AdBusters - BLACKSPOT SHOES VIDEO - by ThinkOrganic.com

For years the old pattern went on. People were jaded by megacorporate control of so much of their lives, but couldn't see how they might take some power back. We decided to launch a counterattack. The result is the world's first global anti-brand: Blackspot Shoes. Earth- friendly, anti-sweatshop, cruelty free, and pro-grassroots, Blackspots are the only rough-and-ready shoes designed to give toxic megacorporations what they need the most: a swift kick in the brand.- Kalle Lasn, CEO, The Blackspot Anticorporation

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• AdBusters
• Apparel
• BLACKSPOT
• Organic
• SHOES
• sustainability
• Think
• thinkorganic

[SoleVoiceShoes]

This video was really cool and uplifting. Keep it up!

[CHIMEHOURS]

Splitting hairs trying to figure out if Adbusters is a corporation or not is besides the point.

The status doesn't matter. The means of communications may also be used by other corporations, the principle and the purpose of Adbusters are very different.

Just like direct action, "The question is not about the weapon, but the spirit in which you use it".

The message may be shortened to be more immediate, but there's always something to dig for behind the slogans.

[SuperSwanDive]

I'm sorry.....

[edcouyet]

any chance of a steel toe cap for really kicking the corporata ass

[civilfailure111]

I think the main point or message is that advertising becomes a major problem when it reaches an extreme (like anything else in life) and actually starts to become larger than the media its featured in. So, for example, in the documentary Manufacturing Consent, they make it clear that ads make up 60% of the New York Times; this is a perversion of mainstream media. Thus, businesses and enterprises deserve the right to advertise but it must be highly regulated and restricted.

[ezboardin]

I understand the concept Adbusters is pursuing and enjoy their magazine, but wouldn't it make more sense and be more effective to promote the reuse of old shoes? How about buying shoes at your local thrift store, removing/altering the label, and drawing a red dot on the toe? It's 100% reuse, cuts down on unnecessary manufacturing and transportation waste/cost, and still has the same amount (if not more!) symbolic meaning (the red dot).

[Kronok]

To all those who say that (when you boil it down) you are no different from any other company selling and advertising their shoes, I have to say that these shoes are produced by workers who are not being exploited and that the shoes are made from 100% organic, vegan materials.

This company is different from Nike, Adidas, Asics and all the others by the mere fact that it is smaller and ethically motivated!

But what if nike just bought 1000 pairs of shoes from you and took the company over?

[CloudMeetsSky]

im an anarchist,i bought shoes and now im part of a group........wait what?

these shoes are a good idea but a bit of a mixed message on adbusterspart

[mjrmajor]

@F33bs I don't recall Adbusters ever stating that "capitalism is bad." They seem to support small businesses and the growth of a varied and more competitive type of capitalism. That's what Forbes criticized the Blackspot on-- they've barely sold any shoes compared to Nike, etc. However, they don't plug themselves as a mass corporation, so this should be expected.

[myARTvideos]

well i dont get it. Without adbusters how can a movement against a corporate world spread faster? Sure it can be done by word of mouth.. and all that. But by finding a magazine that throws a brick at you and showing you the mind behind what you wear... is pretty effective. But I do agree.. selling shoes (what i believe is $99 based on lexusppp comment) .is pretty fucked.

[compactdisk2]

"anti-brand"? Give me a break. I fail how to see how this is any different from any other ad campaign. All of capitalism is an attempt to appeal to what the customers want. Everyone from Starbucks to American Apparel has used "ethically produced" as a marketing gimmick, you're doing the same thing. Adbusters is a brand, like anything else, and these shoes just prove how hypocritical they are.

[DanielGillismusic]

I think the point is that the shoes and magazine represent a movement. Sure, if you want to say fuck capitalism yourself and live in a cave, you're doing your part. But think of the number of people these shoes and adbusters magazine open up to these issues! It's spreading the truth, and it is successful. So be a cynic all you want, but I bet adbusters has done a whole lot more for the people of the world and environment than you.

'You' is no one in specific.