Must Watch - Food,Inc

Must Watch on Sprword.com show many documentaries telling about parts of reality that global medias do not usually question or talk about and that stay unanswered by governments.

One of them is Food, Inc. by filmmaker Robert Kenner. "He lifts the veil on The USA's food industry, exposing the highly mechanized underbelly that has been hidden from the American consumer with the consent of our government's regulatory agencies, USDA and FDA. Our nation's food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations that often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and our own environment.
We have bigger-breasted chickens, the perfect pork chop, herbicide-resistant soybean seeds, even tomatoes that won't go bad, but we also have new strains of E. coli’Äîthe harmful bacteria that causes illness for an estimated 73,000 Americans annually. We are riddled with widespread obesity, particularly among children, and an epidemic level of diabetes among adults.

Food, Inc. reveals surprising’Äîand often shocking truths’Äîabout what we eat, how it's produced, who we have become as a nation and where we are going from here."

The Future Is Here...Sadly

For a while now I've been developing a science-fiction project about a group of anti-corporate space pirates called League of Space Pirates. The main enemy is a giant corporation that's basically taken over everything. A few years ago my friend Charlie Bonˆ©t, who is writing material for the project, decided to create some commercials for products that the corporation might sell. For various reasons we haven't been able to actually produce the commercials yet, though I did design some logos to go with the items. Just this past week I've discovered that two of what we thought were fairly over-the-top riffs on current trends turned out to not be very far off the mark, in depressingly eerily ways...

First up is Purple Stuff. Taking today's energy drinks to the next level by making it into something more like medication for low-energy kids. The idea was that the product got different qualities as it aged and so Purple Stuff that was past its expiration date became Purple Stuff PM, which would be used as the opposite of an energy drink to mellow out hyperactive kids. As it got even older, Purple Stuff could be used as a pesticide (among other things).























Then last week I heard a story on anti-energy drinks that mellowed you out. Apparently they were inspired by a drug combination that people are calling "purple drank". When I went to research it I found that an actual Purple Stuff drink is being produced as well! Admittedly we all got the name from this classic commercial.











Next up is Organetics. Charlie's idea was that the corporation would start producing genetically altered organic food (a clear contradiction, that seemed amusing yet not entirely implausible).





So imagine my dismay when I recently got an invitation to a conference ominously called "Green BioPharma". Touted as "the first conference to address organization-wide sustainability strategies for life science companies." it's not exactly Organetics, but it certainly has a frighteningly similar ring.


Needless to say, it's back to the drawing board for these two products, but hopefully we won't be hearing about our other product idea any time soon: a memory stick that you actually stick into your body!

Linkage: Cloth bags are bad and corporations are local?

Go figure, the plastic industry says that cloth bags are bad! via

Speculative architecture fiction.(image shown) via

Making newpaper boxes into planters. (image shown) Thanks Carlos!

Free e-book on sustainable printing. via

The growth of the greener lunchroom.

Documenting product placement (and displacement). (image shown) Thanks Mica!

The new greenwashing: corporations go "local". Thanks Mica!

Life, Inc.

Douglass Rushkoff discusses the corporatization of life in America in relation to his new book Life, Inc....

Life Inc. The Movie from Douglas Rushkoff on Vimeo.

Hungry For Change?

Food, Inc. is a new documentary on the industrial food industry in America...

Linkage: Plastering Over Kids and Avoiding Gorilla Gazes

Freaky ads make a powerful statement about neglected children. (image shown)

A clever way to get people to see an art exhibition... pay them!

One zoo's solution to gorillas who don't like to be watched? Literal eye glasses. (image shown) via

Roughstock Studios helps you choose the right Green Certification.

New Japanese vending machines are dispensing free snacks during disasters. Thanks Carlos!

FEMA is no longer distributing their disaster coloring book (but you can still download it from the Smoking Gun).

The always dependable Onion explains how corporations are going green. via

Type is for the birds...literally. (image by swardraws shown) Thanks Juliette!

Linkage

Interesting stuff encountered this week:

Coffee shops canceling live music due to costs of copyright laws.

Photoshop graffiti on Britney Spears ad (image shown). via Art Threat

Do we really need a graphic design reality show? via Rosscott, Inc.

Bicyclists get bailed out too! Thanks Mim!

Bulgarian Squat Shops (image shown).

Vertical farming, the future of cities?

Atheist bus ads in London. via Boing Boing thanks Mim!

Fake auction bid protects land from drilling. via Current thanks Leah!

Even recycling effected by economic downturn.

League of Space Pirates Fights Corporate Evil

I thought you might appreciate getting a glimpse of my newest project: League of Space Pirates...



If you're intrigued and would like to be kept up to date on the latest developments be sure to get your own Space Pirate name and sign up for the mailing list HERE.

