Adbusters

[[File:Kalle Lasn UBC (cropped).jpeg|thumb|right|165px|Kalle Lasn in 2013]]
{{politics}}
'''Adbusters''' is an anti-[[capitalism|capitalist]], [[environmentalist]] group that was founded in 1989 in Vancouver, [[British Columbia]], [[Canada]] by by {{wpl|Kalle Lasn}} {{lived|1942}} (a former [[marketing]] CEO) and Bill Schmalz. They publish a magazine that subsists entirely on subscriptions and newsstand sales, no [[advertising]]. They are the creators of Buy Nothing Day and were one of the early instigators of [[Occupy Wall Street]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20190101234042/https://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/28/business/media/the-branding-of-the-occupy-movement.html The Branding of the Occupy Movement] by William Yardley (Nov. 27, 2011) ''New York Times'' (archived from January 1, 2019).</ref>

While a darling of sorts among its target audience, Adbusters isn't without serious criticism. The magazine's self-professed radicalism tends to translate into confrontational (if not incendiary) statements, though not always for the right reasons; it got the ire of the [[Anti-Defamation League]] for instance over articles critical on [[Israel]] that also border on [[Anti-Semitism]].<ref name=sommers>[https://web.archive.org/web/20130101223225/https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/23/business/adbusters-war-against-too-much-of-everything.html The War Against Too Much of Everything] by Jeff Sommer (December 22, 2012) ''The New York Times'' (archived from January 1, 2013).</ref> That same mentality has also led to the group getting away with endorsing both dubious [[populist]] groups (like [[Beppe Grillo]]'s 5-Star Movement) and [[crank]] ideas such as mental pollution while flaunting [[anarchist]], [[socialist]] and [[situationist]] pretensions.<ref>[https://www.jacobinmag.com/2013/10/adbusted/ ''Jacobin Magazine'': Adbusted] 28 October 2013</ref>

In addition, there's the group's confusing [[double standard]] of decrying capitalistic brands while encouraging people to buy their own. As Joseph Heath and Andrew Potter put it, Adbusters' method of rebellion "is not a threat to the system — it is the system."<ref name=sommers/>

==Buy Nothing Day==
[[File:La2-buynothing.jpg|thumb|left|165px|Buy Nothing Day protest in [[San Francisco]] in 2000]]
Buy Nothing Day is a day of protest founded by the Adbusters movement.  As the name implies, it is a day during which participants refrain from making purchases in order to protest consumption and commercialization.  In the [[United Kingdom|UK]] participants in Buy Nothing Day are advised to be nice to shoppers and reminded that "Ultimately, shoppers won't listen if you treat them like the enemy."<ref>[http://www.buynothingday.co.uk/toolkit.html Buy Nothing Day Toolkit]</ref>

In the U.S., Buy Nothing Day occurs on "Black Friday", the day after [[Thanksgiving]], traditionally the start of the [[Christmas]] shopping season and the biggest shopping day of the year. It is held on the following Saturday in the rest of the world. 

Buy Nothing Day is a part of the international [[communist]] [[atheist]] [[pagan]] [[furry]] [[homosexual]] War on Christmas.

==See also==
*[[Earth Hour]]

==External links==
*[http://www.adbusters.org/ Adbusters.org]
*[http://www.adbusters.org/campaigns/bnd Adbusters: Buy Nothing Day.]
*[http://www.zazzle.co.uk/buy_nothing_day_tee_tshirt-235787871837204453 Oh the irony]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{stub|Organizations}}
[[Category:Left-wing activists]]
[[Category:Political action groups]]
[[Category:Canada]]

Categories: Left-wing activists, Political action groups, Canada