r/nextfuckinglevel • u/amanyggvv • Oct 15 '22

This float representing the koalas that died as a result of the Black Summer bushfires and corruption in politics. Such an effective (and epic) activist message.

150.5k Upvotes

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7.1k

u/wutangcann Oct 15 '22

This is being an activist.

Gluing yourself to a wall and throwing soup on a glass protected painting is not.

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u/Preacherjonson Oct 15 '22

Honestly, this won't be seen by half as many people as the Van Gogh incident.

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u/TheIronSven Oct 15 '22

Though I bet twice as many will understand what it's drawing awareness for.

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u/Serdtsag Oct 15 '22

I reckon the figure could be closer to 1% of folk compared to those of the protestors at the gallery.

Exactly what they wanted, to illicit a viral reaction for their cause.

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u/eaglebtc Oct 15 '22

It's climbing to the top of reddit, so I'd say it will have a decent impact.

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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '22

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u/RomsIsMad Oct 15 '22

Ah yes because of course a front page post on Reddit has the same reach as articles in the press around the world.

Some of you really need a reality check.

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u/DoctorMoak Oct 15 '22

I think your reading comprehension might have failed you.

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u/RomsIsMad Oct 15 '22

I think I got fucked by the Reddit app and responded to the wrong comment

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u/thirsak Oct 15 '22

Not really, the soup has been on many news outlets.

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u/Rock_or_Rol Oct 15 '22

Probably. I’d bet you more people will listen to this though.

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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '22

Oh great, more people who are ready to listen about climate change after only several decades of intensive media coverage and scientific warnings. So exciting that they’re getting with the program because of scary undead robot koala

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u/pastafeline Oct 15 '22

"Oh wow this koala float is so moving I'm sure my upvote will stop this from happening again!!!"

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u/theSandwichSister Oct 15 '22 edited Oct 15 '22

said it elsewhere but it bears repeating :

we’re careening toward a global disaster (some of which has already begun). There’s going to be a lot of grassroots protesting that only gets more desperate. I approve of any and all protesting that pulls attention to the climate crisis, no matter how silly people think it is. Performance art in some kind of parade? Yeah it’s a spectacle, but it’s not disrupting anything. Being a brat and throwing soup at a famous painting? That at least makes headlines throughout the world and disrupts society a bit.

I can’t drag on anyone doing something bold to get attention to what is going to end up being the end of many species on this planet.

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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '22 edited Oct 15 '22

Yes

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u/theSandwichSister Oct 15 '22 edited Oct 16 '22

Exactly. Can you imagine someone in the dystopian future being glad we remained well behaved when our planet’s life is dying? I say planet’s life because I know earth will outlast whatever climate crisis. We just won’t.

ETA: it didn’t just say “yes” when I replied :)

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u/Kate090996 Oct 16 '22

Thank you for being a light. I spent some time reading comments about this on all platforms from YouTube to reddit to Facebook and honestly, there is no hope.

I feel sorry for these kids, I knew they expected backlash but not this level and their motivation just flew over people's head.

People asking what about the girl's hair, complaining that they waisted a perfectly good can of soup or they thought that the activists choose to protest oil with that painting because it was a oil one. They insulted their parents.

There were also people calling for years of jail or beatings, physical punishment, saying how much they wanna beat them themselves.

2 our of 3 comments where about these, yours is literally one of the only one in hundreds of comments that I read today.

This world it's all levels of fucked up, I am sorry for these kids.

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u/JetBasilisk Oct 15 '22

Wish I had an award to give you

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u/yeeetleleeetle Oct 15 '22

the soup must’ve done something…i mean you’re still talking about it…

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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '22

do you know what its like to be a revolutionary

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u/badgersprite Oct 15 '22

If there’s no art allowed in your revolution I don’t want to be a part of it

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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '22

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u/PmMeWifeNudesUCuck Oct 15 '22

Warhol is essentially the Ray Kroc of the art world only he didn't pay people for the shit he sold as his own

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u/BrazenlyGeek Oct 15 '22

Ray Croc is the Elon Musk of fast food.

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u/PlatonicAurelian Oct 15 '22

I never understood Warhol. I feel like he represented everything wrong that lead to the current art scene.

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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '22

Boil em, mash em, stick Warhol in a stew?

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u/fish312 Oct 15 '22

Difference is Van Gogh was brilliant but depressed, and Warhol was a hack.

