From editor Joey Skaggs: I recommend this piece from The January/February 2010 issue of Tikkun written by Christopher Hedges about the cultural phenomenon of celebrity-ism. Parts are excerpted from his 2009 book, Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle.

Celebrity Culture and the Obama Brand, by Christopher Hedges

Barack Obama is a brand. And the Obama brand is designed to make us feel good about our government while corporate overlords loot the Treasury, armies of corporate lobbyists grease the palms of our elected officials, our corporate media diverts us with gossip and trivia, and our imperial wars expand in the Middle East. Brand Obama is about being happy consumers. We are entertained. We feel hopeful. We like our president. We believe he is like us. But like all branded products spun out from the manipulative world of corporate advertising, this product is duping us into doing and supporting a lot of things that are not in our interest.

What, for all our faith and hope, has the Obama brand given us?

Read the rest of this article here.

Editor’s Note: The manipulative, deceitful and very effective tactics I have used over the past 40+ years as an artist, activist and culture jammer to shed light on institutional, corporate and media efforts to mislead the general public have now been fully co-opted by the organizations victimized by them. It’s interesting to see the pendulum swing. Kudos to Ann Landman for this insightful and very useful article aimed at unmasking corporate and political tricksterism that blatantly utilizes disinformation to sway public opinion. One hopes the general public becomes more aware and is willing to fight against this insidious hype, hypocrisy, propaganda, and disinformation. JS

Attack of the Living Front Groups: PR Watch Offers Help to Unmask Corporate Tricksters
by Anne Landman
PRWatch.org / Center for Media and Democracy
August 28, 2009

Fake “grassroots” groups have started springing up like toadstools after a rain, and this time they’re coming at us from every angle: they’re on TV, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube: “Americans for Prosperity,” “FACES of Coal, “The “Coalition to Protect Patients’ Rights,” “Americans Against Food Taxes,” the “60 Plus Association,” “Citizens for Better Medicare,” “Patients First” … It’s making our heads spin! Issues affecting some of the country’s biggest industries, like health insurance reform, a proposal to tax sodas and sugary drinks, and the FDA’s possible reconsideration of the plastic additive Bisphenol A, have boosted corporate astroturfing up to a dizzying pace. With all these corporate fronts coming out of the woodwork, how can citizens tell true grassroots organizations from corporate fronts operated by highly-paid PR and lobbying firms? Here are some tips to help readers spot this kind of big-business hanky-panky.

What is a “front group,” really? (more…)

From Joey Skaggs:

New York, New York, March 30, 2009 — The 24th Annual April Fools’ Day Parade will begin at Fifth Avenue and 59th Street at 12 noon, Wednesday, April 1st, 2009. Rain or shine, the parade will march down to 23rd Street, where it will continue down Broadway to Union Square Park for post-parade festivities. For several blocks, the parade route will require a mad dash through a gauntlet of teetering construction cranes.

The theme for this year’s parade is “Take the Money and Run.” Led by Grand Marshall Bernard Madoff, the parade will kick off with the SEC Marching Band playing the Beatles’ hit song “Money.” Spectators are requested to participate by photo-copying hundred dollar bills and tossing them out windows or from roof-tops at the passing parade instead of confetti. (more…)

Here, in response to our call for DIY Bank Hack design submissions, October 19, 2008, are two downloadable designs you can print and post in a public place (such as a bank or ATM machine).

Pranksters: These designs are copyright free. Put them up around town. And if you send us your photos/video links of your hacks, we’ll make best efforts to put them up on ArtofthePrank.com!

Artists: Send us more designs for DIY Bank Hacks!

From Melissa Silva of kungakare.blogspot.com:

Bail out the Rich, so the Poor have the Freedom to Starve

Download higher res file here.

From Peter Markus:

Casino Bank

Download higher res file (pdf) here.

From Joey Skaggs, editor of The Art of the Prank at ArtofthePrank.com:

This is an open call to artists and pranksters…

Artists: Submit your designs for signage. We will feature our favorites on ArtofthePrank.com, making them available for all to download and place publicly (such as on bank doors, windows and ATM machines).

