what is the black dot?

by whitney williams

Maybe you've never heard of the 'black dot'. Maybe you have and think it another one of those 'overzealous' 'lefty' activities at which to turn up your nose. If so, you are long due for a trip out of New Hampshire to the nearest black dot territory I know, New York City.

Whatever one's political, personal, or religious beliefs, the black dot is relevant to anyone who is A) a human, and/or B) lives in the United States of America, and especially C) UNH students (who can vote in the upcoming presidential primary). The black dot is an anti-ad. It is a black scribbled or painted spot on top of a corporate advertisement or logo placed in a public place. I've seen them on telephone booth ads and signs on buildings. It is a form of activism. It is a form of vandalism. The message describing the ideology of the black dot, which can be found on the 'dot's' home website, www.unbrandamerica.org, reads as follows:

"Because my country has sold its soul to corporate power
Because consumerism has become our national religion
Because we've forgotten the true meaning of freedom
And because patriotism now means agreeing with the president
I pledge to do my duty…
and take my country back."

At first glance, this type of jargon may be unappealing to some, or maybe even confusing. Take my country back? Duty? What duty? But as with all ideas, a further investigation as to what lies beneath the symbol is necessary to determine it's value to society.

What does lie beneath the symbol, literally? Corporate advertisements. Now what, you may ask, is so damn bad about corporations and their attractive advertisements? How has our country sold its soul to corporate power'? The answer is a breathing paradox. Some people believe that the government is not looking out for our welfare. Political author Noam Chomsky said in an interview, "This is a business-run society. Business is highly class-conscious; they're fighting a vicious class war, and they know it, and they want to keep people basically demoralized, and separated and atomized." i

Now, why do we need an 'anti-ad'? In New Hampshire we live primarily free of excessive outdoor advertising. However pristine our public spaces, we are not exempt from feeling the pinch of a heavily unbalanced economy. As of September, 2003, 9 million people, or 6.1% of the population were unemployed nationally. ii In New Hampshire as of June, 2003, 28,860 people, or 4% of the labor force were unemployed. The total number of civilian workers in New Hampshire is 722, 950 people.iii It has been suggested that the unemployment rate dipped because of the recent tax cut, which benefits very few people. Writer Robert Freeman states in his article, A Form of National Insanity, "In selling his $1.6 trillion tax cut-half of which went to the wealthiest 1% of Americans-Bush promised in 2001 that it would produce 800,000 new jobs. In fact, the economy has lost 2.7 million jobs since Bush took office, again, the worst economic performance since the Great Depression."iv Additionally, the current administration has cut funding for several important groups. Professor and author Howard Zinn said in his essay, A Kinder, Gentler Patriotism, "And when they [American GIs] come home, they will find that their veteran's benefits have been cut to pay for the machines of war. They will find the military budget growing at the expense of health, education and the needs of children. The Bush budget even proposes cutting the number of free school lunches." v The black dot is an attempt to draw our attention to question the power that corporations have with the government and how it affects our daily lives and jobs.

The most targeted corporations of the 'Black Dot' vandalism are referred to by anti-ad activists as the "Dirty Dozen", of which unbrandamerica.org says, "We asked, you told us. Here are your choices for the Dirty Dozen-the twelve worst corporations. We the People find these brands guilty of pollution, animal abuse, lethal tobacco promotion, sweatshop labor, advertising clutter, arms sales and genetic hi-jinx." The 'dirtiest' companies are as follows chronologically worst to 'least worst': McDonald's, Exxon Mobil, Nike, Wal Mart, Disney, Coca Cola, Microsoft, Gap, AOL Time Warner, Starbucks, Clear Channel, and Altria, which is formerly known as Phillip Morris. Many activists believe that are also many other 'dirty corporations that remain pointedly out of the media because they produce bombs and weapons for the United States Government and other countries, and therefore do not need the average consumer's attention. The dirty dozen list, obviously not complete, seems to exist to give a credible face to visible corporate power, and to highlight a starting point for most people to start learning about the misuse of power and the mega-corporate agenda.

