gistfile1.txt

“People are taking the piss out of you everyday. They butt into your life, take a
cheap shot at you and then disappear. They leer at you from tall buildings and make
you feel small. They make flippant comments from buses that imply you’re not sexy enough
and that all the fun is happening somewhere else. They are on TV making your girlfriend
feel inadequate. They have access to the most sophisticated technology the world has
ever seen and they bully you with it. They are The Advertisers and they are laughing at
you. You, however, are forbidden to touch them. Trademarks, intellectual property rights
and copyright law mean advertisers can say what they like wherever they like with total impunity.

Fuck that. Any advert in a public space that gives you no choice whether you see it or not is
yours. It’s yours to take, re-arrange and re-use. You can do whatever you like with it. Asking
for permission is like asking to keep a rock someone just threw at your head.

You owe the companies nothing. Less than nothing, you especially don’t owe them any courtesy.
They owe you. They have re-arranged the world to put themselves in front of you. They never asked
for your permission, don’t even start asking for theirs.”