Adbusters take on Advertisements

The advertisements created by Adbusters are a play on the motives and agency of the brands who have made a name on their marketing and ads. They expose the label's namesakes and poke fun at the absurdity of their claims. Absolut, Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein all have an enormous amount of power and agency in regards to society. Their presence has impacted media culture and the forms of marketing used. This uniqueness has only increased their agency.

Tommy Hilfiger has become famous for being the fashion label of "America;" however, Hilfiger's idea of middle America and the country is usually something that resembles the Hamptons rather than rural America. Adbusters version strips down the ad and cuts through the bullshit to show us what the ad would really look like if it were to portray the message Hilfiger attempts to deliver.

The Absolut ad debunks the myth that in an Absolut world, anything is possible. As we've all heard, excessive drinking can lead to male impotence. So why then do liquor companies display an image of a man who drinks a specific alcoholic beverage as a sort of pimp like figure? In Adbusters Absolut world, not everything is possible.

Calvin Klein's underwear ads are infamous for being raunchy. In fact, numerous famous people have gotten their start in Klein's risque ads. Usually the men in the ads are very well endowed, almost to the point where it's obviously fake. Adbusters ad, the man is looking down his underwear, perhaps astounded just as much as the people who consume the ads.

All three of these brands/labels displayed in the ads have chosen the type of image they'd like to convey to the general public. Their billboards are plastered along highways and on buildings and bus stops throughout cities. The perpetuated labels and connotations towards these brands exist because of the brands choices and actions taken. This is their subjective agency. They attain these labels and reputations because of their associations.