McDonald's holds a great many different transgressions under its elastic belt, ranging from unhealthy to inhumane. In many third world countries, McDonald's buys land to raise cattle, often from militant leaders, consequently forcing out small farmers who can no longer produce food to feed their families and communities. McDonald's deforests 800 square miles of rainforest a year just to supply packing materials. Their practice of raising and slaughtering animals is in no way humane, nor safe, and the end food product is high in fat, sodium, and sugar and contains almost no healthy fiber, vitamins or minerals. Advertising targets children, and leads consumers to think that, "mass-produced hamburgers, chips, colas, milkshakes, etc., are a useful and nutritious part of any diet." (http://www.mcspotlight.org/case/pretrial/factsheet.html) The turnover of employment at McDonald's is 300 % in America. Pro-union workers are weeded out, and most employees are under 21 and paid poorly without hope of any advancement.vi In terms of profit over people, McDonald's leaves almost nothing unexploited. Clothing companies like Nike and Gap are considered dirty corporations due to their use of sweatshop labor. However, because there are no international laws regulating sweatshops, it is rather dicey to determine the origins of clothing from every company. "Unfortunately, such a list [of companies that do not use sweatshops] does not yet exist. This is because we are not even sure how many sweatshops exist. Sweatshop conditions flourish when they are well hidden."vii The working conditions in sweatshops vary, but what is reported is quite wrenching. In China at Kang Yi Fashion Manufacturers, women work 14 hour shifts and a six day week, with the average pay at 23 cents per hour. During rush weeks, workers put in 96 hours to get the clothes for Anne Taylor finished. In El Salvador at Doall Enterprises, workers are forced to work overnight shifts, overtime, and usually 7 days a week at the rate of 60 cents an hour. On the U.S. Territory of Saipan, Chinese migrant workers sew clothes 12 hours a day, 7 days a week for Abercrombie & Fitch, The Gap, JC Penney, and other U.S. retailers. They become indentured servants and are forced to sign contracts forbidding them "from participating in religious or political activity, asking for a raise, having a baby, falling in love, or getting married." (behindthelabel.org) Workers at these "Made in the USA" factories also boast rat-infested barracks, contaiminated water, workers fainting from excessive heat, and locked fire exits. According to www.behindthelabel.org A&F refused to reach a legal settlement that would clean up sweatshops in Saipan like other U.S. retailers. viii

In the Phillipines at VT Fashions, a worker died of exhaustion after a week of overnight shifts for Eddie Bauer products. In Cambodia at the Yung Wah Industrial Company 160 workers were knocked unconscious from an accidental, industrial electric surge through their sewing machines, evidence of dangerous working conditions. At June Textiles in Cambodia, children are employed as young as 12 and don't see their parents for months. Their living conditions include rat infestations and no running water, working forced overtime, seven day weeks, and physical abuse. Instead of working to improve factory conditions, The Gap, which owns Old Navy and Banana Republic, ceased doing business with this factory.

Of the 'dirty dozen', Nike, Wal Mart, Disney, Coca-Cola, and The Gap all use various types of sweatshop labor and avoid responsibility for them when confronted. The largest complaint against these companies is that they are extremely profitable and influential, almost, you could say, the leaders of the American consumer market. If they took responsibility for sweatshop usage, many believe the 'smaller guys' would follow suit. "It is most effective to target the largest and most powerful companies for several reasons. First, their financial power often allows these companies to commit the most abusive labor and human rights violations without consequences. The major companies drive the industry at every level."ix

The 'dirties' that remain, Exxon Mobil, Microsoft, AOL Time Warner, Starbucks, Clear Channel, and Altria have been accused of slightly different crimes, ranging from oil spills, major media conglomeration, industry monopolization, and dangerous child-targeted advertising. "In the three years after the settlement [law suit where tobacco companies promised not to directly or indirectly target kids] tobacco industry marketing expenditures increased by 66.6% to a record $11.2 billion in 2001, according to the Federal Trade Commission. This amounts to $30.7 million every day to market their deadly products. Most of the increase was in retail store marketing, which is highly effective at reaching kids."x To serious price inflation of coffee beans. Guatemalan coffee pickers are paid approximately 2 cents a pound for coffee that Starbucks sells for nine dollars. xi

These crimes affect real people, in and outside of the United States, and all of us in one way or another. There are many types of protest against these injustices besides the 'black dot', so what good could such a silent type of protest do? UNH sophomore Rob Wolff said, "One would hope it would spark interest, or imitation. I actually haven't seen a lot of black dots mulling around town. Hopefully we'll see more. I hope it would be effective insofar as people would recognize corporate advertisements are everywhere. If we were to wake up one day and all of the corporate logos were blocked out they wouldn't be in the background, they would be more in the foreground [and people would take notice]".