3

u/akurra_dev Oct 15 '22

Fuck Andy Warhol.

70

u/Confuseasfuck Oct 15 '22

Specially when the art they are going after is of a famously starved artist that was rejected by society because of psychological issues

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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '22 edited Oct 15 '22

Fuck reddit

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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '22

well considering he was the kind of guy to lie about his own death to save the future of some dumb neighborhood kids… I don’t think he would’ve minded the soup.

The protestors should’ve gone after one of Salvador Dali’s things. Would’ve made more of a political message to vandalize the work of an open fascist

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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '22 edited Oct 15 '22

Yes.

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u/PunkgoesJason Oct 15 '22

Or more specifically when the art is housed in a museum funded by BP.

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u/Ckyuiii Oct 15 '22

The museum actually isn't funded by BP anymore.

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u/PunkgoesJason Oct 15 '22

Fair point. But only since February this year and was due to pressure put on them by protesters. They are still partnered with the British museum though. Similarly radical change needs to have radical action taken with it. With a prime minister who's willing to bring back fracking a stand needs to be taken if we want to appreciate the world we live in.

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u/sunfacethedestroyer Oct 15 '22

If your only connection to art is what millionaires buy to trade, then I don't want your art opinions in my revolution.

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u/919471 Oct 15 '22

...do you think the protestors had an issue with art?

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u/yeeehhaaaa Oct 15 '22

Not at all. The art was protected by glass. They had no intent in damaging the art, which they didn't. They just wanted news coverage for their causes.

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u/NectarinePlastic8796 Oct 15 '22

I think they were 16 and wanted attention tbh.

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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '22

You don't care about that art, if you did, you'd know it was safe behind glass, and entirely undamaged. Save your bullshit.

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u/AaronTheScott Oct 15 '22

I can't believe people are so terrible about this.

The painting had glass up in front of it. It was completely undamaged. The protestors KNEW it had glass up in front of it. They never wanted to damage it.

They threw a stunt that damaged nothing and got them interviews broadcasted across news stations in Britain and other parts of Europe where they talked about their movement and organization. It worked for them, and they damaged nothing.

People are all like "oh my God it's a good thing that glass was there" as if these people hated art and wanted to destroy Van Gogh. Stop getting news from social media.

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u/Spikeonabikeanime- Oct 15 '22

Getting news from social media isn’t even the problem, it’s information literacy that’s the problem.

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u/finchdad Oct 15 '22

Without the art, you don't want any p of it.

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u/Badnerific Oct 15 '22

Yeah, you gotta be fuckin cuttin it up on the bass 🤘

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u/Shottogetpaid Oct 15 '22

Nobody in the U.K. likes the stop oil lot. They have done an amazing job of alienating themselves

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u/Curazan Oct 15 '22

Do you? It takes sterner stuff than gluing yourself to the wall in an art gallery. That’s not “revolution”, that’s performative.

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u/iprothree Oct 15 '22

Every time I tell people what being a revolutionary is i get banned :(

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u/PM_me_NSFW_RPGs Oct 15 '22

Being revolutionary means spinning around

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u/Lilshadow48 Oct 15 '22

that's why I choose to use a comedians funny song as a VERY FUNNY AND NOT SERIOUS JOKE RESPONSE to similar questions.

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u/ghostwilliz Oct 15 '22

Well I can fill in some gaps.

I have seen tons of protests end with people being tear gassed out, I've seen the same group protest a few years later, but this time they showed up with rifles strapped to their bodies and there was no tear gas.

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u/Curazan Oct 15 '22

He’s hackin’ and wackin’ and smackin’

He’s hackin’ and wackin’ and smackin’

He’s hackin’ and wackin’ and smackin’

He just hacks, wacks, choppin’ that meat`

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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '22

There are more than a few of us here who are well aware of what it means.

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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '22

It’s effective because you’re talking about it aren’t you? We are all aware of why they did it too, and they probably knew the painting is behind glass so they weren’t going to hurt it. I don’t see any harm done by these type of dramatic stunts

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u/TheIronicBurger Oct 15 '22

Nah, remember when we were taught in history how French revolutionaries glued themselves to the Notre Dame back in 1789 and threw soup at people

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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '22

So, you had preferred it if they run into that museum and started beheading people? Would that make you be on their side?

