EXTENDED ESSAY

How do the artworks of Ron English exemplify anticonsumeristic propaganda?

Elaura Ligon
000534-0023
Visual Arts
Deland High School
May 2014
Word Count: 2,627

Introduction:
The artworks of Ron English are predominantly based on how he feels about the
corporate message and his fight against consumeristic dominance. He began creating his
artworks in the 1980s when the need for consumeristic value became popular in the United
States and he reveals through those artworks that trusting the corporate message and accepting
what the corporate world has to say is not required. Ron English, a remote Culture Jammer and
Billboard Liberator, has affected the history of the United States through the anti-consumeristic
propaganda he employs in many of his artworks.
But what do these terms mean? What do they have to do with our perspective of the
corporate world? By definition, a Culture Jammer and a Billboard Liberator go hand in hand;
whether the target is political or social, they aim to reveal what the intent of the advertisement
should be and what the company is not revealing. They reveal what truly goes on behind the
scenes in big franchises and companies and how they mislead others to purchase their products
to increase their brand loyalty.1 Groups like the Billboard Liberation Front give the anticonsumerism movement an image of change just through their billboard liberations and the
messages they choose to promote and reveal about influential companies, which is the manifesto
of the anti-consumerism movement.2 Consumerism, meaning a preoccupation with and an
inclination toward the buying of consumer goods according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary,

1 Afsheen Nomai. Culture Jamming Ideological Struggle and the Possibilities for Social

Change. Thesis. University of Texas at Austin, 2008. Austin, Texas: University of Texas, 2008.
Print.
2 Jack Napier. "Billboard Liberation Front Creative Group." Billboard Liberation Front Creative

Group. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Nov. 2013. <http://www.billboardliberation.com/manifesto.html>.

is exactly as the definition implies: a preoccupation. The preoccupation in this case is where anticonsumerism comes into play. Anti-consumerism, according to the definition previously
provided by Merriam-Webster, would be the unveiling of the preoccupations presented with
consumer goods. And that is one of many things that Ron English does within all of his artworks.
Although his works are viewed by contemporary artists and art critics as consumeristic
pieces of art, the larger picture of the impact his artworks have made on the consumerist
population simply through the use of his own propaganda is often overlooked and should be
deemed as something worthy of investigation.

Investigation:
As the United States reached the late 1960s, the idea of brand loyalty became incredibly
popular, especially for upper class families. Between the different tobacco advertisements, the
major constructions going on in Disneyland, and new brand names coming out left and right,
America was under major consumeristic influence.3 They were being sucked in by the corporate
message and the generation of idealistic post-World War II baby boomers was diving in
headfirst to get a taste of all of the new products they had to choose from. With brand loyalty
playing a large factor in the value of companies, each company that was selling products similar
to that of another company found every way possible to increase their sales, including R.J
Reynolds Tobacco Company and McDonalds. 4 Camel cigarette advertisements not only
3 Leonora Epstein. "14 Pictures Of Disneyland From The 50's and 60's." BuzzFeed. N.p., 31 Jan.

2013. Web. 07 Nov. 2013. <http://www.buzzfeed.com/leonoraepstein/14-pics-of-disneylandfrom-the-50s-and-60s>.

4 Jagdish N. Sheth and C. Whan Park (1974) ,"A Theory of Multidimensional Brand Loyalty", in

NA - Advances in Consumer Research Volume 01, eds. Scott Ward and Peter Wright, Ann Abor,
MI : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 449-459.

appealed to middle-aged males and doctors in America, but children as well. With the addition of
the Joe Camel cartoon mascot, it had taken on a stronger approach in order to compete with the
fast-growing Marlboro cigarette sales. And with the founding of McDonalds in the 1950s, their
desire to expand fueled their extensive advertisements and company additions. They wanted to
create a family-friendly environment to draw in more customers, and thus Ronald McDonald and
the Play Place were invented.
With the growing line of companies and the increasing desire of the consumerists, the
culturally aware and skeptic Generation-X population between the 1970s and the 1980s and the
start of the overly-confident and well educated Generation-Y population from the 1980s onward
had split two different ways: passionate consumerists with a want for brand loyalty, and the loyal
supporters of the anti-consumerism movement that had grown weary of the corporate message.5
Even with the impact of Joe Camel, Ronald McDonald, and Mickey Mouse advertising the
pleasures of the consumeristic propaganda, Ron English had chosen to go down the opposite
path as a leader in a new type of anti-consumeristic propaganda which he now refers to as
Popaganda. Ron English, born in Dallas, Texas in 1966, was determined to become one of the
worlds most influential anti-consumeristic leaders in the 1980s. He wanted to change the views
of the publics opinion on propaganda and he wanted to show them that consumeristic
propaganda was not the only answer.
This is where Ron English and the anti-consumeristic propaganda begin to intermingle.
Ron Englishs impact on the anti-consumerism movement had changed the way America viewed
popular products through the exploitation of their cartoon figureheads. He often uses Ronald
McDonald, Joe Camel, and Mickey Mouse in consumerism-based art pieces in order to reflect
5 Pierre Benckendorff, Gianna Moscardo, and Donna Pendergast. Tourism and Generation Y.
Cambridge, MA: CAB International, 2010. Print.

