“You don’t need this.” Graffiti Used to Fight Back Subway Ad Campaign.

You Don't Need This.

Whether it’s a public or private space, you can find ads in commercials, brochures, pamphlets, posters, and pretty much every media platform there is promoting products and services. These are the things that are found everywhere and they are unavoidable. The human eyes view about 300-700 marketing messages per day. We don’t just use our eyes for viewing ads, but also our ears (for example, a commercial on the radio) or our sense of scent and taste (when you're walking through Costco and you smell someone cooking food on the little grill. Before you know it, you’re stocking up on perogies) and lastly, our sense of touch (for example, you’re walking through your local mall and someone pulls you over, applies a sample of lotion on your hand and you’re compelled to purchase it). Marketing and advertising campaigns are designed to target their consumers in multiple, strategic ways. Marketing campaigns consider different factors that will influence their strategies; for example, they will examine the space, the demography, the sexes that use the space, their age, social-economic status, etc. As mentioned before, ads are unavoidable and because most people are often outside their homes and away from their televisions; ads are now placed in public places such as subway stations, monitors, and also inside the subway carts.  This is one of the most influential way to completely captivate subway audiences. The following image above was found on the subway (line 1) during an evening rush hour. I will examine the effect the ad has on its audience, its space and how powerful it is to have an ad like this one be a part of today’s society.

What is breast augmentation? Why would they campaign an ad like that on public transit?  Isn’t this ad inappropriate? The questions pertaining this ad are limitless and I was surprised when I first encountered this ad. Firstly, I had no idea what breast augmentation was and the purpose of it. Secondly, I saw this ad before but I never thought about the message it was sending to me. Lastly, the comment that was left on the ad, “you don’t need this”, raised my eyebrows. If you were ever bored on a subway ride and you didn’t want to make eye-contact with anyone, you would often time find yourself looking at the ads that were around you. That’s the whole purpose of the ads on the subway; it is used as a distraction and helps companies to promote their products and services. Audiences are used to seeing ads everywhere and it probably never slipped their minds to question the purpose of the ad except for the one subway rider who left a comment on the breast augmentation ad. This individual, who I strongly believe is a female, left a nice handwritten comment saying, “you don’t need this”. This graffiti implies that she is a student because it was written with a permanent marker; she probably had a pencil case or maybe, she just happened to have a permanent marker on her that she borrowed from a friend. I think she is someone who accepts people for who they are and doesn’t promote cosmetic surgeries. Additionally, someone who isn’t afraid to fight back and speak about natural beauty. On a typical week day, 1.6 million passengers use the TTC . This indicates that people are probably making multiple trips throughout the day, and that a decent amount of those people are seeing this breast augmentation ad. This graffiti raised my eyebrows because I have never thought about how these kinds of ads influence my everyday life as a female. I like how the comment was written in legible hand-writing and everyone can understand what the writer is saying. I think the graffiti made the audience think about the ad and what it means to them on a personal level.

The graffiti was found on the subway. This is a public space and everyone has access to it. The fact that the ad was on the subway, it indicates that multiple people are viewing the ad, as well as the graffiti on the ad. This made the space interesting because now, people will question the ad. It was unpleasant because people are often times afraid to talk about their insecurities and self-esteem in a public space. However, the graffiti paved a way for a conversation to examine the beauty standards that are set up for females in Toronto. This ad and graffiti co-exist with one another; there are opinions of two different individuals, two people who have different ideas of beauty and two people who argue for both side of breast augmentation. This specific graffiti genderized the space around it because the ad was targeted towards females (there’s a female on the poster) and usually, females are the ones that wants to modify their bodies to fit into society’s expectations. Even though the TTC is gender neutral, majority of the ads are targeted towards a specific gender (from my observation, it’s mostly females). This graffiti is an act of someone who is probably tired of marketing campaigns that take advantage of insecure people or make people question their physiques. The commenter ended her statement with a period (.) that shows us that she is educated because usually people forget or don’t use punctuations in graffiti. Graffiti is covered up when they raise controversial conversations between individuals but I was surprised to find that they kept the ad up with the graffiti written on it.

