JR in the news and advertising
by Samuel2hatsSo I guess you know by now that JR is the winner of 2011 TED prize. It’s a great recognition to his charitable work and another example of how there’s more and more focus on street art movement in the main stream. I was also very pleased to see his Nairobi train project photo featured in November edition of National Geographic. His work was of course covered in our magazine’s issue 10.
In other news insurance company Aviva blatantly ripped the aesthetic and execution method of JR’s work in their latest campaign called You Are The Big Picture. Ironically the ad below was printed in the same magazine only 4 pages down from JR’s. I wasn’t able to find out if this truly is an infringement but there is absolutely no official connection between the artist and the corporation. For more examples how advertising steals iseas go to CopyCunts.
I think its fruitless to get annoyed by these things. People have always stolen from each other. I see it as a great form of flattery. Especially in this situation. The fact that his art has made such a big impact that its now hitting mainstream advertising. The biggest shame is that money gets people annoyed and in my opinion it gets in the way of art. I mean quite a while ago there were projections on the houses of parliament, you know maybe JR could have got influenced from that?? who know??
Hmmm… I mostly agree with you James, but I really think this advertising campaign is just a straight rip off. JR has also done alot of good things for communities and for Womens rights etc whereas this ad campaign is just trying to sell you life insurance.