Here’s an example by artist Peter M. Markus:

Pranksters: For your hacking pleasure, download a higher resolution pdf here; print it (11″ x 8 1/2″); and post it around town. Photograph your handiwork and submit it to us at ArtofthePrank.com. We’ll post the most inspired examples.

A call to action from Joey Skaggs, Editor of The Art of the Prank at ArtofthePrank.com:

Calling All Pranksters (and non-pranksters too)!

Greed, dishonesty, government deregulation and lack of oversight got us into the largest global financial crisis since the Depression. Express your outrage at having to bail out the bastards while they pass the buck! Print these “Useless Bucks” and put them in circulation. In other words, Pass the Buck… back. Take them to your financial and banking districts and give them away; Toss them from high places; Place them on those nearly useless ATM machines; Start your own bail-out program by giving six useless hundred dollar bills to all your friends. Do anything you want with them, just don’t try to spend them!! They’re useless.

Pass the Buck… back

If the Fed can print money indiscriminately, so can we!

Download this pdf template, print your own useless dollars, and put them in circulation around the world. Document your actions in video or stills. Mount your video on YouTube or another embedable video service and send us the URL, and, if you take stills, submit your photos to ArtofthePrank.com. We’ll post your most inspired examples of Passing the Buck… back.

40 years ago, this past August, Abbie Hoffman and a small group of “Yippies” infiltrated the New York Stock Exchange and dumped dollar bills on the Stock Exchange Floor as a statement about greed. As part homage to Abbie, and because of our own outrage about the current situation, we encourage you to do the same today.

Here are the Instructions: (more…)

From Editor, Joey Skaggs:

Last night I received a call from Nadine Baker, Ilene Baker’s younger sister, who told me Ilene is sadly with us no more. Ilene and I were classmates and became very close friends at the School of Visual Arts in New York City in the early 60’s. We went our separate ways but always remained close. Ilene was a unique individual and a gifted artist. She was always a willing volunteer and co-conspirator for many of my performances from the Cathouse for Dogs to Walk Right! to the Bad Guys Talent Management Agency. Her talent and spirit will be dearly missed.

Advertisers are trying harder and harder to trick consumers with ads that mimic the work of pranksters, street artists and media activists. Going viral with your ad has become the brass ring, with customers doing all the heavy lifting (i.e., distributing these ad campaigns through YouTube, blogs and emails) for free for the advertisers.

It’s challenging to tell the difference between true guerrilla theater and this new trend of verité advertising. Here’s a hint: listen to the audio quality and watch for camera angles. Frequently, the main character who’s supposed to be the unsuspecting target of a joke is wearing a hidden microphone and there are at least three distinct camera angles, meaning it’s an expensive multi-camera shoot. If it sounds and looks too good to be true — it probably is.

Check out this article On Advertising: Alternative advertising to grab your attention, by Stephanie Clifford of the International Herald Tribune, August 3, 2008.

And, this viral commercial video submitted by Andrew Boyd yesterday:

Hidden Camera Penny Prank in Jewelry Store

This one, picked up from V. Vale’s RE/Search Newsletter, is just a regular German commercial, but fun (and viral) because of its shock value. (more…)

Art of the Prank contributor Mark Borkowski’s new book, The Fame Formula: How Hollywood’s Fixers, Fakers and Star Makers Shaped the Publicity Industry, hits bookstores today, Friday, August 1, 2008. Here’s a review from The Independent and several links to other recent articles about it.

Confessions of a stuntman: Mark Borkowski on the fame game
by Ian Burrell
The Independent
28 July 2008

The master publicist who promoted Jacko and Pavarotti and filled Selfridges with nude people is disturbed by the success of his profession – accusing it of promoting fake celebrity and soundbites that betray complex issues.

‘It’s not quite the Aleister Crowley-esque profession of popular legend, but the seeds of that are there,” admits publicist Mark Borkowski at the conclusion of his new book, The Fame Formula. “There’s an arcane thrill about the practice of publicity… it is a drug and as such must be handled with care, but the possibilities, now more than ever, are endless.”