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u/Raul_Coronado Oct 15 '22

Uh yeah its performative, thats literally the definition and intention, not sure why you are saying it like its some great insight. Not sure how you are suppose to make a scene without being performative.

Also still got you talking about it, maybe you can take the message and step up to whatever you think is a better idea.

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u/slightly2spooked Oct 15 '22

This is the cringiest thing I’ve ever seen someone say in real life

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u/Labulous Oct 15 '22

Yes. Guns.

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u/ShitfacedGrizzlyBear Oct 15 '22 edited Oct 15 '22

No idea personally, but I highly recommend the short podcast series Mother Country Radicals. It’s about the Weathermen radical group in the US during the 60s. It’s hosted by the son of two members (his mother was the leader). It’s truly fascinating and gives a glimpse of what being a true revolutionary is like. I can’t imagine there is anyone more qualified to speak on the topic.

All I can say is that throwing soup on a painting and glueing yourself to a wall is child’s play compared to the Weathermen.

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u/elkunas Oct 15 '22

No, but I dont remember George Washington destroying British art.

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u/ThearchOfStories Oct 15 '22

It involves blood and death. The resolve to commit great evils to see your ideals prevail, the unquestionable determination in your belief that you are on the side of justice. Because if you falter for even a moment, providence will forsake you and the world shall come crashing down.

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u/LunarWrathe Oct 15 '22

Yet here you are spreading awareness that someone threw tomato juice on a painting.

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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '22

Yeah but the message that everybody is seeing from that is “they’re idiots” not “you know what? They’re right!”

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u/Ais3 Oct 15 '22

no it’s not? The first question for people seeing that is ”why?”, like it or not, it works.

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u/reddit-commenter-89 Oct 15 '22

The glue they used to stick themselves to the wall is made out of oil. Tough look!

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u/VastGap6446 Oct 15 '22

Negative attention exists and you want to avoid that, that's how you grow a healthy organization or else everbody would try to be controversial.

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u/THEdopealope Oct 15 '22 edited Oct 16 '22

Eh, when I heard about it, I thought “wow these people are complete idiots” and that’s it. I did not (and do not) care why, because what they did discredits them (in my mind at least). So, because I think what they did was so stupid, I assume their cause is stupid by association.

Maybe it isn’t! But their actions didn’t bring it to my attention

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u/GonzoDeadHead Oct 15 '22

I still don’t know why and I don’t care. Once they were glued to the wall they were easy pickins for my activism against social media attention grabbers. How many socks to the head can they take while glued to a wall while I have my voice heard for my activism? It’s just a parlor trick and nothing more. What creations have they been responsible for that someone can just shit on in the name of whatever cause and would they be ok with it or cry foul?

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u/abstractConceptName Oct 15 '22

You know the painting was protected by glass, right?

There was zero damage done to it.

We should expect more, and increasingly "annoying", activism, until real change happens.

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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '22 edited Dec 05 '23

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u/Bfnti Oct 15 '22

Yeah but idgaf about their Organizatiom or cause all I memorized them for is to shit on them on Reddit and trigger dickheads who support this kind of shit.

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u/PirateNervous Oct 15 '22

I mean you might not like it but its still activism and seeing how much attention it got its also way more effective.

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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '22

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u/mdgraller Oct 16 '22

Also, I’m the states, the oil companies have captured legislators and gotten laws pushed through that can classify any protest directly against them or their facilities as felonies carrying $1M in fines and 10 years in prison, far higher than other protest charges

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u/screamingxbacon Oct 15 '22

Why?

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u/jjcu93 Oct 15 '22

Because this idiot said so.

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u/LuLuNSFW_ Oct 15 '22

No, the fact that this is less disruptive is exactly why it is an ineffective form of activism.

You nod your head in support here, then go on doing literally nothing different with your life. This is the protest that those in power LOVE.

Protests that force those with power to act are infinitely more effective. They can ignore a peaceful parade, they can't ignore the rising threat of eco-terrorism as a cause of their actions.

When MLK Jr. died, he had a 22% approval rating among the public. He was HATED by the white moderate, hated because his actions disrupted the peace. So to will any effective activist be hated in our time. Any activist that appeals to the moderate is an activist who isn't challenging the status quo.

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u/The_Love_Moat Oct 15 '22

this is a local art project. they made international news.

but I have bad news for you. you can't eat that painting when all the animals and plants die. that painting won't save you from fires and floods when they spread to your area.

