Category Archives: Agency Projects

Testify!: AAAFFF Testimonials From Real (and Former!) Ad Pros

I’ll plan to update these regularly, but for now, here are just a few of the comments that have come across my desk at the AAAFFF since taking over the ED position:

“I have worked for the past 4 years (since I graduated from a very prestigious culinary school) doing R&D for a food manufacturer . . . Boy, throwing away 5,000 pre-packaged hamburger buns when they don’t get used is even more egregious when you wake up to CNN telling you that people are rioting in Haiti and Egypt because they can’t afford a loaf of bread. Poor people are so silly. I’m all ready to quit my job so that I can devote my time to the theatre which is my true love . . .” .” —Midwestern Ad Man

“Today, after my job, I was walking to my apartment and felt sad, because, after a good weekend, my work today was a #%$# (censured). It’s not life to live, 10 hours and only business, business. Some people want to sell agriculture machines and technology and I spend my time on it?” —Brasilia Ad Man

“Throughout my studies I’ve found myself questioning if advertising is the right industry for me. I’m in love with the creative process, but not as interested in the products it’s being centered around.”—New York Ad Woman

“[The AAAFFF is] enough to make me wish I could leave advertising all over again. . . . I left advertising, but I never got a GIANT NOVELTY CHECK! I didn’t even get a normal-sized severance package. I guess I did get a pretty nice unemployment income for a while. Advertising is inherently evil, though, I am glad I am not doing that anymore. It is better to starve righteously.” —Minneapolis Painter

“We’ve seen your website at http://antiadvertisingagency.com/projects/foundation-for-freedom and we love it! We see that your traffic rank is 602777 and your link popularity is 26. Also, you have been online since 19/06/2004. With that kind of traffic, we will pay you up to $4,800/month to advertise our links on your website. If you’re interested, read our terms from this page: [website deleted for privacy concerns].” — Internet Ad Man

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AAAFFF up 35% in first 2 weeks

###Scrappy artists, students, and regular folk open wallets to reach out to ad pros###

CHICAGO—Only 2 weeks after the Anti-Advertising Agency Foundation For Freedom announced its new giving campaign, donations have come in from all over the country, raising the pot offered to one lucky creative to $670—and she or he will still receive a giant check!

The 2008 Anti-Advertising Agency Foundation For Freedom Award (AAAFFFA), designed to oust advertising, marketing, and PR creatives from their careers, received a healthy boost from young artists, activists, and everyday people in New York, Chicago, and Columbus, Ohio eager to help the organization in the mission to decrease commercialization of public space, human relationships, journalism and art by removing a single individual from an industry that directly supports these goals.

“We call it ‘reverse robin-hooding’,” AAAFFF Executive Director Anne Elizabeth Moore explains. “We’re not stealing, we’re asking. Also, in a way, I guess we’re giving to the rich instead of the poor. But we’re doing it for the right reasons.”

Steve Lambert, CEO of the AAA, agrees. “This display of generosity is just the first step. More valuable than the money we’re giving one marketing professional is the donation they’re giving us; by leaving advertising and working for the common good.” The AAAFFF also accepts non-financial donations.

College students have been moved to donate by the AAAFFF’s accepting applications from fellow students changing majors from advertising, marketing, or public relation to social services, art, journalism, creative writing or similar endeavors. “This award can make a substantial difference for a college student,” Moore explains, “helping to pay for additional classes to complete a new major and the extra text books required. We’re here to make a real difference.”

An upcoming “testimonials” section of the AAA site will help inform students who currently believe marketing is a glamorous world of cash and creativity and provide them with gritty, real-life stories from jaded professionals in the industry.

“We thought advertisers themselves would be all over this. It’s the perfect way to oust a hated adversary and better the chances of total ad-world domination,” Lambert states. “Who knew regular people hated advertising this much?”

Application forms are available now at the Anti-Advertising Agency’s website, and must be typed and postmarked September 1, 2008. Students are urged to plan ahead, and prepare their paperwork over the summer.