We live in times when everyone, seemingly, craves celebrity and Borkowski is one of Britain’s most famous fame-makers, having represented Michael Jackson, Van Morrison, Eddie Izzard and Noel Edmonds, and in the course of his career he has learnt the skills, the tricks and ruses to transform unknowns into household names and to prevent stars fading from the public gaze.

Yet there is a cynicism around the role of public relations, (more…)

The April Fools’ Day Parade Committee and staff wish to thank all the people who made the parade this year the most successful ever. We had a record turnout, both in floats and costumed participants, as well as the cheering onlookers along the parade route.

A special thank you to students from the School of Visual Arts, Parsons the New School for Design and Cooper Union for your wonderful floats, and the students of Fashion Institute of Technology for your brilliant costume designs.

The after-parade party in Union Square also broke all records. The crowd, not unexpectedly, crowned George W. Bush as the King of Fools. The only negative mark was the arrest of three revelers who burned the presidential effigy. However, they were released without charges, so all ended well.

We’ll see you all next year!

Related links:

The Art of the Prank is one year old today!

Many, many thanks to all the supporters, contributors, readers, and friends who have made it such a great success!

images: party balloons, zombies

Courtesy of Joey Skaggs at ArtofthePrank.com:

Click, print, cut & mail to: Governor Eliot Spitzer, State Capitol, Albany, NY 12224 or any other deserving soul, for that matter:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

The New York April Fools’ Committee Is Proud to Announce:

The 23rd Annual April Fools’ Day Parade will march down Fifth Avenue from 59th Street beginning at 12 noon, Tuesday, April 1st, 2008. The parade route has changed temporarily due to construction in Washington Square Park. This year the parade will detour east across Fourteenth Street to Union Square where the post-parade festivities will begin.

The New York April Fools’ Day Parade was created in 1986 to remedy a glaring omission in the long list of New York’s annual ethnic and holiday parades. These events fail to recognize the importance of April 1st, the day designated to commemorate the perennial folly of mankind. In an attempt to bridge that gap and bring people back in touch with their inherent foolishness, the parade annually crowns a King of Fools from parading look-alikes.

The parade will be led by President George Bush and his entire cabinet. They will be given a 60-second lead and then pursued by an outraged lynch mob. This will be followed by a Macy’s Day Parade-size helium balloon of a B52 Bomber Equipped with Nuclear Missiles flying overhead as the April Fools’ Day Parade Marching Band plays Woody Guthrie’s “So Long, It’s Been Good to Know You.” The Parade’s Grand Marshall will be Ralph Nader, appropriately dressed as The Jester.

The public is encouraged to participate, in or out of costume, with or without floats, and may join the procession at any point along the parade route. Floats can be no wider than 10 feet and no longer than 25 feet. They can be self-propelled, towed, pushed or pulled. Customized bicycles, tricycles, baby carriages and aerial balloons are welcome. The Parade Committee assumes no liability for damages caused by satire. All participants are costumed look-alikes. Parade floats and marchers must be at 59th Street and Fifth Avenue no later than 11:30 a.m.

This year’s floats will be led Mardi Gras-style by Angelo Mozilo, CEO of Countrywide Financial, and instead of beads his Loan Shark Cronies will toss out loans you can’t refuse to the crowd; Michael Vick will be taking bets on his Dog Fight Float with caged, snarling pit bulls; a Chinese Dry-Cleaning Float will feature Roy Pearson screaming, “Where are my pants? I’m going to sue!”; an Archeological Dig Float designed by James Cameron will feature Jesus and Mary’s Bones; a Tourette’s Syndrome Float will feature radio personality Don Imus, political pundit Ann Coulter, the Reverend Louis Farrakhan, radio talk show host Bill Cunningham, and Dog the Bounty Hunter—all shouting obscenities at the crowd; and a Mayflower Hotel Suite Float featuring New York Governor Eliot “Dickhead” Spitzer surrounded by hookers while promising “I will work hard to win back your trust”.