Corporate Font

French font studio SMeltery is offering several free fonts including this alphabet made up entirely of international corporate logos: COnsume More. It's reminiscent of artist Heidi Cody's classic American Alphabet.


Download your copy HERE.


Thanks Stephanie!

Public Domain Popeye

Popeye will be falling into the public domain in the UK on January, 1st! The famous spinach lover is one the first of the large pop culture icons to reach this advanced age, so it'll be interesting to see how this plays out as the corporations that have vigorously defended their copyrights will have to watch as the character at last gets to be used in ways beyond their control by the public. Folks in the US however will have to wait an additional 15 years to get access to Popeye because of the efforts of the Disney company to extend the laws to protect their own characters. More details at the Times Online.

And for more on copyright laws be sure to watch the highly entertaining A Fair(y) Use Tale.

Thanks Carlos!

And in other news...

No this is not a parody article from The Onion. This story is actually featured on the homepage of my local newspaper.

Blue Gold

Flow is a new documentary which tells the story of the increasing privatization of water AKA "blue gold" and the frightening future it is creating. It's in selected US theaters now, find out more HERE.

Beware of Pinkwashing

Think Before You Pink is a campaign to promote transparency when it comes to marketing of breast cancer related products. They urge folks to consider supporting the cause by doing something other than just buying more stuff from for profit corporations (many of whom only donate a fraction of the product's cost). They also expose some of the sadly ironic tactics used by marketers desperate to be positively linked to an important cause (test driving cars, whose exhaust are linked to breast cancer for example). Find out more on their site HERE.

Via Micawave

The State of Green Business

The folks at the environmental business news site GreenBiz.com have created State of Green Business 2008 a free downloadable report on what US companies have done in recent years to reduce their environmental impact. To that end they have tracked progress with a 20 point index including items like: Building Energy Efficiency, Employee Commuting, E-Waste, Paper Use and Recycling, and Toxic Emissions. Get your copy HERE.

Mapping Organic Brand Ownership

The folks at Skyome.net took the data of Dr. Phil Howard, who has been tracking corporate ownership of organic brands for several years, and consolidated it into a fascinating time lapse animation. Check it out HERE.

Good Copy Bad Copy

Good Copy Bad Copy is an excellent new documentary from Denmark that reviews the current state of copyright law and its relationship to creative culture, using a range of international interviews. Watch the entire hour long film below (also worth checking out is the work in progress Copyright Criminals)...



Thanks Kit!

No More Paper Catalogs!

Catalog Choice is a free service that helps you get rid of unwanted catalogs in your mail. By utilizing customer codes that are printed on catalogs you can even get rid of ones that come in someone else's name to your address! Find out more and sign up HERE.

Target to stop selling some PVC

Target stores recently announced that they will reduce the amount of PVC they sell, specifically in their own line products (including toys, baby products, shower curtains and packaging). Read the press release from the Center for Health Environment and Justice HERE. It includes this explanation of why PVC is worth avoiding:

Among the health effects of phthalates, found in many PVC products, are premature birth delivery, early puberty in girls, impaired sperm quality and sperm damage in men, genital defects and reduced testosterone production in boys.

’ÄúStudy after study have found that chemicals in vinyl can cause health problems in children and adults," said Dr. Peter Orris, Professor and Chief of Service at the University of Illinois Medical Center Chicago. "While using PVC products, people may be exposed toxic additives like phthalates and lead and when incinerated, PVC is a major contributor to dioxin.’Äù

The hazards of PVC are not limited to its use by consumers: it creates toxic pollution during its manufacture, harming workers and community members near PVC plants such as in Mossville, Louisiana. When thrown away, toxic additives like lead and phthalates can leach into the ground and nearby drinking water sources. When burned in incinerators, PVC produces dioxins and furans, chemicals that can cause cancer and are considered to be among the most toxic environmental contaminants known to man. PVC packaging can not be effectively recycled, and can contaminate an entire batch of 100,000 recyclable bottles.

How to Shut Down McDonald's

Steve Lambert of the Anti Advertising Agency "shut down" all the McDonalds in Manhattan on September 15th. Find out the details HERE and check out this press conference featuring "Ronald McDonald" explaining his actions...



via StayFree!

Nine Inch Nails hammers another nail in the corporate music industry coffin

Following on the heals of Radiohead's announcement to leave their label and offer their latest album to fans at a price of their choice, Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails announced his own departure from his label on October 8th.
Now Reznor is offering a similar deal to fans on the new album by Saul Williams that he produced. William's album Niggy Tardust will be available November 1st for $5 (if you click a button that says "I want to directly support the artists involved in the creation of this music") or Free (if you click a button that says "I'm not concerned about that.I just want the music"). Unlike Radiohead's release, however this downloads will be in 2 different MP3 formats as well as in lossless FLAC! Find out more here.