As mentioned previously, I think the graffiti shown genderized that space. The fact that it was found on Line 1, this line passes through various stations that are connected to local shopping malls (Yorkdale, Eaton centre, Lawrence West Mall) and the majority of females take the subway to get to those malls. Additionally, this Line runs through higher socio-economic neighbourhoods (breast augmentation is not cheap) and it shows who the marketing campaign is trying to solicit. With the modification of the human body, one might believe that it is linked to ones’ income. However, that’s not the case anymore. Cosmetic surgery is becoming more affordable and there are plans in place to give people access to these resources. As discussed in class, people would put their children’s education and well-being aside to focus on getting plastic surgery in order to increase their chances of finding a partner. Graffiti like this one, challenges those ideas and encourages people to love themselves and appreciate who they are. The female who wrote this graffiti voiced her stance on beauty standards, stating that there’s no need to adjust your breast, “You don’t need this”.

Graffiti brings about questions and opens the audiences’ minds to think and reflect on their everyday lives. This changes the way people interact with the space now, personally for me, it does. It shows that people like the graffitist is thinking and reflecting on things that are in front of us. Here’s a challenge, the next time you’re on a public transit or even at school or work, observe the ads and ask yourself; what’s the point of this and do you need it? Beauty standards in larger cities such as Toronto focuses on the Hollywood body-type (getting Angelina Jolie’s legs, Kim Kardashians or JLO’s back-side or Halle Berry’s flawless skin) but often people don’t challenge these beliefs because they think it’s the norm and they will be deviant if they were to question or fight back. The idea that beauty is on the inside does not resonate throughout our everyday conversations and it is okay to stand up and say to yourself and those around you that “You don’t need this.”

 

"You don't need this"

12 comments on ““You don’t need this.” Graffiti Used to Fight Back Subway Ad Campaign.

  1. I really like the message this graffiti is sending, definitely part of a relevant movement we're seeing these days on loving yourself. Do you think that the positivity of this message will result in it not being covered up, or that it shouldn't be covered up? Or do you think it will be removed no matter what by TTC?

  2. Jessica, thank you for your questions. Personally, I think the comment is positive as well however, because the advisement is paid for and it's promoting a service, that company might have the ad replaced with a new one. Additionally, the TTC gets a profit from the ads they are promoting so they will definitely take it down. Personally, I don't think these ads should be promoted in a public space because it's promoting a service to modify people's bodies instead of embracing and supporting it and the comment definitely makes people think about their everyday life choices.

  3. I agree that the message of this graffiti is positive. I feel as though although it works against the advertisement, it can most definitely reassure someone who may be feeling insecure about their body image, whether relatable to the ad or not. How did you feel when you noticed the ad?

  4. I had a lot of funny reading this post, great job!
    I enjoyed the fact that you brought attention to a persons senses and how we utilise them all for different aspects of advertising, quite clever! I personally don't have a problem with women who want a REASONABLE breast augmentation, especially women who have survived breast cancer (but that's a whole different subject). I agree with what you said about this advertisement and accompanying graffiti genderizing the space. It brings an unnecessary attention to women in a space that already does not make them feel safe to begin with.
    I know that in class you mentioned you believed the person who wrote this was a female, due to its context with the ad. However, I believe it is a man. Women would be surprised at the amount of men who are against breast augmentation and who support a woman's natural beauty.
    Why do you think there is such a push for these types of ads when there are so many people who are against it?

  5. I really enjoyed reading your post especially because of the context surrounding your chosen graffiti. I too believe that this piece, although simple and straight to the point, provides a positive suggestion. Every day we are bombarded with so many advertisements and sometimes we wish none existed. It's interesting how beauty products and procedures are marketed in a way that tries signify that these are the solutions to make you look "perfect". As a female myself, I find it quite annoying to see what the media and these companies define as "beauty". I personally believe that everyone is beautiful in their own way. The fact that this graffiti contradicts the ad's purpose is startling as it show cases that there are people who disagree with this manufactured meaning of beauty. Whether if it was draw by a male or female individual, I can conclude that he or she is tired of these types of messages. What do you think the artist wants to tell onlookers? If you were to see a similar beauty ad with the same graffiti, would you come to the same conclusion about the artist?