Marching celebrity fool look-alikes will include Senator Larry Craig insisting, “I’m not gay!”; Hogwarts Headmaster Albus Dumbledore insisting, “I am gay”; Cheney Aide Scooter Libby pleading “Pardon me, pardon me!”; disruptive political protestor Andrew Meyer surrounded by cops screaming, “Don’t tase me, bro”; ex-Attorney General Alberto Gonzales asserting, “To the best of my recollection, I don’t remember anything”; baseball great Roger Clemens protesting, “I never used steroids!”; ex-cop Drew Peterson calling for his missing wife to “Come home, just come home”; contagious TB world traveler Andrew Speaker coughing on the crowd; and a dazed Britney Spears looking for the Halloween Parade.

Color commentary will be provided by ex-Philadephia TV newscaster Alicia Lane in a thong bikini. Security this year will be provided by mercenaries courtesy of Blackwater.

As the parade ends in Union Square, the party begins, featuring live music, food, concessions & entertainment. The Chinese Government will be sponsoring a Food and Drug Concession and a Chinese Pet Food Booth. The USDA will be giving away free hamburgers. Attorney General Michael Mukasey and the CIA will provide free demonstrations of Waterboarding. Sex offender Deb LaFave will run a Day Care Center for paraders’ children. And OJ Simpson and his posse will hawk his sports memorabilia to raise money for next year’s parade.

We are grateful to the New York State Council on the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, Mayor Bloomberg, Governor Eliot Spitzer, and private funders for their support of this year’s parade.

The King or Queen of Fools will be chosen based on the loudest cheers of the crowd at Union Square. The winner will reign through March 31, 2009.

For information: Joey Skaggs, Committee Chair, 212-254-7878
34 East 11th Street, Suite 2A, New York, New York 10003

So you wanna be on TV?

Magic Molehill Productions and CBS TV are soliciting pranksters for a new reality TV show, tentatively called “Pranksters”. Here’s the casting call as seen on Backstage.com on November 8, 2007:

Casting Call: ‘Pranksters’

Magic Molehill Productions is casting Pranksters, a reality show in which comedians compete for a chance at their prank show. Lynne Spillman, casting dir., Cydney Kaplan, coord. Shoot starts Summer 2008 in L.A. Seeking–Comedian Pranksters: males and females, 18+, any ethnicity, pranks should be innovative, hilarious, and represent your comedic point of view.

Send application and three pranks (on DVD or as email attachment) by Nov. 13 to Pranksters, 7095 Hollywood Blvd., #1380, L.A., CA 90028 or email to pranksterstv@gmail.com

I was contacted by one of the casting producers and asked to apply as a contestant for the show. They asked me to submit three pranks on DVD for consideration. Apparently, after an international search, they will narrow it down to eight pranksters who will be in competition with each other to perform a prank a week for eight weeks on camera. Supposedly a panel of “experts” will judge the “quality” of the prank. The prize is an unspecified amount of money and the possibility of your own show on CBS. All contestants have to be in LA for two months. Accommodations and an unspecified stipend are provided. They wanted to know if I am interested.

I asked, “Do you know who I am and what my work is about?” I immediately began thinking about how to hoax them. I contacted my friend Dino D’Annibale to see if he would be willing to play me on the show for two months. Dino agreed to do it. (more…)

I’m a graduate of the School of Visual Arts and have taught there on and off over the years. Co-founder and Chairman of the Board, Silas Rhodes was always supportive of my work and I will be eternally grateful for all of his good will. I can only imagine how many other similarly odd souls he deeply touched and positively affected throughout his life. I am honored to have known him. His vision and dedication will live on through the generosity of his spirit. JS

Silas H. Rhodes Dies at 91; Built School of Visual Arts
By Randy Kennedy
The New York Times
June 30, 1007

Silas H. Rhodes, co-founder of a trade school for cartoonists and illustrators in Manhattan that he built into the School of Visual Arts, one of the nation’s most important colleges for art and design, died on Wednesday at his home in Katonah, N.Y. He was 91.

Mr. Rhodes, who remained active as chairman of the school’s board, died in his sleep after spending a full day at his office, said his son David, who is the school’s president. (more…)