\# \# \#

The mission of the Anti-Advertising Agency Foundation For Freedom is to bring the best and brightest former ad pros together once a year; inspire young people to leave the craft; focus the industry and public at large on the profoundly negative social justice impacts of advertising; inspire problem-solving methods focused on the most important issues facing the real world; and shine a light on the influence the advertising, media, and marketing industries has on dwindling public space, atrophying human relationships, and the destruction of democracy.

Donate to AAAFFF online via PayPal. Please be sure to specify “Anti-Advertising Agency” as the item. Thanks!



The Anti-Advertising Agency is fiscally sponsored by The Lab. The Lab is a project of The Art Re Grup, Inc., a non-profit organization operating within the meaning of section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code. Contributions and in-kind donations are fully tax-deductible within the parameters established by current tax law.

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Unmarketable in Columbus and Chicago: featuring the AAAFFF and Pamela Anderson in a bikini

Hey! I’m doin’ some stuff!

Friday April 25, 6 pm: Wexner Center, 15th and High St., Columbus OH
Unmarketable reading and 2008 AAAFFFA application drive (see reviews below)

Friday April 25, 8 pm: Sporeprint Infoshop, 172 E 5th Avenue, Columbus, OH
Unmarketable slide talk featuring Pamela Anderson (see reviews below)

Sunday April 27, 7 pm: New World Resource Center, 1300 North Western Ave., Chicago, IL
Unmarketable reading (see reviews below)

Review Excerpts

“Distinctly more radical than merely protesting against consumerism: [Unmarketable offers] a total rejection of the competitive ethos that drives capitalist culture.” —LA Times

“Sharp and valuable muckraking.” —Time Out New York

“What sells [this event] is the opportunity to see Pamela Anderson without her clothes . . . a lot.” —IMDB

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Official Foundation for Freedom Press Release

Contact: Anne Elizabeth Moore – aem at anneelizabethmoore.com
Steve Lambert – steve at antiadvertisingagency.com

###FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE###
April 17, 2008

###ANNOUNCING THE 2008 ANTI-ADVERTISING AGENCY FOUNDATION FOR FREEDOM AWARD###
###Fund Offers One Lucky Ad Industry Creative Freedom, Giant Check###

CHICAGO—The most creative and forward-thinking professionals of our time work in marketing. The Anti-Advertising Agency Foundation For Freedom wants them to quit. And they’re offering cash.

This morning the Anti-Advertising Agency’s new charitable arm, the Anti-Advertising Agency Foundation For Freedom, announced its first funding program, designed to oust advertising, marketing, and PR creatives from their careers. The 2008 Anti-Advertising Agency Foundation For Freedom Award (AAAFFFA) aims to respond to the increasing commercialization of public space, human relationships, journalism and art by decreasing the number of individuals working in industries that directly support these goals. “Getting these talented people out of advertising and working on real problems is so exciting!” states Steve Lambert, CEO of the AAA.

The fund is seeded with hard-earned cash from creative endeavors, donated by Lambert and AAAFFF Executive Director Anne Elizabeth Moore, who will also judge the applications. The vast numbers of ad industry creatives who regularly express hatred toward their own jobs is expected to bring in thousands of submissions. “So many ad industry types hate what they do. I wish we could help them all,” Moore states.

Offering a cash incentive to join the unprofitable creative industries was a difficult decision to come to, Lambert and Moore agree. As artists themselves, funding such an endeavor wasn’t a financially rational decision. Still, the AAAFFF hopes to inspire others to behave in a similarly financially irrational manner—for the common good. “Anyway,” Moore explains, “after several intensive focus groups, we found that the target audience for this campaign is motivated first and foremost by personal gain.”

Further donations—financial and non-financial—are encouraged and accepted.

Application forms are available now at the Anti-Advertising Agency’s website, and must be typed and postmarked September 1, 2008.

One lucky creative will be awarded all accrued funds, assistance in achieving future career goals, freedom, and a giant prize check. The winner will be honored at a special reception to be held during Advertising Week in lovely New York City. All applicants will be invited to attend.

“Unfortunately we won’t reach everyone. Many marketers have grown dependent on exorbitant salaries and undemanding work days and can’t conceive of a moving to a lower tax bracket—no matter how liberating,” Lambert laments.

\# \# \#

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Foundation For Freedom announces grant program: The 2008 AAAFFFA

Introducing the newest and latest Anti-Advertising Agency project from Steve Lambert and Anne Elizabeth Moore.

