brandalism in the Netherlands
the vandalism of capitalist propaganda

brandalism

noun

/ˈbrændəlɪzəm/

/ˈbrændəlɪzəm/

1. the vandalism of capitalist propaganda

2. subvertising; parodies of advertisements

3. protest art to hide advertisement.

Our main goal is removing advertisement from the public space.

As citizens we should have a say in how our public space looks, we do not accept government renting out the space to some companies, that is supposed to be for all of us.

We accept bus stop advertisement as a method to support the bus stop. But there is no excuse for stand alone advertisement in the public space, in this zine we will show some tactics to remove, damage or replace them with other stuff like art or an opinion you might hold.

Other groups try to co-opt the system and use subvertisement to influence the general opinion. We prefer the aesthetic of DIY making it clear this is the opinion of some person, not an organisation. We mainly focus on the click-frames with the meter big boards because they are easy to open, take home and replace. But we also know how to open the bigger poster frames at bus stops if you feel like changing them.

Click frames have no locks, you can open them, take the board and replace them with something you prepared at home lowering the risk of a fine for vandalism.

There are different techniques, some use a flathead screwdriver, others a bread knife or nothing at all. Some frames are tighter than others so some prefer the screwdriver. I try to be as efficient as possible and not care about noise or who sees me, because we do it during daylight hours people assume we are from the company or that it is allowed.

The frames on the lampposts have a slit on the top to put the board in, you can remove them easier by pushing a screwdriver in the edge under it, lift it halfway and pull it towards you “breaking”it out, most boards are flexible enough to come out easily. This differs per region or company.

These boards mostly fit in the click-frames but with the bend and the top slit it is complicated to put in the boards in if they are not made for it. If you see a click-frame on an electricity box with a door, sometimes they made the frames removable, if you remove them often enough at some point they will stop replacing them. You can take them by lifting the frame up and it will slide out.

If you take them home acting like it is normal to take it with you people will accept it, or you can fold it to make it more manageable and also be able to carry it while riding a bike.

When you get home you can remove the pasted on poster to make your own art, if you keep taking boards at the same place they will replace them with new ones that are white plastic on the back, in some areas the lamppost boards are thicker and black on the back.

Most are a plastic that can be cut and which are ideal to make protest signs that are water resistant.

You can get 8 A3 size signs out of 1 board

some of these have been used for many years

The abri, or bus-stop poster frames. But also the stand-alone rolling poster frames have a simple locking mechanism with a “key” that you can buy at a hardware store. If you are lucky, the company uses the square door handle mechanism, in some regions there is limited space so you have to make your own 8mm square bar with a bend like this one for Zeist.

In other areas they use a Security Torx bit with a hole in it. (Probably T40, these are located on the side while the door-handle is in the middle

If you are more into vandalism, there are (car) window breaker key chain tools that are legal and unconspicious to carry, but when breaking the glass be aware the pressure will probably push your hand through as well and you get tiny glass on you. That is why we prefer the hammer, you can tap on the side and the safety glass will crack the whole thing with a bit of a bang. If you notice your spray paint art gets removed from the glass you can crack it so they have to remove the whole thing.

I hope advertisement companies will stop putting up green washing if we keep damaging the frames they put the posters in.

Because cops are authoritarians they might be fooled with a sticker reclaiming the advertisement spot as free posting area

“vrije plakplaats”

sticker with in the style ofthe forbidden sticker the text

free postering spot

Go out and improve public spaces.

Everything is better than advertisement.

Send in results to brandalism_nl if you want to share it there,

we will endorse any channel that starts removing advertisement.

Get your copy here: https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/brandalism-in-the-netherlands-ad-buster