2015). "Activist-Artists Hack 600 Paris Billboards With Climate Messages for COP21". CityLab. The Atlantic Monthly Group. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
12. ^ Raoul, Vyvian; Bonner, Matt (28 November 2022). "Subvertising: Sharing a Different Set of Messages". The Commons Social Change Library. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
13. ^ Kieron Monks. "'Subvertising' hackers are using street ads to protest". CNN. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
14. ^ Koebler, Jason (15 May 2016). "Someone Hacked a Billboard in Atlanta to Display Goatse". Motherboard. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
15. ^ Cluley, Graham (21 May 2015). "Hackers plant obscene image on electronic billboard in Atlanta". Graham Cluley. Cluley Associates. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
16. ^ Chan, Casey (24 March 2016). "A Man Is Going to Prison for Hacking a Billboard to Play Porn (NSFW)". Gizmodo. Gawker Media. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
17. ^ Kieron Monks. "'Subvertising' hackers are using street ads to protest". CNN. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
18. ^ Smith-Anthony, Adam; Groom, John (1 January 2015). "Brandalism and subvertising: hoisting brands with their own petard?". Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice. 10 (1): 29–34. doi:10.1093/jiplp/jpu207. ISSN 1747-1532.
19. ^ Dekeyser, Thomas (1 October 2018). "The material geographies of advertising: Concrete objects, affective affordance and urban space". Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space. 50 (7): 1425–1442. doi:10.1177/0308518X18780374. ISSN 0308-518X. S2CID 158657199.
20. ^ Brandalism (December 2016). "Subvertising manual: what you need and how to do it" (PDF). Brandalism. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 July 2018.

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Culture jamming

Forms|

* Art intervention
* Billboard hacking
* Broadcast signal intrusion
* Détournement
* Flash mob
* Guerrilla communication
* Hacktivism
* Media prank
* Subvertising
* Tactical frivolity

Groups|

* Adbusters
* Anonymous
* Barbie Liberation Organization
* Billboard Liberation Front
* Billionaires for Bush
* The Bubble Project
* Cacophony Society
* Guerrilla Girls
* Improv Everywhere
* Luther Blissett
* Merry Pranksters
* monochrom
* Negativland
* RTMark
* Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence
* Society for Indecency to Naked Animals
* Space Hijackers
* Veterans of Future Wars
* Whirl-Mart
* Wu Ming
* The Yes Men
* Yippies

Movements|

* Discordianism
* Church of the SubGenius
* Provo
* Psychogeography
* Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping

People|

* Alan Abel
* Banksy
* Reverend Billy
* Captain Midnight
* Captain Crunch
* Ron English
* Abbie Hoffman
* John Law
* Malaclypse the Younger
* Ben Masel
* Sal Randolph
* Jerry Rubin
* Joey Skaggs
* Ivan Stang
* Kerry Wendell Thornley
* Bill Wasik
* Robert Anton Wilson

Works|

* The Illuminatus! Trilogy
* Schrödinger's Cat Trilogy
* Principia Discordia
* Book of the SubGenius
* Temporary Autonomous Zone
* No Logo
* Steal This Book

Events|

* Notre-Dame Affair (1950)
* Saint Stupid's Day Parade (late 1970s)
* Burning Man (1986)
* Max Headroom signal hijacking (1987)
* Grunge speak (1992)
* K Foundation (1993)
* SantaCon (1994)
* Portland Urban Iditarod (2001)
* Pillow fight flash mob (2008)

Related|

* Anti-consumerism
* Artivist
* Critique of work
* List of culture jamming organizations and people
* Performance art
* Street art
* Subculture
* Surreal humour
* Operation Mindfuck

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Guerrilla theatre and derivations

Derivations|

* Guerrilla theatre (1965)
* Semiological guerrilla (1967)
* Spaßguerilla (1967)
* Guerrilla television (1971)
* Invisible theater (1974)
* Guerrilla marketing (1984)
* Culture jamming (1985)
* Tactical media (1996)
* Flash mob (2003)

Groups|

* San Francisco Mime Troupe (1959)
* Diggers (1966)
* Yippies (1967)

Precursors|

* Theatre of Situations (1947)
* Situationist prank (1958)