Let’s face it: everyone hates advertising. Be honest! Even you, Mr. or Ms. Man in the Grey Flannel Suit: when you go on vacation you prefer a remote locale, far away from the hustle and bustle of billboards, commercial radio, and buzzing neon. You TiVo right through commercials, or watch only DVDs. You think ads in books are a dumb idea. And when a street teamer approaches you in a bar with a free sample of some hot new liqueur, you prefer your 12-year old Scotch, thank you very much, and make a mental note to go someplace else next time.

So we here at the newly formed Anti-Advertising Agency Foundation For Freedom (AAAFFF) propose a solution, Ms. or Mr. MGFS—and we think you’ll like it.

Stop making advertisements.

We’ll even pay you to do it.

That’s right, the AAAFFF is initiating the Anti-Advertising Agency Foundation For Freedom Award. This one-time grant will transition deserving individuals from the occupation we all hate. The 2008 AAAFFFA offers the gifts of freedom and cash to one of the most brilliant cultural producers alive.

We realize, Mr. or Ms. MGFS, that you and your colleagues offer some of the smartest and most creative output of today—that’s why we want you to make a real difference out in the real world. So we’re upping the ante on the bottom line.

Once you quit, we’ll provide tips, training, and networking opportunities for future careers in the arts, journalism, volunteerism, social work, anthropology, mentalism, or poetry. Deep down inside, we know you’ve always wanted to devote yourself solely to those pursuits. Now, thanks to the 2008 AAAFFFA, one lucky creative will be able to, without the horrible pressure to constantly sell, sell, sell.

Anyone can contribute to the 2008 AAAFFFA—and if you hate advertising, Mr. or Ms. MGFS, please consider a major donation. Try giving at the $5, $500, or $5,000 level. Why not let your economic stimulus package become a cultural stimulus package? Donations are 100% tax deductible and will help free a worthy creative, perhaps braver than yourself, from the advertising industry. The AAAFFF has been seeded with $500 from the pockets of the Anti-Advertising Agency’s very own Steve Lambert and Anne Elizabeth Moore, hard-earned exclusively from creative, non-commercial enterprises. Your additional contribution may fund such essentials as: fancy resume paper, canvas, skills-building workshops in a new career, food and rent while acquiring a new job, or colored pencils.

We will also accept non-monetary donations such as: frequent flyer miles, temporary housing, art and writing lessons, counseling, and apprenticeships. Anything that may help our lucky creative as they enter the world of the free.

The winner of the 2008 AAAFFFA will:

  • Receive all accrued funds
  • Be awarded a giant prize check made out in the winner’s name, with the words “For freeing your ass so your mind can follow” in the memo line
  • Achieve personal freedom
  • And be honored at The 2008 AAAFFF Award Ceremony and Reception in lovely New York City in late September—at the exact same time their former colleagues are celebrating Advertising Week.

While only one lucky creative will be honored with the giant check, rest assured that all applicants will be winners. Therefore, all applicants will be invited to The 2008 AAAFFF Award Ceremony and Reception in New York City to honor all the like-minded, brave colleagues who applied for our assistance in leaving the ad industry. There, applicants will mingle with other former marketing and PR professionals to plan creative, non-profit-making strategies for social change, civic improvement, and personal happiness. No industry professionals will be invited.

Applicants will also receive:

  • Freedom
  • Access to a network of like-minded peers in transitioning out of advertising, marketing, and PR
  • A chance to win the cash prize and giant check
  • A fancy reception with free food in lovely New York City

The AAAFFF couldn’t be more excited about out new initiative: we realize that you, Ms. or Mr. MGFS, tend to view the world strictly in commercial terms. The problem is that you’re forcing the rest of us to view it that way, too. Not to mention that you’re polluting the landscape, destroying the notion of public space, forcing people to place monetary value on friendship, education, health, and politics—things that used to be free—and violating several different bodies of law in the process. It’s damaging for us all.

So the 2008 AAAFFFA offers you a way out of this trap of a commercial lifestyle. Plus some cash money.

Please pick one:

  1. I’m ready to quit! Download the application form.
  2. I’m ready to donate! I’m in too deep and making too much money, but I’m ready to help the cause.