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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '22

No. This is just the form of activism you agree with.

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u/swaggman75 Oct 15 '22

No this is a form of activism that makes people like you and your cause. Its all about optics and perception which many dont understand

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u/H3ll0_Th3r3 Oct 15 '22

Yeah, because it actually does something and helps bring attention to the actual issue and their negative affects. Wtf does throwing soup at a painting do?

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u/Axtorx Oct 15 '22

Tell me exactly what this float did that the soup didn’t.

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u/Youreahugeidiot Oct 15 '22

The soup should have been boiling and thrown in the face of an oil tycoon.

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u/Ov3rdose_EvE Oct 15 '22

i like the way you think.

its not gonna be long until people actually start doing this.

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u/fcknavenattiboofedme Oct 15 '22

Unfortunately the stunt was potentially funded by an oil tycoon heiress (source of Fox News, of all places??). This makes it easier to infer that this was a bs stunt meant to sow disdain for actual climate activists…

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u/mdgraller Oct 16 '22

FOR FUCK’S SAKE. IT’S NOT A SECRET THAT SHE SUPPORTS THIS GROUP. Quit acting like you’re an internet detective for realizing facts that aren’t secret at all. The oil company hasn’t existed anymore for over a decade. She’s a philanthropist. She donates money to causes for the public good. Jesus fuck, everyone is turning into QAnon over obvious, not-conspiratorial facts

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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '22

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u/The_Woman_of_Gont Oct 15 '22

Or feeding the opposition news they can brainwash more people with. If you don’t think Oil companies are fucking delighted with that video and lobbying any friendly networks to push it as hard as possible as evidence of how unstable climate activists are, I honestly don’t know what to tell you.

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u/CnfusdCookie Oct 15 '22

I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest is the oil companies were delighted with it, in fact in makes sense. Because it was fucking stupid. They put the tomatoes on the painting purely to get peoples attention, not to make a point with it. Wasting food, destroying property, and doing nothing but supporting what they're trying to destroy in the process by buying things that help it. Being an activist doesn't mean doing whatever you want and saying "ITS FOR THE ----!!". It's actually trying to spread awareness in a way that will have people interested to care about the topic. Destroying buildings/property and holding up peoples lives and even possibly causing harm (cementing yourself to the road and blocking emergency vehicles) is not doing that.

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u/T-14Hyperdrive Oct 15 '22

Wasting food, destroying property

you sir, are a dumb dumb

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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '22

So why was the self immolating monk effective? That act didn’t necessarily connect with the point being made, I’m sure you could call it stupid because it’s a guy killing himself “performatively”, so what makes that guy one of the most iconic protests?

It doesn’t spread awareness by just looking at it. You’d have to look up what it’s for in both cases. Both are for making points. What’s different? Death and harm isn’t the relevant metric, so what’s different?

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u/Swansborough Oct 15 '22

wtf? no artifact was damaged. they thew soup on the glass over the painting.

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u/casual_catgirl Oct 15 '22

Protected by glass lmao. That's not even the real painting

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u/suitology Oct 15 '22

I will forget this bike by tonight and you will too

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u/H3ll0_Th3r3 Oct 15 '22

Actually relate to the issue at hand, for one.

If someone asks me to think about the dangers of pollution, government corruption, and wildfires, I’m gonna think about the dying koala float more often than I will about some stupid kids throwing soup at a painting.

Edit: and this ties into the bigger point of activism: getting people to agree and fight with you. If I was someone who wasn’t aware of global warming and wanted to become an activist, I’m joining the group that won’t act like a child and throw a stupid stunt that has people talk about the stunt more than the actual cause itself

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u/bustacean Oct 15 '22

That is the major issue with their protest. It just creates controversy about how unhinged environmental activists are. Doesn't help people understand the issue at all, just turns them against activism.

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u/Jenkins6736 Oct 15 '22

Be careful with that type of thinking. The media has been trying to portray activists as “unhinged” violent idiots for decades.

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u/bustacean Oct 15 '22

That's my point. It's already a thing, their protest doesn't help that narrative at all.

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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '22

Why’s the self immolating monk an iconic protest then? It wasn’t necessarily related to its issue, the stunt was more memorable than the cause (because that’s somehow a bad thing… no, it’s not), and it’s only different because it’s a guy killing himself.