the negative impact they have on American culture. For example, here are two of Camels most
popular advertisements of the 1950s and 1960s:

As a reference to the two advertisements, I analyzed and critiqued one of Ron Englishs
more common billboard liberations that criticize Joe Camel and Camel Cigarettes:

(Smooth Character. Ron English, paint on large canvas. Adhered to a billboard placement.)

In this billboard liberation, English expresses the advertisement issues with Camel
Cigarettes and exploits their methods in a way that implies that the target market for many of
their advertisements are aimed towards children or teenagers. He criticizes their advertised

smooth taste by satirizing their smooth character advertisement to criticize the use of
advertisements to grab the attention of the youth of America, which is what Ron English would
consider a low blow to society. In an interview Ron English had with Andrew Dansby of The
Houston Chronicle, Dansby had made this comment about Joe Camel:

He was pleased by the retirement of Joe Camel and likes to think he's
played some part in his disappearanceThe success of those ads gets him
agitated. [English] "Imagine my family and your family lived on an island,"
he says. "And I walked up to your little kid and handed him a cigarette and a
lighter... You'd punch me in the face, right?"6
His understanding of the corporate world and how advertisements work is what makes
his much a good anti-consumeristic artist. In order for Ron English to effectively refute the ideas
of those companies, he has to think like they do and he has to strike on their weakest points. For
Camel Cigarettes it is their use of advertisements to catch the attention of children and underage
smokers, but for Disneyland its the cost and expenses they charge just for a single day at one of
their theme parks.

6 Dansby, Andrew. "Ron English Tweaks Nose of Advertising Establishment." The Houston

Chronicle 7 July 2006: 1+. Print.

(American Depress. Ron English, paint

on canvas)

Ron Englishs creation of American Depress exemplifies Mickey Mouse as a Christ-like

figure in American culture, expressing the dominance of the Disney brand name in society and
the influence it has as a company based on consumerism. English presents the idea of this
crucifixion on a credit card to hint at the importance of the credit card in American society,
revealing it as a symbol that represents consumerists much like the cross represents religion in
Christianity or Catholicism specifically. In many of Englishs pieces he combines the use of
religion and consumerism much like he has in American Depress because he finds them to be so
similar. In an interview done between Ron English and Pricilla Frank for the Huffington Post,
English expresses his opinion towards religion, capitalism, and consumerism with a distinct
comparison of McDonalds and the Catholic Church:

[Ron English] Consumerism and religion are similar manifestations of ego and
the desire to dominate in partnership with the need to be dominated as a rite of
passage towards tribal acceptance. The Catholic Church is a franchise no different
than McDonalds if you overlook the churchs exemption from tax rolls and

McDonalds sacrifice of cattle. Religious affiliation, brand loyalty, nationalism,

political partnership, all the same side of a two-headed coin. The art world is also
tribal. Ever seen a pop surrealist and a minimalist having a beer together? Me
either.7

Ron English also expresses this in his recreation of his own interpretation of the famous
painting titled The Last Supper in which he replaces the previously sat guests with cartoon
characters from common brands and television shows as well as a cartoon interpretation of Jesus
sitting between Bugs Bunny and Bart Simpson (to the right of MC Supersized, Captain Crunch,
and Daffy Duck among other characters) with a satirical image in the background that reads
McDonalds Hamburgers: Over One Billion Saved. In this particular artwork, English is
satirically emphasizing the praise given to fast food companies like McDonalds and he presents
an obese Ronald McDonald at the center of the table rather than Jesus, who is looking towards
the direction of Ronald McDonald from a few seats down near the end of the table. In addition to
The Last Supper, Ron English has done many interpretations of other artworks some of which
where the portraits of Marilyn Monroe originally done by Andy Warhol and of Guernica, an
artwork originally done by Salvador Dali.8 English uses his own previously created characters
and in some cases he will mix them with the items from the previous artworks in order to make
the artwork an original piece as well as to express the theme of the original artworks in his own
art.
7 Frank, Priscilla. "HuffPost Arts Interviews Ron English." The Huffington Post. The Huffington

Post, 12 Mar. 2012. Web. 29 July 2013.

