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Adbuster's Running Shoe Takes a Kick at Nike
Posted on September 22, 2004
In POPaganda, we see how Ron English uses billboards to comment and criticize corporate media and advertising practices. The Adbusters Media Foundation, a canadian advocay group wokring to diminish corporate influence over culture and the media landscape, has taken a new culture jamming approach by creating a running shoe meant to undermine Nike.
The New York Times published an article yesterday on the new Adbusters running shoe, Blackspot.
Anti-Ad Group Tries Advertising
By NAT IVES
Published: September 21, 2004
The Adbusters Media Foundation, an advocacy group based in Vancouver, Canada, that wants to reduce marketers' influence over culture, is getting into the marketing game itself - with sneakers meant to nip at Nike's heels.
An ad campaign promotes the first consumer product offering from Adbusters, Blackspot sneakers, selling for $47.50, plus shipping and handling.
They are made of hemp fabric in a Portuguese factory where workers receive pay higher than the country's minimum wage and where many belong to a union. People who buy the sneakers receive what the company calls a "shareholder certificate" for Blackspot Anticorporation, giving them a voice in future anticorporate decisions of the venture if it succeeds. The shares are not traded, and the anticorporation is not listed on any exchange.