The largest obstruction to the truth about corporations and the government behind black dots everywhere is the conglomeration of the media in all forms, newspaper, television, magazine, music production and movie companies alike. The government plays a huge role in the success and profits of these companies, as it benefits monetarily from the furtherment of the Media Corporation's legislative agenda.xii The companies who own nearly everything you read, see, and hear are: Vivendi , AOL Time Warner, The Walt Disney Co, News Corporation, Viacom, and Bertelsmann.xiii There are, however, a few more according to a separate source: General Electric, Liberty Media Corporation, Sony, and AT&T Corporation.xiv

Conservative author Ann Coulter, implies that the media is liberally biased: "Perhaps if conservatives had had total control over every major means of news dissemination for a quarter century, they would have forgotten how to debate, too, and would just call liberals stupid and mean. But that's an alternative universe. In this universe, the public square is wall-to-wall liberal propaganda."xv

The argument continues though, as author Eric Alterman writes, "And even William Kristol, without a doubt the most influential Republican/neoconservative publicist in America today, has come clean on this issue. 'I admit it,' he told a reporter. 'The liberal media were never that powerful, and the whole thing was often used as an excuse by conservatives for conservative failures.' "xvi

Recently there was a case, which had little major media coverage. A Fox News journalist was fired for threatening to report about rGBH in dairy cows after Fox TV management and lawyers pressured her to air what she knew was false information. On Fox's fourth attempt to appeal the original ruling and award to journalist Jane Akre, the Florida Appeals Court ruled that, "There is absolutely nothing illegal in a major media organization lying, concealing or distorting information. The court reversed the US $425,000 jury verdict of 2000 that was in favor of journalist Jane Akre…"xvii During their three other attempts to throw out the case, Fox's lawyers argued that, "…there is no hard, fast and written rule against deliberate distortion of the news. The attorneys for Fox, owned by media baron Rupert Murdoch, argued that the First Amendment gives broadcasters the right to lie or deliberately distort news reports on the public airwaves." Furthermore, these claims were reinforced with the Appeals Court's review of the FCC's guidelines, "The Court of Appeals, in its six page written decision, held that the Federal Communications Commission's position against news distortion is only a 'policy', not a promulgated law, rule or regulation." Regardless of political leanings, this type of precedent seems too dangerous to ignore.

Vandalism is illegal, and the black dot is not easily understood at first glance. Is the 'black dot' too vague a symbol? Is it a constructive form of protest? Wolff said, "In thinking about this black spot campaign, I think property destruction is an appropriate tactic. I don't think its violence. I think there are many instances when property destruction is a viable tactic, because you can't expect the state to reprimand the corporation for unlawful, socially destructive behaviors." Lindsey Straw (graduate student), of the campus Republicans said, "Vandalism will catch the attention of individuals, but it can also work against you. It can make some people angry, especially in regards to the magnitude of it. As this magnitude increases, it is likely that more people will get angry about the act itself, and the concern regarding the message will drop."

Lieutenant Steve Mona of the New York Vandal Squad said [about cleaning up after vandalism], "All these corporations, like Clear Channel and Altria, it wouldn't cost them but it would cost the company that they pay to put up their ad. It cuts into the profit of a small company that was hired by a major conglomerate." The Lieutenant also said, "If it's a Nike ad on a bus shelter, then the Transit Authority has to pay to clean it up. They end up taking money out of their budget which could be used for something else, like new trains."

UNH Democrat group member, junior Brendan King, had differing views about the 'dot', "It's certainly negative publicity…and it is defacing property, but at the same time it's raising awareness." He also said, "I think its definitely good to raise awareness of the connection between the government and corporations." Senior UNH democrat Pete Martin, said, "For most people who don't know what the black dot stands for, there's just puzzlement. 'What is wrong with this ad; is it a misprint? Is there something here that I don't get?' Most people won't see the connection between the picture of the black dot and anti-consumerism." Another UNH Democrat, sophomore Fred Lennox said, "It also brings up a deeper point when you have such groups as the Earth Liberation Front burning down houses and blowing up SUV's… How far should it go? Or how should it even start? It's a slippery slope situation."