  6. I think this is the realest piece of graffiti I have ever seen. The ad itself is obviously pushing the media’s opinion of what the female demographic should aim to look like if they want to be accepted, and then the graffiti acts as the voice of reality telling the viewer (most likely a woman) that she does not have to listen to what media is trying to feed her. I find the media and society wants to act as our voice when we all have one of our own with a mind that follows allowing us to make own decisions. This piece of graffiti does that which I am all for. Did this ad feel like a personal attack for you, being a woman? Did you happen to see a certain reaction to this graffiti from a commuter that caught your attention? Do you think the tone would change if it was a male who wrote it?

  7. What I am most curious about this graffiti piece is, how do you think that this was allowed by those who were around during this illegal act? Also, do you think that maybe they agreed with the type of graffiti that the person was writing on so they let it slide? I agree with you that this can be a very powerful, positive message but do you also think this goes against a private business that exists for a reason?

  8. @dinac. When I first saw the ad, I literally took my phone out and took a photo and a video. I was like, "this is the one!" I was super excited to write about it because I was trying to look for a graffiti for this assignment and it was difficult and then I found this one. I felt excited and overjoyed.

  9. @jkeltika I am glad you enjoyed reading my post! I believe there's a push for these ads because we live in Toronto and it has a larger population. I believe in the larger cities, it is easier to target people because there's a lot of pressure for both females and males to keep up with the latest trends. As I mentioned in the post, females and males have people they admire and aspire to be, so when ads like these ones are on the local transit, it's sort of a motivator for them to keep up with that trend. Even though there are people who encourages supporting ones' natural beauty, it is hard for them to fight back with these bigger campaigns.

  10. @trancy95 I am happy that you believe everyone is beautiful in their own way, I wish the ad campaigns believed that as well. I think the artist of the graffiti wants the onlookers to think about what the media is trying to say to them. For example, I saw this ad on various subway lines but I didn't pay much attention to it (I am sure many subway passengers have the same initial response) but when I saw that comment, I took a step back and actually analyze the ad. I was surprised that I was being encouraged to change who I am. Additionally, lots of teens and children take the subway and imagine what kind of message these ads are sending to the younger generation. If I saw this comment on a larger ad such as a billboard, my response wouldn't change because I know the artist is supporting and encouraging people to love themselves.

  11. @susankai I agree with you, I feel like the media thinks they're representing a group of people's opinions when they're just the voice for a few people. Personally, I felt like the ad was a personal attack because it's so hard for a lot people to love themselves these days and when you're a regular commuter and you get bombarded with this ad, it honestly sucks. When I pointed the ad out, I was on my way to a dinner party with my sisters, and they all looked up and saw the ad. My sisters were pissed off about it and they loved the fact that someone commented on it. I think if people were brave enough to comment something on the ad, I think there would have been a uproar about this ad campaign. They encouraged me to write me to write about how the media influences gender standards and how this ad helps to shape the space. If a male commented on the ad, I believe the tone would have change. I think it would change because it shows that males support natural beauty as well. People tend to change themselves for other people so when others are telling you it's okay to be yourself, you will feel more loved and appreciated and you wouldn't be so tempted to change yourself.

  12. @kevink94 I think the people around this female probably encouraged her, if she was with a group of friends. If she was alone, I think people probably just stared at her. The commuters on the subway are usually observing each other so I don't think much was said or done. Additionally, they probably agreed with it. I think when people stand up and say NO to the media, it only takes one person to voice the unsaid and people will immediately follow after. This graffiti definitely goes against the services provided by these companies. Furthermore, I think a lot of people and even other companies probably gave this Breast Augmentation company a lot of challenges. Then again, they are providing a service for people who might need/want it.

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