Lessig on Corruption

Writer/Professor Lawrence Lessig explains on Danish TV why he's switched his focus from copyright issues to the issue of government corruption...




Thanks Russ!

Spotted in NYC: Corporate Anti-Graffiti

Graffiti is illegal, even when corporations do it, though that never seems to stop them. But maybe Spike TV is trying to avoid trouble by creating their new guerrilla marketing ads by removing dirt on the sidewalks on New York City. I think folks living in the city would actually appreciate the ads more if they finished the job of cleaning the sidewalk, but the ads will probably stay there until someone else decides to clean them. [On the same trip that I spotted this I actually saw an old adhesive plastic street ad that the city just painted crosswalk lines on top of!]

Anita Roddick 1942-2007

Say what you will about the Body Shop, but there is no denying that the store's founder Dame Anita Roddick was a pioneer in the world of socially conscious business and a tireless activist with a true interest in doing good in the world. Our condolences to her family, she will be missed.

Read her obituary in the New York Times and via BBC News.

Save Shareholder Rights

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is currently considering changing the rules that would limit how shareholders can influence corporations. Save Shareholder Rights! (a project of The Social Investment Forum and the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility) provides information on the issue and a form for submitting concerns to the FCC and your Senators during the brief public comment period.

Small (Business) Is Beautiful

A recent article in Ode Magazine "Small Is Successful" talks about the benefits of staying small in the corporate world and features the story of how Clif Bar owner Gary Erickson resisted a profitable takeover by Quaker Oats:

...rather than feeling on top of the world about this dream deal, Erickson was uneasy. "I stood in the office waiting to go out and sign the contract," he recounts in his book Raising the Bar. "Out of nowhere, I started to shake and couldn't breathe." He told his business partner that he needed to get some air. Outside in the parking lot, he broke down in tears. And then it hit him as he began to walk around the block: "I don't have to do this. I began to laugh, feeling free," he writes. "I turned around, went back to the office and told my partner, 'Send them home. I can't sell the company.'"

Read the entire article here.

Corporate Vandals

Corporate Vandals Not Welcome has a clear agenda: treat advertisers who use the guerrilla style advertising that mimics graffiti as the vandals that they really are. Their site gives a concise overview of the reasons behind the campaign and images of their work.

via Anti-Advertising Agency

NYC 2057AD

According to designer/director Stephen W. Brandt's short animated film "nyc 2057ad" the future of dating will be determined by your personal corporate sponsor. Watch it here.

Corporate Organics

If you like to eat packaged natural foods that aren't produced by mega-industrial food corporations your choices are getting slimmer. Download the latest PDF of the Organic Industry Structure chart via the Organic Consumers Association to see which of the top 25 North America food processors now own Boca, Horizon, Cascadian Farm, Muir Glen, Walnut Acres, Celestial Seasonings, and most other well known "organic" brands.

Conversely you can see which are the few brands that still remain independent here (PDF).

"Hugo Me": Supersize is Back

McDonald's, which dropped their "Supersize" range of jumbo products, shortly after the documentary "Super Size Me" came out, in an effort to address concerns about rising obesity rates, has now introduced the "Hugo" a 42oz 410 calorie soda. A recent New York Times article on the McDonalds about-face quotes a representative defending the summertime only product saying: ’ÄúPeople, I believe, tend to drink more during the summer. People are out and about.’Äù

Read the full article here.

via StayFree!

11 US Food Companies agree to limit advertising to kids

In an ongoing shift in the way corporations market to kids, 11 major US food and drink companies have agreed to adopt new rules restricting the use of cartoon/TV/movie characters to sell their products to children. The businesses, which represent 2/3rds of kids TV food advertising will only use popular characters on their "healthier options". This change comes just ahead of a Federal Trade Commission hearing, which was to focus on increased pressure on corporations to address growing obesity problems among children.

Get more details in the AP article here.

Seeing Yellow

Is your printer spying on you? Seeing Yellow, a project of the Computing Counter Culture Group at the MIT Media Lab, reveals the secret system used by color laser printer manufacturers to allow the government to track you.

via Boing Boing

Waldemart Watch

Walmart Watch the anti-Walmart activist group has a new Harry Potter themed video and site to promote their campaign...

Backlog

Sorry for the silence from me (and thanks to Brad for keeping the site rolling), mid-week holidays clearly throw me off. Anyway, I have a backlog of stuff to write about, so here are a few quick links to start:

Despite everything More US Commuters Are Driving Alone.

Corporate Car Fleets and Car Rentals go Green.

San Diego fights Walmart.

Cities are building more bike paths.

