AntiFriday: Luxury, hunger, torture, the revolution, etc.

Once again: Murketing’s Friday rundown of highlights from this week in backlashes, dissent and critiques….

1. Via Counterfeit Chic I learned of the above piece, actually a T-shirt image (proceeds to charity) by Nadia Plesner. I guess it speaks for itself but just in case here’s a bit of what Plesner says:

My illustration Simple Living is an idea inspired by the medias constant cover of completely meaningless things.

My thought was: Since doing nothing but wearing designerbags and small ugly dogs appearantly is enough to get you on a magazine cover, maybe it is worth a try for people who actually deserves and needs attention.

Well. One can always debate the real impact of such things, and one can also generally make a safe bet that among the reactions will be a trademark objection. That’s the Vuitton/Murakami/Jacobs bag being toted by a Sudanese refugee. And LV has sent Ms. Plesner a letter, which you can download from her site, asking her to stop selling the T-shirts.

Counterfeit Chic breaks down the legal issues with a great overview that I highly recommend.

2. Last week’s AntiFriday highlighted Greenpeace’s backlash against Dove’s dissent-ish advertising. It would appear that Greenpeace’s strategy worked.

3. This week’s top backlash/critique/dissent video comes via Agenda Inc.: A harrowing Amnesty International video regarding “waterboarding.”

The list continues after the jump.

4. Public radio show Word Of Mouth “talks about the selling-out of the indie craft movement with Jean Railla, a freelance writer and one of the pioneers of the movement.” Earlier: Railla’s guest column “What Would Jesus Sell?” My Handmade 2.0 article. More on DIYism and consumption in Buying In.

5. The American Family Association, which spends a lot of time freaking out about anything gay, encourages a boycott of P&G goods because of a gay kiss on soap opera As The World Turns.

6. A brewery based in Weed, California has apparently been told to stop using the phrase “Try Legal Weed” on bottle caps.

7. The Anti-Advertising Agency points out the reaction to a billboard in Florida which says, “All Religions Are Fairy Tales.” People complained, a nearby restaurant that doesn’t seem to have had anything to do with it lost business. Following the backlash, the message was removed. AAA’s Steve Lambert offers a critique of the backlash, noting that the article says the owner of the billboard claimed the message was put up “illegally in the middle of the night” (which area businesses are skeptical of. The article says the county “does not regulate messages on billboards. They are protected by free speech.” To which Lambert adds: “(If you can get the corporation who owns the billboard to post your content).”

8. Wal Mart Watch points to an International Herald Tribune piece on the real (environmental) cost of much cheap food: “The movable feast comes at a cost: pollution, especially carbon dioxide, from transporting the food. Under longstanding trade agreements, fuel for international freight carried by sea and air is not taxed. Now, many economists, environmentalists and politicians say it is time to make shippers and shoppers pay for the pollution, through taxes or other measures.”

9. Finally, as you no doubt know, this year is the 40th anniversary of one of high points in the history of dissent, the 1968 student protests in Paris (and around the world). What are we to think of, and take from, that period now, looking back? Coolhunting has the answer: Dope graphics! “Some of the most vibrant imagery ever linked to a political or social movement, the posters [associated with the ‘Paris Rebellion’] were produced entirely anonymously and distributed to the masses for free.” For those of us too young to have been there, we can now buy a book of said poster graphics. Read about it here, but don’t sleep: The revolution is limited edition.