French anti-ad association calls for freeing up the planet of ads

For the second year in a row on March 25, 2016, the French association Resistance against Advertising Aggression (RAP) (Résistance à l’Agression Publicitaire) partnered with international allies and activists from around the world to speak out against advertising. This movement was launched from the Tunis call by hundreds of activists from the five continents at the World Social Forum.

The first global anti-ad contestation day on March 25, 2015 was launched at the World Social Forum in Tunisia via the Tunisia call for action, which was supported by hundreds of participants across all continents. One year later,  the Résistance à l’Agression Publicitaire called for activists across the globe to carry on and expand the international mobilisation against the advertising industry.

March 25 was chosen as the day of protest as it marked the anniversary of a French court’s decision confirming the legitimacy of the common struggle. On March 25, 2013, a constitutional court judge found a group of anti-advertising activists from Les Déboulonneurs group not guilty of ‘degradation’. The group had publicly and symbolically spray-painted advertising billboards in 2009, but they were acquitted in the name of ‘freedom of speech’ and ‘reason of necessity’ against advertising oppression. This 2013 ruling can act as a call to action for all those around the world seeking to challenge the role of corporate advertising in our lives.

In a note issued, RAP said, “Everywhere around us, advertising encroaches into our everyday lives, pollutes our minds, shifts our cultural values and dominates the media. Advertisers spend 700 billion globally each year, and this expenditure is constantly growing. Adverts are everywhere. So, let’s mobilise wherever they are found.”