Since all of these are from the Christian Science Monitor, I think this a good time to explain the appeal of this paper:

• Despite the name the content is not religious (nor biased towards a religious viewpoint). There is only one article that relates to Christian Science per issue and it is clearly marked in a box at the end of the paper.
• They have a top notch international staff of reporters (rare outside of the big players, most papers rely on Reuters and AP).
• They are extremely balanced in their reporting.
• They do not sensationalize and are one of the few papers that actually goes out of their way not to encourage copycat behavior.
• Their motto is "To injure no man, but to bless all mankind."

The Yes Men do it again!

Oh if only I could've been at the Gas and Oil Exposition 2007 in Alberta earlier this month where the collected audience of fossil fuel bigwigs were treated (unknowingly) to another brilliant prank by the Yes Men. Despite the fact that they're much more recognizable after the major release of a documentary chronicling their previous stunts (including announcing the closure of the World Trade Organization) the Yes Men still managed to make a major presentation about turning dead bodies into a new fuel source called Vivoleum and distributing candles supposedly made from a dead Exxon employee before finally being escorted off by security.

Read more of the story on Wired's Blog and also on the Yes Men's site as well.

via Boing Boing

B Corporation

B Corporation is a new organization promoting a higher level of responsibility for businesses that want to be considered green. To be considered a B Corporation businesses must meet a comprehensive set of social environmental standards, plus institutionalize stakeholder interests. The organization is still in it's early stages, so it will be interesting to see if they can set a standard that is recognized and has an impact on the business world.

Cereal Killer

According to a recent New York Times article Kellogg will begin phasing out marketing unhealthy cereals to children under 12 over the next year and a half. Having tie-ins with licensed characters will be limited to healthier cereals as well. The self-imposed changes follow the threat of a lawsuit from the Center for Science in The Public Interest and the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood. The plans for a lawsuit have now been dropped. From the article:

Susan Linn, the co-founder of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, said Kellogg’Äôs decision to stop using licensed characters on sugary food was particularly significant. ’ÄúUntil now the industry has absolutely dug in their heels,’Äù Ms. Linn said.

In the last several years, health officials have repeatedly warned that the steady stream of food ads aimed at children is contributing to the number of overweight or obese children, which has soared over the last four decades.

Some countries have banned advertising of nutritionally questionable food to children altogether, and some members of Congress have suggested that federal regulation may be needed in the United States, too. The food industry has promised to bolster its own self-regulation.

Read the entire article here.

via Consumerist

File Under Irony: Fakes Are Never In Fashion

Harper's Bazaar has decided to tackle the issue of counterfeit goods with a new campaign: Fakes Are Never In Fashion. And how do they plan to let folks know that it's not OK for people to make money off of something they didn't pay for or create themselves? They're having a T-shirt design competition! That's right, they've asked people to create art for them without getting paid. And the "winners"? Well according to the site they get...nothing! OK I guess they get the honor of seeing their work used by a corporation (after assigning all copyrights to them) for limited-edition T-shirts, limited-edition boxed sets, featured in upcoming issues of Harper's Bazaar, posted online, and downloadable into desktop wallpaper.

In the spirit of the competition I've decided to create my own design (shown right), but rather than submit it to them I've gone ahead and made a Cafe Press store to sell them myself HERE. Any profits will be donated to Creative Commons.

Thanks Mica!

A Fair(y) Use Tale

Disney characters explain Copyright Law and Fair Use in this entertaining Fair(y) Use Tale created by Professor Eric Faden of Bucknell University. It's also available for download via the Fair Use Project at The Center For Internet and Society at Stanford University.


via Mica

Gap's "For Kids By Kids" on Onion News Network

Gap Unveils New 'For Kids By Kids' Clothing Line

Shareholder Activism In Action

Denver based, Newmont Mining Company, has agreed to an independent review of its international social and environmental impact, thanks to the efforts of shareholder activists. From a recent Christian Science Monitor article:

The shareholder resolution recommends that independent members of the company's board of directors ’Äì not management ’Äì conduct the global review and produce a report.

"It will contain the good, bad, and the ugly, but we're not necessarily afraid of that," says Newmont spokesman Omar Jabara. "We do need to know where we can improve. There's nothing worse than having an issue out there and not knowing about it until it's too late or festered into a big problem."

Whether the report becomes a "greenwash" or truly credible depends on its implementation, says Julie Tanner, corporate advocacy coordinator with Christian Brothers Investment Services, a Catholic SRI firm based in New York, which led the successful shareholder effort.

Read the entire article here.

Crispin Glover on Corporations

While David Lynch's comment about product placement was amusing it's also nice to hear a more nuanced discussion of the problem with corporate movie making from Crispin Glover on VBS.TV.

Thanks Mica!