The 'black dot's' ideology seems to reach for a reclamation of democracy from corporate influence. Noam Chomsky said in his essay Media Control, "An alternative conception of democracy is that the public must be barred from managing of their own affairs and the means of information must be kept narrowly and rigidly controlled. That may sound like an odd conception of democracy, but it's important to understand that it is the prevailing conception." Despite the possible irony of vandalism as a means of political protest, the ideology behind it is not without merit, or facts. In its essence, the black dot urges people to think about things as simple as everyday advertisements. It aims to define patriotism as something which everybody thinks they know, but might have forgotten in the red, white, and blue face of 'manufactured consent', a term Noam Chomsky uses in Media Control. Along with that, it seeks to protest the feverish consumer identity we Americans have assumed and reinstate a bit of our old natural, differentiating selves. The Black Dot seeks to remind us of our threatened, inherent human freedoms ; as the Bill of Rights seems to creep further and further away in the shadow of the Patriot Act and other "necessary" limitations on our freedoms. Howard Zinn said, "The success or failure of what we strive for can never be predicted; the only thing that can be predicted is that if we don't try to do something about economic justice, race and gender discrimination, nothing good will happen."

Do I think the black dot is a good idea? Maybe. Do I have to clean up vandalism? No. Still, the ideology of the black dot still concerns all of us at UNH in a variety of ways. Even though we do not see black dots in or around campus, we are still subject to the agendas of the corporations we cannot readily see, through advertising. So are people all over the country, regardless of age, race, or region. As students and as young people at an institution of higher learning we have the option to use our energy, resources, and power to ask the hard question. As well as the duty to do something or nothing good will happen. The group of students who demonstrated at Gene Robinson's consecration at the Whittemore Center last month showed just how possible it is for students to shape the world around them. Whether the black dot is your bag, or writing, protesting, or grunt work to get people to the voting booth, everything counts. Any small effort, even something as figuratively small as the black dot, can act like a lever on a heavy machine with many heavy wheels and weights. If no one keeps the wheels clicking along, they will rust and grind, creating a difficult situation for those who depend on the system to work. We can sit and watch the machine deteriorate; or we can each take it upon ourselves to lift the lever. Your choice. My choice. The black dot is one lever to pull, but there are many other ways to act consciously and positively for our collective betterment. One might hope that as American citizens concerned for our welfare, we'd never need to vandalize public property to get a point across, but we can all do much more than just hope.

i Noam Chomsky Speaks on NAFTA, the media, activism, the Internet, Haiti, Chiapas, Bosnia, and Burundi With Jimmer Endres and Jon Slenk March 9, 1994 http://www.zmag.org/chomsky/index.cfm

ii http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm iii www.nhes.state.nh.us/elimi/ iv Bush's Tax Cuts: A Form of National Insanity, by Robert Freeman. http://www.counterpunch.org/freeman05302003.html v http://www.howardzinn.org/index.php vi http://www.mcspotlight.org/case/pretrial/factsheet.html vii http://www.behindthelabel.org/industry.php?indid=4 viii www.behindthelabel.org : (behindthelabel.org, footnote: ABC News, 20/20 March 13, 1998; Sweatshop Watch, "First-ever Lawsuits Filed Charging Sweatshop Conspiracy," January 13, 1999)

ix http://www.behindthelabel.org/industry.php?indid=4 x http://tobaccofreekids.org/reports/addicting/ xi [http://articles.animalconcerns.org/ar-voices/archive/business_ethics.html] )

xii "Off The Record" , http://www.publicintegrity.org/reports/offtherecord/ xiii www.mediachannel.org/ownership/char.shtml xiv www.thenation.com/special/bigten.html xv "Slander: Liberal Lies About The American Right", Ann Coulter, http://www.anncoulter.org/slander/ex01.htm xvi "What Liberal Media?", Eric Alterman, The Nation Magazine (February 24, 2003) (www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Mainstream_Media/What_Liberal_Media.html)

xvii "Appellate Court Rules Media Can Legally Lie", Mike Gaddy, Sierra Times, March 1, 2003 http://www.sierratimes.com/O3/02/28/arpubmg022803.htm