Culture Jamming 101

 U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, 

Nov. 21, 1864  (letter to Col. William F. Elkins)

The following were projects created for a course titled Rage Against The Machine - Consumerism, Leisure & Popular Culture. Students were to choose and explore an existing corporation and see if it was or is responsible for abusing any existing human, animal, or environmental rights. Students were asked to compare and contrast their chosen corporation’s ‘Brand’ with the reality of their past and or present crimes. Students were asked to draw upon various sources and in doing so explore how the concepts of branding influences the way which we not only identify corporations but ourselves as well!  However, should students choose to focus on a corporation that is ethically conscious and that promotes human, animal and environmental rights could do so. In both cases, they will need to highlight their practices and provide evidence where appropriate.

Culture Jamming Cover Girl! 

By Morgan Woodward & Géraldine Lemonde

Behind the scenes Students Morgan and Geraldine have made a television commercial to show the “true side” of Covergirl cosmetics. This video was an idea put together for students to see that Covergirl commercials normally only show women laughing and putting on lots of makeup and saying they feel beautiful after that, now Morgan and Geraldine have put together a video that to help educate the public about the Mysteries Behind Beauty (click to view). - Morgan Woodward & Géraldine Lemonde

Coca-Cola is one of the most popular American soft drinks ever made. However, this huge corporation with the slogan ''Open Happiness'' has its own dark past. Thus it may surprise you to learn that the Coca-Cola Corporation conducted business with the Nazis before and during World War II. For more information check out Herr Fanta! A Brief History of Nazi Coke (click to view). - Vincenzo Sciortino


Vincent Robichaud's video aims to raise awareness regarding the methods of farming used to support the meat industry. For more information on animal cruelty in factory farming check out The Hidden Truth About Pilgrim's Pride Corporation By Lee Ann Sévigny.

By Nicholas Boudreau

This picture illustrates Walmart’s ideal clientele, a mindless consumer, someone who will shop till they drop. Walmart is definitely the hallmark company for this American way of life. This piece represents my personal view of Walmart has a money grabbing company that sole goal is to make profit at any expense. I am not as much claiming that this is bad it is every entrepreneurs goal to become like Walmart, they represent a capitalist ideal, in other words the American ideal. - Nicholas Boudreau



This video was a school project aimed at raising awareness about companies that have violated human right issues. In this Nike PSA, prices of Nike apparel are compared to the price of the sweatshop workers. In the PSA, we learn that Tiger Woods recieved $20 million per year to wear and speak for Nike. On the other hand, Asians are working their “guts” out and are mistreated at work for $1.50 à day because these people need this money to survive. - Benjamin Schmalenberg

By Samuel Couture-Dumas & Nicholas Pinard 

If you can recognize the scene, it is Dos Equis’ famous character “The Most Interesting Man in the World” . Why did we select him? Well we thought this would be a great fit because Nike’s CEO, Phil Knight, is what most people would call interesting. How his empire of a company hired sub-contractors to run their less-then orthodox factories across the world, which abused verbally, physically, verbally and sexually their workers, no matter the sex or age, all while he denied and did the minimum effort possible to fix it. We decided to do something very simple, that you see every day, but that shocks when you see it, like Nike when we see their real side compared to what we see every day on the street. For more information on this important topic check out Nike Sweatshops: Behind the Swoosh. - Samuel Couture-Dumas & Nicholas Pinard

This PSA is about Nestlé and how there is evidence of children being employed in the Ivory Coast to on cacao farms. Victims of child labor, we can see that they work in very poor working conditions. Don't promote child labor by boycotting Nestlé. - Danik Bernier

By Xavier Potvin

I decided to make this video to show the child labour Kit-Kat uses to cultivate their cocoa ususally based in eastern Africa especially in Ghana and the Ivory Coast it is still going on right now and will probably not stop any time soon, this is why we have to make a stand and a statement to help put a stop to child labour. - Xavier Potvin

