FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 27, 2010
San Francisco

The Billboard Liberation Front (BLF) is honored to announce a new marketing partnership with Philip Morris (PM) that finally brings together the rugged sense of American independence with your most important choice as a consumer: your death. The message of “My Life. My Death. My Choice.” informs and empowers the consumer to choose, as their god given right, how they want to die. Philip Morris brings this message to the consumer to remind them that some rights are inalienable in life as they are in death.

“We’ve always said that the only two things in life that are unavoidable are death and taxes,” commented Michael E. Szymanczyk, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Philip Morris. “This campaign drives home that message where, if you are gonna die, might as well do it on your terms. Just like our Marlboro Men did.” According to Patrick B. Smelt, Chief of Marketing, “This bold message of independence and demanding life and death on your terms fits with the current zeitgeist of anti-establishmentarianism and post-post-modern rage at the repressive state demanding a healthier you and your environment.”

The BLF was honored to accept this exciting challenge. “We have no comment on President Obama’s health care reform, but many consumer of Philip Morris’s products do. We felt that this campaign picks up on a widespread rage that some nameless, faceless bureaucrat might give them cheaper health care, preventative treatment, and maybe deny them the sweet release we are all seeking,” said Rico T. Spoons, BLF Director of Offense as he idly drew a razorblade across his wrists. “This oppressive political climate and fascist approach towards health raises the comforting question of ‘how will you end it all?’ I like to think that we are just giving some poor folks a reminder that Philip Morris will always be there to help kill you.”

All former Marlboro Men, Wayne McLaren, David McLean and Dick Hammer, were unavailable for comment due to their rugged, manly choice of death by lung cancer.

The improvement can be viewed on Howard at Van Ness.

Jack Napier and Milton Rand Kalman of the Billboard Liberation Front will speak at the DeYoung Museum in as part of their Mission Muralismo series on May 7th.

Cultural Encounters: Friday Nights at the de Young presents “Mission Muralismo” in partnership with Precita Eyes Muralists

WHAT: Street Art San Francisco: Mission Muralismo series presents “Directional Signals: Pranksters and Preachers, Paste and Stencil” featuring talks by Rigo, and John Jota Leaños. Also, Jack Napier, BLF co-founder, and Milton Rand, Kalman BLF chief scientist, will give a presentation titled “The Art and Science of Billboard Improvement,” plus stencil cutting demonstration by Russell Howze author of Stencil Nation: Graffiti, Community and Art.

WHEN: Friday, May 7, 6–8:45 pm
Live music in Wilsey Court: Marcus Shelby Quartet featuring vocalist Faye Carol performing the MLK project, 6:30-8:30 pm

WHERE: de Young Museum, Golden Gate Park

COST: Programs are free of charge

On Friday, May 7, the de Young Museum presents another dynamic program, luminous projections, and book signing in the ongoing series Mission Muralismo, in conjunction with the recently published book Street Art San Francisco: Mission Muralismo, edited by Annice Jacoby for Precita Eyes Muralists, foreword by Carlos Santana (Abrams, 2009). The evening focuses on the talent and passionate work of major contributors to the book: Rigo, John Jota Leaños, Russell Howze, Jack Napier Billboard Liberation Front (BLF) co-founder, and Milton Rand Kalman BLF chief scientist

The lecture/demonstration program will take place in the lobby of the Koret Auditorium starting at 6:45 pm with Russell Howze demonstrating stencil cutting and the process of working a stencil from start to finish. Visitors will have an opportunity to see completed stencils and work at his stencil station until 7:15 pm. Projections of Howze’s work will be shown in the Koret Auditorium.

Cultural Encounters: Friday Nights at the de Young presents Street Art San Francisco: Mission Muralismo, in partnership with Precita Eyes Muralists

5:30 PM – 8:45 PM
November 6, 2009

The de Young Museum hosts a year-long series celebrating the just-released Street Art San Francisco: Mission Muralismo (Abrams, 2009), edited by Annice Jacoby, with a foreword by Carlos Santana, as part of the museum’s weekly program Cultural Encounters: Friday Nights at the de Young.

This series celebrates one of San Francisco’s greatest assets—the Mission District arts community, a rising star on the global art map. Both cutting-edge and traditional street artists will offer lectures and performances sharing their art, insights, musings, experiences, and perspectives.

These programs are offered FREE of charge in the free zone of the museum. For more information, visit www.missionmuralismo.com.

BLF conhorts Ehrich Weisz and Jack Napier will be on hand to sign books and ask questions!

The Billboard Liberation Front will be making an academic appearance at UC Berkeley’s Art Museum for Takeovers and Makeovers. The talk at 2:15 on Saturday the 8th, will feature founder Jack Napier, Chief Scientist Milton Rand Kalman and Ehrich Weiss, Chief Disinformation Architect. As long as there are no questions about the Situationists and no one ask what we really think of AdBusters magazine, everything should go smooth.

“Ever since the cable guy came to fix my box, I keep hearing a clicking sound on my phone. Since when does cable repairmen wear dark suits and sunglasses? I think this would be a good time to get the hell out of Dodge.”, noted BLF spokesperson Blank DeCoverly.

Some of the BLF members simply wanted to get away from the constant praise and adulations from government officials over the high-visibility of the ad campaign.