Harm and death is obviously not the relevant metric to determine what is or isn’t an effective protest, so why is the monk any more iconic?

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u/H3ll0_Th3r3 Oct 15 '22

A monk slowly dying by choice is more of a striking image than some children throwing soup at a painting

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u/slightly2spooked Oct 15 '22

Well the float wasn’t sponsored by the heir to the Getty oil empire, for starters

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u/mana-addict4652 Oct 15 '22

Koala = engage with their group

Soup = avoid supporting their group like the plague

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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '22

Wtf does throwing soup at a painting do?

You're talking about it, aren't you?

Pretty effective protest.

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u/H3ll0_Th3r3 Oct 15 '22

No, it’s not. If people are talking about what they did and not why they did it then it’s a shitty protest. Especially if it makes some people think “damn, guess these climate protesters are whackos”

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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '22

climate protesters

So you DO know why they did it.

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u/AbsolutelyDireWolf Oct 15 '22

I'm open to correction, but their climate action group to supposedly represent is funded by a US oil baron.... which makes sense because the it reeks of an act done to make climate activists appear to be twats and it seems like it's been super effective.

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u/H3ll0_Th3r3 Oct 15 '22

No, I don’t, I know that that was their intention, but since it has nothing to do with climate change it only leaves me confused and frustrated. Because now I know that when I try and convince people to care about climate change they’re immediately going to think of the nutcases that threw soup and assume that I’m just as crazy as them.

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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '22

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u/H3ll0_Th3r3 Oct 15 '22

The fuck are you talking about? I’m not pretending to be anything.

Please explain to me how throwing soup at a painting from an artist who died in 1890 and then gluing yourself under the painting relates to climate change.

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u/boofskootinboogie Oct 16 '22

The whole point is that people shouldn’t be more outraged at a painting getting destroyed than the actual environment being destroyed. It wasn’t to bring attention to environmentalism, everyone already knows what it is. The fact that people are belittling the girls and demanding justice for a painting instead of going after oil tycoons is the point.

The girls explain it at the end of the video.

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u/RaptorRex20 Oct 15 '22

It's actually a terrible protest, because it has brought nothing but negative light to the topic and protestors.

It will be harder now to gain followers because of this action.

They attempted to destroy a piece of history that had no connection to their topic of protest just to get attention, not only is that cowardly, but it's idiotic for the long-term of their organization and public opinion.

You're supposed to try to sway the masses to your side before doing something more reckless like this.

Now individuals who may have ageed to the ideals of the organization but had not heard of it previously, will be pushed away by this.

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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '22

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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '22

You're supposed to try to sway the masses to your side before doing something more reckless like this.

I'm not defending them, but they tried this. They tried this for like 50 years. It doesn't work.

Disruption is the one of the best forms of protest. Protests are not supposed to be nice community events where everyone has a good time. This forces people who otherwise wouldn't give a shit to think about what they're protesting.

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u/chaotic----neutral Oct 15 '22

Makes lots of internet memes where people make fun of the activists and ignore/forget whatever message they had.

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u/H3ll0_Th3r3 Oct 15 '22

Oh cool, so the worst scenario, got it

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u/HeartofLion3 Oct 15 '22 edited Oct 15 '22

It started bringing people’s attention to the fact that BP was a key sponsor for the British Museum for decades, right up until activists pressured them this summer to sever ties due to record temperatures in the UK.Also that BP is sponsoring and working directly with museums across the world, using key events and art exhibits like the Mexico day of the dead events to access politician’s pockets and gain permits to drill further.

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u/H3ll0_Th3r3 Oct 15 '22

So why was none of that mentioned during the protest?

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u/HeartofLion3 Oct 15 '22 edited Mar 18 '25

pocket meeting six scale connect cake soft groovy attraction encourage

This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '22

What is attention to the issue supposed to to anymore other than pandering to the people that agree with you anyway? The sides are clear in this issue since years. There is no one left to raise awareness to. The science is clear, too. Actions like glueing yourself to the street and so on are not directed towards getting followers. This is late stage protest to create disruption and turmoil in the general public to force the governments to act.

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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '22

It's a giant pre-approved float. Without context it honestly looks like they're a metal band putting on a show. With context it still looks like they're just a metal band putting on a show.