Disconnect to Connect 

By Pamela Turgeon, Joanie L’Heureux & Samantha Carbonneau

Disconnect to Connect is a public service announcement meant to make people realize that they are missing out on life by being constantly on their cellphone. Two scenarios are presented; the first one shows how excessive use of a cellphone can affect people’s life. In the first part of the PSA Disconnect to connect, the girlfriend is always on her cellphone, which becomes annoying to her boyfriend. The second part of the PSA presents how the couple’s life would be if the girlfriend wasn’t constantly on said device. The difference is quite surprising. - Pamela Turgeon, Joanie L’Heureux & Samantha Carbonneau

Barrette Chapais & Aboriginal Trapping Areas 

By Gabriel Wapachee

In this public service announcement, I talk about one of Quebec’s forest industry leaders; Barrette Chapais. In this video I reveal the effects of one of their recent expansion projects. Barrette Chapais has been a growing forestry industry and have greatly expanded over the years. I tell the audience that one of these expansions cut through seven different aboriginal trapping areas. According to Barrette Chapais, “to communicate more efficiently means to listen more carefully”. Then they should listen more carefully to what the local Cree people have to say about them stealing from their farm. This last sentence uses both situations used in the video and sum them up in one sentence as a comparison. - Gabriel Wapachee 

Anti-Smoking Campagin
By Charles-Antoine Faucher, Sandrine Bachand & Nicolas Macaulay

Apple: Beyond the Money and Fame
By: Simon Michaud

The Art of Hating
By Jesse Bérubé & Alexander Kalil 

Monsanto: A Warning
By Ryan Skinner

You Booze, You Cruise, You Lose!
By Jewel Arés-Malisch, Tatjanna Blom, & Mindy Giguère

The Only Diet I Need is a Media Diet!
By Thea Laflamme, Hillary Doyle & Maude Théberge

The subject of this PSA is how the media objectifies women and all the negative effects that it has on our self-esteem. It also covers the effects that beauty standards affect men just as much as women. The commercial is jam packed with information and shocking images to add emphasis on the negative effects that social Medias cause. We need to make a change, to help men and women seek the help that they need and let them know that they are far from alone in their daily battle with their demons. - Thea Laflamme, Hillary Doyle & Maude Théberge

Hershey - The Bittersweet Reality!
By Jacob Dutil

My PSA consists of me talking about how big chocolate companies use child slaves to create their signature chocolate products, bars, etc. It also consists of where the crisis is taking place, what the children are subjected to, solutions created to stop the problem and how the audience watching the PSA can do to also help. - Jacob Dutil

Ringling Brothers Circus:
Your Child’s Favorite Evil Corporation
By Camille A. Dubois & Noémie Viens

The PSA focuses on the diverse issues towards animal cruelty in the well-known Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Such issues involve the inbreeding made between the majestic white tigers causing them to be born with multiple distinguishing traits. Other mentioned issues mentioned in the film entail the harsh techniques used to train the elephants, the reality behind how they are treated once they have given birth to their calves, in addition to their death rate over the last 30 years. The PSA also raises the absurdity of the amount of tickets being sold in recent times, regardless of the cruelty made towards their money-making performance acts. - Camille A. Dubois & Noémie Viens

JOE (Not So) FRESH!

By Véronique Rompré & Mykam Lemire-Théberge

Walmart Sewage Disposal
By Kody Wellman, Alex Goddard, Shawn Paxton & Michael Barrette

Our video is about Walmart’s improper chemical disposal and how it has affected our waters. We express how the fine that was given to them was hardly enough to make them flinch. The effects of bad disposal of chemicals is terrible because it ruins our environment. This is especially detrimental when it comes to our fresh water because we have so little of it and people are dying because they have none in the first place. Yet here we are allowing our own water to get ruined. - Kody Wellman, Alex Goddard, Shawn Paxton & Michael Barrette

Adidas: Impossible is Nothing When Exploiting Workers!
By Brigitte Corriveau & Kellyann Gaboury