A guerrilla group of graffiti artists calling themselves Brandalism have taken their frustrations to the streets of London as the city prepares itself for the Olympics. The worldwide event is less than two weeks away, filling fans and supporters to the brim with anticipation. Why is Brandalism protesting the Olympics?

With just about every iota of promotional space in the city filled up as the London 2012 Olympics approaches, the six artists of Brandalism are defacing outdoor ads to “challenge the destructing impacts of the advertising industry.” They also opine that the restrictions of branding regulations associated with the Olympics is also a factor of their dissent. And what better stage to display their protest than the city all foreign eyes will be glued to in a matter of days.


Voicing their message with a bucket of wheat paste and endless scrolls of paper, Brandalism is covering existing billboard advertisements with their own controversial works to incite questioning of the Olympics’ legalese and the suffocating push of brands onto viewers. Now the movement has converted at least 30 billboards in many UK cities, and the influence has spread to 7 other countries.

A spokesperson for Brandalism gave the following quote, via Co.Create:

If anyone wants to understand western cultures and societies they had better come to terms with the role and power of commercial images. Advertising does not stress the value of a collective long range future and the prevailing values of the commercial system provide no incentives to develop bonds with future generations. Faced with growing ecological and social crises, and with advertising being the engine of an unsustainable and detrimental economic system, it must be viewed as one of the major obstacles to our survival as a species

How you feel about the collaboration’s mission? What do you think of the their alterations to the billboards?

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