Theoreticians|

* Edward Bernays (1891-1995)
* Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980)
* Guy Debord (1931-1994)
* Umberto Eco (1932-2016)
* Jay Conrad Levinson (1933-)
* Abbie Hoffman (1936-1989)
* Peter Coyote (1941-)
* Emmett Grogan (1943-1978)
* Jerry Rubin (1938-1994)
* Paul Ryan (1943-)
* Michael Shamberg (1945-)
* Mark Dery (1959-)

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Media culture

Media|

* 24-hour news cycle
* Alternative media
* Digital media
* Electronic media
* Mass media
* Mainstream media
* New media
* News broadcasting
* News media
* Old media
* Social media
* State media

Ideology|

* Mainstream
* Advanced capitalism
* American Dream
* Bipartisanship
* Consumerism
* Pensée unique

Deception|

| Forms|

* Advertising
* Propaganda
* Fake news
* Public relations
* Spin
* Tabloid journalism

|

Techniques|

* Cult of personality
* Dumbing down
* Framing
* Media circus
* Media event
* Narcotizing dysfunction
* Recuperation
* Sensationalism
* Viral phenomenon

Others|

* Catch and kill
* Crowd manipulation
* Managing the news
* Media manipulation

Philosophers|

* Theodor W. Adorno
* Jean Baudrillard
* Edward Bernays
* Noam Chomsky
* Guy Debord
* Walter Lippmann
* Marshall McLuhan
* Jacques Rancière

Counterculture|

* Boycott
* Call-out culture
* Cancel culture
* Civil disobedience
* Culture jamming
* Demonstration
* Graffiti
* Occupation
* Political satire
* Protest
* Punk
* Review bomb
* Strike action

In academia|

* Influence of mass media
* Media studies
* Mediatization
* Semiotic democracy
* The Lonely Crowd

Issues|

* Anonymity
* Concentration of media ownership
* Exploitation of women
* Freedom of speech
* Media bias
* Privacy
* Social influence
* Violence

Synonyms|

* Advanced capitalism
* Culture industry
* Mass society
* Post-Fordism
* Society of the Spectacle

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Media manipulation

Context|

* Bias
* Crowd psychology
* Deception
* Dumbing down
* False balance
* Half-truths
* Machiavellianism
* Media
* Obfuscation
* Orwellian
* Persuasion
* Manipulation (psychology)

Activism|

* Alternative media
* Boycott
* Call-out culture
* Cancel culture
* Civil disobedience
* Culture jamming
* Demonstrations
* Deplatforming
* Guerrilla communication
* Hacktivism
* Internet
* Media
* Occupations
* Petitions
* Protests
* Youth

Advertising|

* Billboards
* False
* Infomercials
* Mobiles
* Modeling
* Radio
* Sex
* Slogans
* Testimonials
* TV
* Criticism of advertising
* Annoyance factor

* Censorship
* Media regulation

* Books
* Broadcast law
* Burying of scholars
* Catch and kill
* Corporate
* Cover-ups
* Euphemism
* Films
* Historical negationism
* Internet
* Political
* Religious
* Self

Hoaxing|

* Alternative facts
* April Fools'
* Deepfake
* Fake news
* websites
* Fakelore
* False document
* Fictitious entries
* Firehose of falsehood
* Forgery
* Gaslighting
* List
* Literary
* Lying press
* Photograph manipulation
* Racial
* Urban legend
* Virus

Marketing|

* Branding
* Loyalty
* Product
* Product placement
* Publicity
* Research
* Word of mouth

News media|

* Agenda-setting
* Broadcasting
* Circus
* Cycle
* False balance
* Infotainment
* Managing
* Narcotizing dysfunction
* Newspeak
* Pseudo-event
* Scrum
* Sensationalism
* Tabloid journalism

Political campaigning|

* Advertising
* Astroturfing
* Attack ad
* Canvassing
* Character assassination
* Dog whistle
* Election promises
* Lawn signs
* Manifestos
* Name recognition
* Negative
* Push polling
* Smear campaign
* Wedge issue

Propaganda|

* Bandwagon
* Big lie
* Crowd manipulation
* Disinformation
* Fearmongering
* Framing
* Indoctrination
* Loaded language
* National mythology
* Rally 'round the flag effect
* Techniques

Psychological warfare|

* Airborne leaflets
* False flag
* Fifth column
* Information (IT)
* Lawfare
* Political
* Public diplomacy
* Sedition
* Subversion

Public relations|

* Cult of personality
* Doublespeak
* Non-apology apology
* Reputation management
* Slogans
* Sound bites
* Spin
* Transfer
* Understatement
* Weasel words
* Corporate propaganda