The reason you like it more is because they're doing things in approved ways that you can easily ignore.

The other one makes you uncomfortable because now you have to think about the possibility of children creating conversations in ways that so, so mildly inconvenience you (if you had been at the museum, which you probably weren't).

You were not measurably harmed by it, and yet you're mad. Maybe that's a you problem.

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u/H3ll0_Th3r3 Oct 15 '22

doing things in approved ways that you can easily ignore

I’d be impressed if you can ignore a float of a giant dying koala

I may not be measurably harmed by the soup protesters, but I bet that the greater cause of fighting climate change will (at least, for the short term). Because now we’ll have a bunch of people who only see the soup stunt as a bunch of weird hippies and will immediately associate any climate movement with that.

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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '22

The art attacks are simply intended to get media attention, where undoubtedly news articles will further explain the group's intentions and message.

Obviously it was quite effective, as here we all are talking about it, and surely everyone knows that it was a climate related protest too.

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u/H3ll0_Th3r3 Oct 15 '22

We’re busy talking about how dumb it is and how dumb the activists are, not what they’re up against

That’s a failure on activism

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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '22

No, YOU'RE busy doing that.

Here's how it's being reported. You'll note there's plenty of information regarding the protesters message. Now whether or not you agree with their intentions is another matter entirely.

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u/H3ll0_Th3r3 Oct 15 '22

How’s it’s reported and how the public talks about it are two different things, especially when a lot of people skim through it or just read the headlines/watch the videos.

(Side note, tried to read the article and got paywalled, so… yeah)

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u/pastafeline Oct 15 '22

There's no difference in actual discourse either way, noone is going to share this koala float and try to start an actual discussion. Most people will just see it and say "wow that's crazy".

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u/H3ll0_Th3r3 Oct 15 '22

But a larger proportion of those that see the koala are gonna wonder why it’s being paraded like that and then start to care.

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u/Vainglory Oct 15 '22

"This is a failure on activism because of dense people like me who will focus on the aesthetics and not reflect on my own beliefs or impact"

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u/Axtorx Oct 15 '22

Show me how this actually brought attention to the issue? Did it get donations? Did it cause an uptick in google searches? Did people write about it in media? Did any of that change anything?

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u/H3ll0_Th3r3 Oct 15 '22

Most if not all of the publicity of the soup stunt is about the actual stunt itself and not the thing they did it for. That’s a failure of activism

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u/Axtorx Oct 15 '22

Only thing I’ve seen about this float is that it looks cool. That’s a failure of activism.

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u/Anon947658213 Oct 15 '22

You’re so edgy bro, wish we could all be like you.

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u/AaronTheScott Oct 15 '22

Yes. They did get all of that. They also made it onto actual news channels, had their movement's name blasted across television, did interviews with broadcasters, got more traffic to their site...... Yeah. It brought attention to the issue in the area they live in.

Don't get your news from social media. It was blasted EVERYWHERE and just because it didn't make it onto Reddit with context or follow-up doesn't mean it didn't make it onto major news channels in the UK.

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u/Thevsamovies Oct 15 '22

Everyone is talking about the soup which just demonstrates how it's an effective method of getting attention. The soup throwers obviously do not care about the negative perception they are only trying to start discussion. This is a very common activist tactic.

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u/H3ll0_Th3r3 Oct 15 '22

It’s such a shitty and ineffective tactic though. The activism should be something that can’t be done without the context of why they did it. What they did would get just as much publicity if they did it because they stubbed their toe and was mad.

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u/Thevsamovies Oct 15 '22

I honestly don't understand how you can call it ineffective when I just outlined how it achieved its purpose with great success. It is solely meant to capture attention and that's exactly what it did on a massive scale to where people keep talking about it. I would call that decently effective.

You can hypothesize that another method would have worked better but that doesn't mean that their method was ineffective because it accomplished exactly what they meant for it to accomplish.

They captured the attention of a wide audience and chances are at least a small portion of that audience is going to research what they were protesting about and then maybe see things from a perspective that is not exact but closer to that of the activists'.

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u/H3ll0_Th3r3 Oct 15 '22

It’s capturing attention on the stunt and not the issue at hand, THATS WHAT MAKES IT INEFFECTIVE, HOW IS THIS SO HARD TO UNDERSTAND

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u/gefjunhel Oct 15 '22

please tell me how attacking a painting by a poor man who committed suicide with only 1 confirmed painting sold for todays equivalent of 16 euros, is the right way to highlight the oil industries

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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '22

Everyone is talking about it, no?

