November 17, 2003. Copyright 2002. Graphic News. All rights reserved.

Anti-Bush propaganda goes professional

LONDON, November 17, Graphic News: The demonstrations in central London planned for U.S. President George W. BushÕs four-day state visit to Britain will improve on their predecessors in one respect: better designed posters.

From World War I to Operation Iraqi Freedom, artists have created anti-war propaganda as part of the wartime tradition to win hearts and minds on both sides of a conflict. Sometimes words arenÕt even needed.

Today though, the paintbrush of the propagandist has been replaced with the expertise of professional communicators armed with Macintosh computers and laser printers.

One image seen at the million-strong London march of February 15 was a giant yellow placard reading ÒMake Tea Not War,Ó produced by advertising agency Karmarama. The poster made national newpaper front pages, and a copy now lies in the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Other posters produced by BritainÕs Stop the War Coalition include the work of 73-year-old David Gentleman, one of BritainÕs leading artists and designers. Many of GentlemanÕs designs are more familiar seen alongside the head of Queen Elizabeth on BritainÕs postal stamps.

Successful designs aim for a slogan or image which people can rally around, without having to agree on its meaning, such as GentlemanÕs ÒSTOP BU$H,Õ the American Blood-for-Oil peace movementÕs  ÒYou CanÕt Spell War without DubÕyah,Ó or Mad MagazineÕs sophisticated Star Wars parody ÒGulf Wars Episode II: Clone of the Attack.Ó

The technique, known to anthropologists as Òsymbolic consensus,Ó was first used to effect in 1968 when American civil-rights activists designed a simple slogan reading ÒI Am a ManÓ. The T-shirt, also worn during the 1995 Million Man March, now sells for more than $5,000. Maybe this weekÕs artworks will also, one day, feature on gallery walls.
/ENDS

Sources: Stop the War Coalition, Blood-for-Oil