Sales|

* Cold calling
* Door-to-door
* Pricing
* Product demonstrations
* Promotion
* Promotional merchandise
* Telemarketing

Related|

* Influence-for-hire
* Media bias
* United States
* Media concentration
* Media democracy
* Media ecology
* Media ethics
* Media franchise
* Media influence
* Media proprietor

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Street art

Culture|

* Activism
* Aerosol paint
* Culture jamming
* Direct action
* Graffiti (terminology)
* Handstyle
* Hip hop culture
* Installation art
* Propaganda
* Screenprinting
* Spray paint art
* Subway Art

Types|

* Guerrilla art
* Mural
* Pieces
* Poster
* Reverse graffiti
* Rock balancing
* Stencil graffiti
* Sticker art
* Tagging
* Throw ups
* Yarn bombing
* Wheatpaste
* Wildstyle

Lists of artists|

* Street
* Graffiti
* Stencil

Photographers|

* Henry Chalfant
* Martha Cooper

Places|

* Adelaide
* Atlanta
* Berlin (Berlin Wall)
* Brazil ( Southeastern Brazil (pichação), São Paulo (Beco do Batman))
* Hong Kong (Free Ai Weiwei campaign)
* Kyiv
* Northern Ireland
* Melbourne
* New York City (5 Pointz)
* Philadelphia
* San Francisco (Balmy Alley, Clarion Alley)
* Sarajevo
* Sydney (Newtown area)
* Tehran
* Toronto
* Palestine (West Bank Wall)

Events|

* Beton Fest
* The Cans Festival
* Living Walls
* See No Evil
* Pasadena Chalk Festival
* Sarajevo Street Art Festival
* Sarasota Chalk Festival

Related|

* Built environment
* Public art
* Public space
* Psychogeography
* Street party
* Urban planning
* Visual arts
* Vandalism

Category: Street art

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Conformity

Enforcement|

| Proscription|

* Damnatio memoriae
* Dissident
* Exile
* Homo sacer
* Nonperson
* Ostracism
* Blacklisting
* Cancel culture
* Censorship
* Deplatforming
* Outcast
* Outlaw
* Civil death
* Vogelfrei
* Persona non grata
* Public enemy
* Enemy of the people
* Enemy of the state
* Scapegoating
* Shunning

|

Governmental pressure|

* Authoritarianism
* Nationalism
* Left-wing nationalism
* National conservatism
* Totalitarianism
* Tyranny of the majority

Group pressure|

* Bandwagon effect
* Brainwashing
* Closure (sociology)
* Collectivism
* Consensus reality
* Culture shock
* Dogma
* Echo chamber
* False consensus effect
* Fear of missing out
* Groupthink
* Hazing
* Herd mentality
* Identification (psychology)
* Indoctrination
* Invented tradition
* Memory conformity
* Mere exposure effect
* Milieu control
* Mobbing
* Normalization
* Normative social influence
* Passing (sociology)
* Patriotism
* Peer pressure
* Pluralistic ignorance
* Propaganda
* Psychosocial issue
* Operant conditioning
* Rally 'round the flag effect
* Social construction of gender
* Social contagion
* Addiction
* Behavioral
* Crime
* Hysterical
* Suicide
* Emotional
* Social influence
* Social integration
* Socialization
* Spiral of silence
* Teasing
* Toxic positivity
* Untouchability

Individual pressure|

* Authoritarian personality
* Authoritarian leadership style
* Right-wing authoritarian personality
* Control freak
* Obsessive–compulsive personality disorder

Conformity|

* Compliance
* Communal reinforcement
* Countersignaling
* Creeping normality
* Herd behavior
* Internalization
* Normalization of deviance
* Obedience
* Preference falsification
* Social proof
* Social reality

Experiments|

* Asch conformity experiments
* Breaching experiment
* Milgram experiment
* Stanford prison experiment

Anticonformity|

* Alternative media
* Anti-authoritarianism
* Anti-social behaviour
* Auto-segregation
* Civil disobedience
* Cosmopolitanism
* Counterculture
* Culture jamming
* Deviance
* Devil's advocate
* Dissent
* Eccentricity
* Eclecticism
* Hermit
* Idiosyncrasy
* Individualism
* Insubordination
* Pueblo clown
* Rebellion
* Red team
* Satire
* Shock value

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