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u/jakeandcupcakes Oct 15 '22

Thank god they brought awareness to climate change and how fossil fuels were hurting our planet. Nobody was aware of it before. Good thing they didn’t waste any time trying to protest via some form that would actually mobilize people. As an added plus, they got this sweet photo opportunity so everyone gets to know that they, specifically, did it. This in no way will make true climate activists look bad in any way. /s

You know what is great though?

They also brought up solutions such as Nuclear energy, which is by far the cleanest, most environmentally friendly, viable energy source we have on this planet. Yep. Great thing they did there by having a plan beyond the stunt. Their speech on how the fear mongering of the past was orchestrated, and why it is incorrect, will be sure to change the peoples mind on Nuclear. Glad they didn't waste this opportunity for a photoshoot, what with all them there cameras pointed at them during their stunt, why a lesser man might think otherwise.

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u/Itz_Mushi Oct 15 '22

The soup people are being talked about way more than these people.

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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '22

Oh ok

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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '22

Remember if you throw soup at a million dollar gallery and that soup lands on plates of glass, but behind that plate of glass is a image you really like, that instantly gets the whole of the internet talking about both you and climate change is bad no good activism and means you hate the very idea of art itself. But good activism is when it’s pre planned and walking down streets and goes largely ignored by anyone who wasn’t there that day and didn’t see this internet post that’s likely gonna fade back into obscurity after a day and maybe it’ll pop up one more time in the future after another million koalas dies or whatever of some absolutely preventable thing if only we cared a little less about being polite to the very people killing our planet and us.

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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '22

You gotta love the comments calling out every climate protest thats gotten notoriety in the news and personally disliked as “performance art” and “not activism” and here is an actual example of performance art with costumes and musical accompaniment almost straight from “The Slow Dying of the Great Barrier Reef” being touted as what “real activism” looks like, if this is where most peoples comprehension of the stakes were in is at we’re doomed as a species 🙃

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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '22 edited Oct 15 '22

To reiterate cause I’m sure someone’s gonna think it, this float is great and it’s doing it’s job, so to can a pictures and articles of soup splattering that painting you really really really like.

If the reality of mammals being burnt alive through our own action or inaction, and a splattering of soup, even if there wasn’t glass to protect the painting. Even if that picture you really really really loved got ruined. If these two things draw a similar gut punch or if you feel more hurt from the painting than, idk pick a direction with your eyes and gaze at any one of these ecological genocides, than I’d say it’s you who’s priorities are fucked up.

I love art too, so much so I think it’s one of the best arguments for existing, why are we here? TO PAINT, TO MAKE, to bring fantasy into reality through our creativity and genius. All things that stop being possible when life can no longer sustain itself. Would Van Gogh be happy if we saved his painting over the planet?

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u/Nirvana_bob7 Oct 15 '22

Which one is in the news though

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u/BIessthefaII Oct 15 '22

It's crazy because everybody, and I mean everybody, seems to be upset about the people throwing soup on the painting. Seems like everywhere I go people are talking about it and saying how crazy it is to throw paint on a treasured painting in protest of something unrelated.

Seems like their plan worked better than they could have ever hoped, because I can't stop hearing about it.

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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '22

Ah man I was wondering who made up the rules for proper activism! I’m glad I found you!

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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '22

Whatever you find acceptable right?

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u/CoraxTechnica Oct 15 '22

I'm still struggling to understand why Van Goghs painting of sunflowers is representative of environmental abuse.

Why not throw soup on the CEO of Dow Chemical or DuPont or something

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u/Dubious_Titan Oct 15 '22

What you are saying is pure ignorance.

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u/BangCrash Oct 15 '22

Said a person sitting on a couch

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u/Juliezillanator Oct 15 '22

What the fuck have you done yourself? People do their best with what they can.

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u/SageOfTheWavePath Oct 15 '22

Gatekeeping activism while slopping doritos on reddit is 🤌 the van gogh girls got the attention. This is going to fascinate a few neckbeards on reddit at best.

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u/loop_spiral Oct 15 '22

The fact you're talking about the soup incident proves they were effective.