English, Ron. Popaganda: The Art & Subversion of Ron English. San Francisco, CA: Last
Gasp of San Francisco, 2004. Print.
8

(MC Supersized: Last Supper. Ron English, paint on canvas)

However, The Last Supper is one of the many artworks in Ron Englishs portfolio that
presents one of his most profound pieces of anti-consumeristic art was created. This character
has become one of the worlds most frequently referenced anti-consumeristic art pieces over the
last decade and is often used as a satirical piece of work that suggests that the cause of obesity is
the consumerists desire for fast food.

(MC Supersized. Ron English, paint on canvas)

The artwork MC Supersized was and still is one of Ron Englishs most famous artworks. His
obese version of Ronald McDonald which he named MC Supersized plays a role as an
oxymoronic people-pleaser. Ron English had created MC Supersized for a poster requested by

Morgan Spurlock to promote his fast food documentary Supersize Me at the Sundance Film
Festival.9 When Spurlock viewed the poster, he had formulated this opinion of the character:
His big round face frozen in a jolly and all knowing smile, much like a
Buddha, with a Ying/Yang dollar sign necklace around his neck as if to say
of course I have a split personality, I love your money and Ill give you
what you want but do you really want it?10
With the creation of MC Supersized being one of Ron Englishs major successes, the
public and the companies he has chosen to target have given him the title of an anti-consumerist.
There have even been a few occasions in the last 10 years where the followers of Ron English
have helped him promote his artworks and his anti-consumeristic ideas by becoming a part of his
message. As an example, there was a McDonalds demonstration in New York in 2005 that was
created by Ron English during one of his billboard liberations in which English had created an
animatronic Ronald McDonald and an animatronic consumer which he placed on the ledge of the
billboard.11 During the demonstration, his supporters dressed up as Ronald McDonald imitators
and bowed down to the billboard and the animatronics as the Ronald McDonald animatronic
motioned to shove a hamburger in the mouth of the consumer.12

9 Supersize Me. Dir. Morgan Spurlock. Cameo, 2005. Documentary.

10 Ron English and Morgan Spurlock. Abject Expressionism. San Francisco, CA: Last Gasp,

2007. Print.
11 Popaganda: The Art and Crimes of Ron English. Dir. Pedro Carvajal. Journeyman

Productions, 2005. Documentary.

12 Ron English. Abject Expressionism. (Page 53)

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(Photographed in New York by Scott Beale)

Although he generally uses Joe Camel, Mickey Mouse, and Ronald McDonald as his
most common consumeristic influences, English is also well known for his artistic use of KISS,
cows in a feminine perspective, Elvis, harlequins, Jesus Christ, frequently advertised cigarette
companies, child soldiers, cereal brands, Cartoon Network characters, and even the Peanuts.

(Grin. Ron English, paint on canvas.)

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Ron Englishs purpose behind the artwork Grin was to reveal the tactics of advertising
and how circus fliers are presented using these tactics. When he created this artwork, he used
vibrant colors and movement around the frame of the head to indicate emphasis on the head and
skull portion of the artwork. This is done because of its importance to the artwork; the face and
the outer features are painted with a juxtaposition of vibrant colors, shapes and gore with contrast
and detail hiding the inner skull, but the skull becomes more visible the more the mouth of
Charlie Brown opens, much like advertisements. Within the advertisements, they overlay
positive information and hypes to attract consumers but underneath lies all the negatives and the
possible effects that the product can have on your body that the company refuses to mention in
anything other than fine print. This is the reason that Ron English has won every lawsuit that has
been pursued against him, like the multiple Joe Camel and McDonalds lawsuits between 1980
and 2004. The companies and large franchises he offends or negatively portrays know they have
negative effects on society, but they prefer to keep it hidden. Ron English on the other hand
chooses to do the opposite and bring it all out into the open for the consumer to see in fairly large
print. Billboard-sized font to be exact.
He uses his works to promote his own opinion of the corporate message and how
through its misleading advertisements and the continuously changing methods of drawing in
society, it is okay not to trust everything said in advertisements and billboards. He promotes the
idea that the advertisements you see as consumers are not generally looking for your best
interest, but are looking for your money and your loyalty to their brand. His lifestyle and the
cultural ties he presents within his artworks presents his personality to the art critics and the
brand names that he criticizes, not only giving him a sense of power over the opinions of the
public, but also making him almost untouchable by the companies that attempt to fight against

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his artworks and his opinions.

After becoming familiar with the artworks English creates and reading the interviews he
has with magazines and columnists, it becomes clear that not only does Ron English lead society
to steer clear of consumeristic propaganda, but Ron English in his entirety IS the exemplification
of anti-consumeristic propaganda. And his artworks, from the perspective of society today, are
major contributors to the unveiling of the preoccupations presented by consumer goods.