“I have 10 missed calls from Linda Tripp. She must be a huge fan.”, stated BLF Chief Scientist Milton Rand Kalman

In order to get away from the media attention and stardom the Billboard Liberation Front is heading to Ghent, Belgium to speak at Vooruit’s The Game is Up art conference on March 8th, also attending is our spiritual leader Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping.

For an eleven-day period, Vooruit will offer a platform to artists who study the relationship between art and consumerism. From performers questioning their attitude towards show business to musicians committing commercial suicide and media artists embracing market principles.

When asked if speaking at an art conference in the middle of Belgium was the best response to the Current Situation, the BLF’s Ehrich Weiss replied.

If we’re not careful, our group’s reputation as a haven for subversive geniuses is going to be publicly overtaken by the reality that all we are is extremely creative alcoholics. Do you really want the truth to come out?

For a billboard liberator, sometimes that one great billboard comes along once every 10 years…that just cries out help. This is one such billboard. A Holy Grail of billboards. Even the back story is inspirational; A church in Tampa, FL has issued a 30-day sex challenge: If you’re married, have sex every day. If you’re not married, don’t have sex at all.

YBOR CITY, Florida (AP) — A southwest Florida church issued a challenge for its married members: Hanky panky every day.
Relevant Church head pastor Paul Wirth issued the 30-day sex challenge to take on high divorce rates. “And that’s no different for people who attend church,” Wirth said Sunday. “Sometimes life gets in the way. Our jobs get in the way.” The challenge doesn’t extend to unwed congregants, however.

Married folks get thirty days of ‘Hanky-Panky’ (I prefer the term ‘crime scene investigation’), and month-long ‘Wanky-Panky’ for the single folks.

If any of our readers are in Florida, please do us proud.

Photo and communique follows

Hi mates,
The COPE is the Catholic Church Official Radio Station. As we have a progressive government, they try to remark their freedom of speech with billboards which say ‘SOMOS LIBRES’ (english ‘WE ARE FREE’). These billboards are specially offensive for those that are being attacked publicly (thru radio waves) for deffending Muslims’ rights or methods of birth control such as condoms. So some members of the recently founded Iniciativa Illuminati decided to liberate this particular bill (Industry Street, Avilés, Asturias, Spain) by simply drawing, cutting out, sticking and varnish grey cards (letters) to it. We added ‘vosotros no’ (english ‘you aren’t'). So now you can read:

WE ARE FREE
you aren’t COPE

My name is M. DeRosi, Illuminati Initiative spokesman

Emphasis ours, blinding gall theirs.

International Design Firm IDEO (www.ideo.com) is conducting an UNFOCUS group on COMMUNICATION in our Palo Alto location on Wednesday August 15th from 6:00-9:30pm. You will be compensated for your time with yummy dinner plus $100.

YOU ARE:
* You use new media for social change.
* You organize Smart Mobs
* You are a politically subversive or artistic grassroots organizer.
* You are an artist who does public space media events that are confusing or inspirational (street theater… Dada…)
* You are from the Bilboard Liberation Front
* You are a TV show super-fanatic! Your life revolves around a particular TV show. You have every episode AND you also watch it on your laptop, iPod, or TV depending.
* You are an extreme soap opera fan, Buffy maniac, or SciFi fanatic! You go to conventions in support of this lifestyle you also participate in on-line forums about them too!
* You are a Hyper-Wired person – You talk on phone while texting somebody else all the time.
* You are College Student who is a Hyper-Wired person!
* You run a LARGE online community ˆ mega blogger/myspace/freindster type. You have tons of friends online BUT you also have friends that you meet with in person as well
* You are an Ambulance driver or ER Doctor ˆ communication and technology are key
* You are a mom with the latest technology. Your family embraces technology to the extreme.

If interested please take a few minutes to fill out the below survey and send to {redacted}@ideo.com:
(all information will be confidential) {uh..sure -Ed}
Name:
Age:
Ethnicity:
Phone:
Cell Phone:
Address/Location:
Level of Education:
Married/Live-In/Single/Divorced:
Number of Children and Ages:
Do your children live with you?
Occupation:
Job Title:
Describe in DETAIL how you fit into the criteria above?
Can you make it to Palo Alto by 6pm on Wednesday the 15th?

Feel free to forward this to folks you know who might be a good fit for our unfocus group!
Thank you for your time,
[redacted to save you from yourself]

So of course I replied:

YOU ARE:
* Out of your fucking mind.

Most of us are in Marketing, you think I want to trek down to the Peninsula so I can sit in on the same meeting I was nodding off at around 3pm for $100 and pasta salad? If you need someone to tell your clients what the kids nowadays are calling ‘hip’, I suggest AdBusters Magazine. Its run by Media Studies hacks and design student interns who dream of running to a comfy agency job the minute the bill from Miami Ad School comes.

covertly yours,
Milton Rand Kalman
BLF Chief Scientist

Billboard Liberation Front’s Chief Scientist Milton Rand Kalman spent a half-hour at Artist Television Access being interviewed on Neighborhood Public Radio. Listen to the Milton talk about culture jamming, history of the BLF, Pirate Cat Radio taunting Live105, and what it takes to improve a billboard here {mp3}.

Update: Neighborhood Public Radio needs donations to keep going. Click to make a donation and chip in $10

So come on down to ATA at 992 Valencia Street in SF, learn the secret BLF handshake and watch the interview. Q&A session with BLF Founder and Chair Emeritus, Jack Napier and Chief Scientist, Milton Rand Kalman to follow after movie.