Funk Your Turban - The Best Cases Of Laughtivism
Canada has displayed an awesome response to a racist poster directed at Sikhs. The poster was found in numerous spots across the University of Alberta.
This is the original poster:
This is the response, which has gone viral:
This reaction to racism is one that's becoming more familiar and way more effective in solving the issue.
Humour is fast becoming a way to undermine fear.
This is called Laughtivism. Laughtivism is the strategic use of humor and mocking by social nonviolent movements to undermine the authority of an opponent.
This kind of response is probably the best way for a campaign to organically gain traction.
Another example of people using their initiative to undermine a racist act, was in 2014 where a group attempted to stop a Neo Nazi march in 2014. The campaign organisers did this by offering to donate to the 'Exit Deutschland' initiative for each step they took. So they were basically marching against themselves.
A similar case was when Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) members came to protest at a Panic! at the Disco, concert:
So, the WBC went to rally the troops and garnered 13 valiant members. The band wasn't impressed by the turn out so they rounded it up to $1000.
Again, this is a genius way to tackle a really worrying problem against a fundamental right.
There are numerous other kinds of laughtivism cases. This technique is used in advertising and PR as well, to promote a particular brand; but they generally tend to be against issues that is enjoyable to watch them tackle.
For instance, Honey Maid made an advert that demonstrated their support of gay marriage, which resulted in them receiving some abuse on Twitter, Facebook and a dash of hate mail. Their response was to take the hate and turn it into love.
Instagram and Facebook's ban of any image of female nipples is ridiculous, especially when you try to show women how to check for lumps. Cue #ManBoobs4Boobs. Manboobs are not sexual, just like checking for lumps in your breast isn't sexual. This was a beautiful idea to highlight how silly this kind of censorship can be.
Just so long as we keep thinking creatively about the response to these kinds of issues, we'll always find a way out of the darkness of the fear that certain people try to induce and instead point an even larger audience in the direction of funky turbans, beautiful hate mail and manboobs.
This is the original poster:
This is the response, which has gone viral:
Humour is fast becoming a way to undermine fear.
This is called Laughtivism. Laughtivism is the strategic use of humor and mocking by social nonviolent movements to undermine the authority of an opponent.
This kind of response is probably the best way for a campaign to organically gain traction.
Another example of people using their initiative to undermine a racist act, was in 2014 where a group attempted to stop a Neo Nazi march in 2014. The campaign organisers did this by offering to donate to the 'Exit Deutschland' initiative for each step they took. So they were basically marching against themselves.
A similar case was when Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) members came to protest at a Panic! at the Disco, concert:
Today @WBCSays is going to picket us. For every member of WBC that actually shows up we will donate $20 to @HRC #pride2014— Panic! At The Disco (@PanicAtTheDisco) 20 July 2014
So, the WBC went to rally the troops and garnered 13 valiant members. The band wasn't impressed by the turn out so they rounded it up to $1000.
Again, this is a genius way to tackle a really worrying problem against a fundamental right.
There are numerous other kinds of laughtivism cases. This technique is used in advertising and PR as well, to promote a particular brand; but they generally tend to be against issues that is enjoyable to watch them tackle.
For instance, Honey Maid made an advert that demonstrated their support of gay marriage, which resulted in them receiving some abuse on Twitter, Facebook and a dash of hate mail. Their response was to take the hate and turn it into love.
Instagram and Facebook's ban of any image of female nipples is ridiculous, especially when you try to show women how to check for lumps. Cue #ManBoobs4Boobs. Manboobs are not sexual, just like checking for lumps in your breast isn't sexual. This was a beautiful idea to highlight how silly this kind of censorship can be.
Just so long as we keep thinking creatively about the response to these kinds of issues, we'll always find a way out of the darkness of the fear that certain people try to induce and instead point an even larger audience in the direction of funky turbans, beautiful hate mail and manboobs.
Sunny, Magical, Cameron. Legend has it he came into this world riding atop two ramskulls, leaving a trail of ink, hashtags and cider...or maybe he's a part timer at AllSaints and a content writer studying journalism and public relations in Bristol. Either way, he's kind of a big deal. Follow him @SongbirdCameron
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Funk Your Turban - The Best Cases Of Laughtivism
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Reviewed by Unknown
on
Tuesday, September 27, 2016
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Unknown
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