Adbusters

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Adbusters is an anti-capitalist, environmentalist group that was founded in 1989 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. 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.[1]

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. 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 and socialist pretensions.[2]

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."[3]


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