Advertising is around us constantly. Even if you think you're beyond being susceptible to those glossy images of perfection, you've been taken in by it before, and you will be again.

Taken at face value, it's not hard to see through advertising - the perfect airbrushed faces, the posed laughs, the impeccable interiors. And for some guerilla artists, this fallacy makes for the ultimate inspiration.

Welcome to Culture Jamming, the movement that mixes politics with graffiti, and satire with paint.

culture jam A campaign tackles the health associations of McDonald's food.


Coined in 1984, the term refers to the efforts by artists around the world to reclaim the public space taken up by advertising by subverting their messages using everything from full blown cover ups to strategically placed letters - such as 'EAT?' after the ubiquitous McDonald's arch.

We spoke to culture jamming old timer Jorge Rodríguez-Gerada recently, who maintains that the street is as much of a canvas now as it ever was.

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A point which is well-proven by this collection of culture jams on poster and billboards around the world - showing that adverts don't just have to be controversial to come up against criticism, but merely exist at all.

What do you think? Are these images making a point or just making a mess?

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  • IMAGE: Flickr.com/Billboard Liberation Front

  • IMAGE: Jorge Rodiguez-Gerada

  • Nike

    A culture jam making a message about Nike's production values. IMAGE: Via <a href="http://revarts.edublogs.org/" target="_hplink">revarts.edublogs.org</a>

  • Captioned, "These ads all look the same to me", in New York. IMAGE: Flickr.com/Poster Boy NYC

  • IMAGE: Flickr.com/Billboard Liberation Front

  • IMAGE: Flickr.com/Billboard Liberation Front

  • IMAGE: Flickr.com/Billboard Liberation Front

  • IMAGE: Flickr.com/Billboard Liberation Front

  • IMAGE: Flickr.com/Billboard Liberation Front

  • IMAGE: Flickr.com/Billboard Liberation Front

  • IMAGE: Flickr.com/Billboard Liberation Front

  • IMAGE: Flickr.com/Billboard Liberation Front

  • IMAGE: Flickr.com/Billboard Liberation Front

  • IMAGE: Flickr.com/Billboard Liberation Front

  • IMAGE: Flickr.com/culturejamming

  • Bankrupt America culture jamming sticker in San Francisco's Mission district. IMAGE: Flickr.com/jonathan mcintosh

  • Mailpouch

    A billboard in Concord, Michigan. IMAGE: Flickr.com/mmeiser2

  • Anti-Patriarchy Graffiti

    Anti-patriarchy culture jam graffiti on Brooklyn subway ad. IMAGE: Flickr.com/jonathan mcintosh

  • A play on a 50s Coca-Cola advert. IMAGE: Flickr.com/makhro_storm

  • Not All Cocaine Addicts Are Beautiful

    A billboard in Clifton Hill (Melbourne, Australia). IMAGE: Flickr.com/Space Cadet Marko

  • IMAGE: Jorge Rodiguez-Gerada

  • IMAGE: Jorge Rodiguez-Gerada

  • IMAGE: Jorge Rodiguez-Gerada

  • IMAGE: Jorge Rodiguez-Gerada

  • IMAGE: Jorge Rodiguez-Gerada

  • IMAGE: Flickr.com/Billboard Liberation Front

  • IMAGE: Jorge Rodiguez-Gerada

  • Adapted FedEx ad, by Vinchen. Seen in Columbus, Ohio. IMAGE: Via <a href="http://www.woostercollective.com/culture_jamming/" target="_hplink">Wooster Collective</a>

  • A political take on Apple iPod adverts to show the consumer about the treatment of detainees. IMAGE: Via <a href="http://mfurnell.blogspot.co.uk/2010/09/tutespark-5-culture-jamming.html" target="_hplink">mfurnell</a>.

  • Culture jamming the Esso logo at the entrance to a large station near the Germany-Luxembourg border in Wasserbillig. IMAGE: Via <a href="http://noragolubevaite.blog.com/2009/11/23/culture-jamming/" target="_hplink">noragolubevaite.blog.com</a>

  • IMAGE: Flickr.com/Poster Boy NYC This culture jam blends a Becks advert with one for the School of Practical Philosophy in New York.

  • A culture jam which blends the I 'heart' NY logo with a comment on the banking crisis. IMAGE: Flickr.com/Poster Boy NYC

  • A culture jam which plays on the impact of advertising, by using the logo of a popular American high street store, Target. IMAGE: Flickr.com/Poster Boy NYC

  • IMAGE: Flickr.com/Poster Boy NYC

  • IMAGE: Flickr.com/Poster Boy NYC

  • IMAGE: Flickr.com/Poster Boy NYC

  • IMAGE: Flickr.com/Poster Boy NYC

  • An advert changed to read "I see bullshit". IMAGE: Flickr.com/Poster Boy NYC

  • A Chanel advert gets a Keith Haring-style makeover. IMAGE: Flickr.com/Poster Boy NYC

  • IMAGE: Flickr.com/Poster Boy NYC

  • IMAGE: Flickr.com/Poster Boy NYC

  • A culture jam created by a teenage girl in the Netherlands. It reads: "I'm sick of sexually tinted images." IMAGE: Via <a href="http://msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2011/07/08/culture-jamming-sexist-ads/" target="_hplink">MsMagazine.com</a>

  • IMAGE: Via <a href="http://msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2011/07/08/culture-jamming-sexist-ads/" target="_hplink">MsMagazine.com</a>

  • IMAGE: Via <a href="http://msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2011/07/08/culture-jamming-sexist-ads/" target="_hplink">MsMagazine.com</a>

  • A culture jam highlighting sexism in cereal adverts in Dublin. It reads: "Hey there Special-K Lady. I know you think I should diet So I can be slim just like you. thing is, I think I look pretty fabulous Just the way I am Also, Special-K tastes like cardboard so piss off" IMAGE: Via <a href="http://msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2011/07/08/culture-jamming-sexist-ads/" target="_hplink">MsMagazine.com</a>

  • A culture jam attacking BP. IMAGE: Flickr.com/Poster Boy NYC

  • IMAGE: Flickr.com/Poster Boy NYC

  • IMAGE: Flickr.com/Poster Boy NYC

  • A culture jam on McDonalds. IMAGE: Flickr.com/Poster Boy NYC