If you’re looking for a different perspective on advertising while in Toronto at the DMA’s annual conference, you might want to check out Adbusters.
The Vancouver, British Columbia quarterly is far from your typical marketing or advertising periodical. Rather than helping readers increase their return on investment, Adbusters aims to “culture jam” and change the way people view and interact with the media.
On its Web site (www.adbusters.org), Adbusters describes itself as “an ecological magazine, dedicated to examining the relationship between human beings and their physical and mental environment.” The nonprofit publication (circulation: 40,000) is reader supported. Two-thirds of Adbusters’ readers reside in the United States. The remaining subscribers live in 20 other countries.
But be advised: Marketers should approach Adbusters with an open mind.
The focus of many articles questions what the magazine sees as commercial and media manipulation of the public. Pieces in the autumn issue included “Media Busters Muffled,” about how British Columbia’s Province newspaper killed a story about a group that criticizes the media; “Targeting the Inner Child,” a story on Kraft’s marketing of Kool-Aid to kids; and “Feeling China’s Pain,” about a Nike campaign in the Pacific Rim.
The magazine also sponsors campaigns such as “Buy Nothing Day” and “TV Turnoff Week.”
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