Culture Jamming

Culture Jamming: Whirl Mart


So to be honest I had no idea what exactly culture jamming was, and so I did a bit of research I found it is actually many things and can be defined many ways.


I have selected a culture jamming example known as “Whirl Mart”. The “Whirl Mart” ritual was created in 2001 in response to Adbusters magazine’s call for foolish action on the first day of April (fools day). What started as a very small act in Troy, New York, has spread worldwide. Whirl Mart is a culture jamming ritual targeted towards big box stores such as Wal-mart, K-mart, or Zellers. Those who participate in this ritual define it as an art or action. The participants gather at the superstore, and slowly/silently push empty shopping carts throughout the store. The participants will not purchase any items in the store, and often will attempt to get others in the store to do the same.

Those who engage in this activity claim their actions are “a collective reclamation of space that is otherwise only used for buying and selling”.Those involved are advised to not describe their actions as a protest. They simply wish to spread knowledge about consumption awareness, and want to look around to see if they want to actually do any shopping. Since this is a non-violent form of protesting, there is not much these mega stores can do. They are not harming anyone, but do occasionally get asked to leave. Police have shown up once, and only formally warned them, but this was seen as a good thing to the “whirlers” as it only strengthened their performance. Whirler’s main goal is to utilize strategies of occupation and reclamation of consumer-dominated space for the purpose of displaying a meaningful spectacle.

It would not surprise me if I heard of any of these acts happening in Guelph, primarily at the Guelph Wal-Mart. I say this because activists in the region fought long and hard for the city to not allow a Wal-Mart to be located in Guelph. After over a decade of being able to resist the stores entry in the community, the battle was finally lost. This is why I would not be surprised if the Guelph Wal-Mart deals with “whirlers” from time to time.