###TO DONATE BY MAIL###
Please send a check made out to “The Lab” to:
The Anti-Advertising Agency
c/o The Lab
2948 16th Street
San Francisco, CA 94103-3613

###TO DONATE ONLINE###

Donate online via PayPal. Please be sure to specify “Anti-Advertising Agency” as the item. Thanks!



The Anti-Advertising Agency is fiscally sponsored by The Lab. The Lab is a project of The Art Re Grup, Inc., a non-profit organization operating within the meaning of section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code. Contributions and in-kind donations are fully tax-deductible within the parameters established by current tax law.

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AAA Sound Units in Rotterdam

The Anti-Advertising Agency’s Portable Sound Units, a project done in collaboration with Sara Dierck and Michael Dodge, will be shown in Rotterdam at ROODKAPJE art space. “GIMMEGIMME!” opens July 20th and includes a variety of artists who give their work away for free. There is a free catalog available for download.

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AddArt in NY Times

AddArt, a browser plugin I’m developing at Eyebeam was written about in the New York Times today.

nytimes-380.png

AddArt is an extension for the Firefox browser which removes advertising and replaces it with art. The project is being developed and I’m looking for funding to pay coders as well as provide stipends to artists and curators. If you’d like to make a tax deductible donation, let me know.

Read the Times story…

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2 Samaras Project Posters

Worker Owned Gleaning

Josh MacPhee has made two Samaras Project posters in pdf form downloadable for free. They are based on our Samaras Project Postcards (also downloadable for free). Print them out and hang them up in your town!

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You Don’t Need It – Stencil

You Don't Need It Stencil

Just made available a stencil version of our “You Don’t Need It” Sticker. The file is a pdf, which you can scale to any size you like. Glue the paper printout to something heavier, like a manilla folder. Then carefully cut out the black areas with an X-acto knife. The stencil is then ready to use. Send us photos of your results and we will post them on the site.

Made possible by:
Eyebeam openlab

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5 Samaras Project Post Cards

Samaras-Rainbow

We have available for download the set of 5 postcards (9.1mb download) distributed in the Samaras Project (example above). Each postcard is intended to promote a different alternative economy existing within the U.S economy. For more information, check SamarasProject.net.

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You Don’t Need It – Stickers

You Don't Need It Sticker

Based on the popularity of the Packard Jennings and the Anti-Advertising Agency’s Bus Stop Bench project we had some stickers made. They are easy to carry around town and by placing the stickers onto advertising (or other objects) the ad is detourned, often in humorous and interesting ways.

Listen to Steve Lambert talk about the “You Don’t Need It” sticker on National Public Radio.

We’ve received some photo reports back from people like you the field (see below). If you’d like a free set of stickers, send a self address stamped business envelope to:

Steve Lambert/Anti-Advertising Agency
P.O. Box 543
Beacon, NY 12508

You can also download an eps file of the sticker and make your own (you can leave out the AAA logo if you want).

En Español.

Note: I can put 5 in an envelope without an extra stamp. If you want more, send extra stamps. If you want to send a little donation too, that’s fine – we’ll use them to make a whole new sticker that’s in the works. If you want the spanish version too, I can send them out and they are always free. All I ask is that you send me back some photos of where you placed them.

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You Don’t Need It – Stickers

You Don't Need It Sticker

Download an EPS file of the sticker and print your own!

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AAA Street Team in SF Financial District

Samaras Project

Street Team

The Anti-Advertising Agency’s street team hit downtown San Francisco on Wednesday at noon to promote alternative economies. As part of the The Samaras Project, a series of postcards promoting worker owned co-operatives, gleaning, gift economies, open culture, and other economies were distributed to white-collar workers.

Check out The Samaras Project. Media: download a press release.

Read More »

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Portable Sound Units at Conflux 2006

AAA Portable Sound Units in BrooklynAAA Portable Sound Units in BrooklynAAA Portable Sound Units in Brooklyn

Sara Dierck and Steve Lambert installed AAA Portable Sound Units around the Conflux Festival in Brooklyn in September of 2006.

Portable Sound Unit 4th and Metropolitan

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Sarah Van S.

Sarah Van S.

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