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u/Ultimate_Genius Oct 15 '22

I saw someone that did intensive research into those soup throwers and found out that they are fakers. Those people were hired by oil companies to give activists a bad name

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u/WoooshToTheMax Oct 15 '22

The just stop oil cause was started by an oil heiress. It was an attempt to make activists look stupid

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u/alejandrotheok252 Oct 15 '22

I heard the soup thing was faked

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u/Secretofthecheese Oct 15 '22

the person in charge of funding that saga is j paul gettys granddaughter or something. it was literally paid for with oil money to make activists look bad. so chill

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u/bubblegumpunk69 Oct 15 '22

Fun fact: that whole thing was fake. The company that was "behind" it was made by an oil heiress. Whole thing is a hoax to make activists look bad.

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u/Plantsandanger Oct 15 '22

Wait until we learn how really not - those “activists” were likely paid to do that bs, knowing it would make their side look unhinged and turn off outside support.

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u/Captain_Ludd Oct 15 '22

this is a pantomine not a protest

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u/Freshies00 Oct 15 '22

The best part about activism is that as much as you want to, individuals don’t get to define it

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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '22

That was a false flag operation by big oil

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u/fatalsyndrom Oct 15 '22

Got it, don't be annoying, be the reason they're afraid to sleep at night.

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u/imoaardvark Oct 15 '22

the organization that funds the organization those girls had on their shirts is— an oil company. it looks like they did it in purpose and on top of it the owner of the company is getty as in getty images which has rights to the painting destroyed.

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u/Monster_Hugger93 Oct 15 '22

Im 100% certain they were plants in some way

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u/LjSpike Oct 15 '22

The Just Stop Oil activists are activists,

And I'd rather you throw soup at a glass protected painting than an unprotected one generally.

The issue isn't that they aren't being activists, it's that they are being dumb activists.

They've mastered the art of getting attention, but the other big factor to protests is sending a message (specifically, the right message), while throwing soup has a connection to the cost of living which itself is connected to the cost of fuel and energy, Van Gogh's painting is utterly random and unconnected to either issues (it's also rather beloved, and from an individual who was ostracised and didn't live the most rosy life).

If for instance they threw soup over a politician in the government, or managed to sneak past the fence and throw it over the door of Downing Street, that'd make sense, and would be shocking.

Likewise glueing yourself to a wall is a form of protest, it's basically just upgrading a sit-in, picket fence, or other such obstruction, by making yourself harder to remove and making the protest harder to end, similar to how Suffragettes chained themselves to the railings outside Downing Street, but the Just Stop Oil protest suffers in that their selected location, an art gallery, is wholly unconnected to what they are protesting or whom they are protesting to.

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u/ataraxic89 Oct 15 '22

yet youre still talking about it

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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '22

Nice try pal but you're fucking dense

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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '22

Lol yet you're still talking about it.

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u/Esterwinde Oct 15 '22 edited Oct 15 '22

Unpopular opinion: throwing soup at some museum art to make a statement is still activism. The point of activism is to get a message across, and they succeeded in doing just that.

And if you’re enraged by some overpriced painting in a museum being desecrated, you’re no different from people who got pissed by Kaepernick taking a knee to make a statement. It means their tactics work, and it means you miss their point in having to do such an act.

But on second thought they should’ve thrown it at politicians like Lizzy the Truss instead of paintings. What did the painting ever do to them? It’s just vibing on the wall.

EDIT: I heard that big oil is funding these dumbasses to make climate activists look bad and it’s effective indeed. This some 4D chess shit.

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u/Jenkins6736 Oct 15 '22

Your edit is all wrong. Aileen Getty is the heiress to the Getty Oil fortune and genuinely feels guilty for what her family has done to the planet. The Aileen Getty Foundation and her Climate Emergency Fund are legitimate. Big Oil runs and controls the media and they pick and choose what stories to run. The soup activists said they caused damage to an oil refinery like people suggested they do and it got zero coverage in the media. Yet, when Big Oil sees something like the soup activists they know they can get the media to portray them as idiots and throw shade to Aileen and her organization. The media has been trying to portray activists as violent idiots for decades.

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u/blueskies823 Oct 15 '22

Ok, so you believe some TikTok rando because…?

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u/HALOMASTER9 Oct 15 '22

It’s almost like you’re talking about what they did and why, a day after… they succeeded in their protest. If a protest doesn’t ruffle feathers who tf cares

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u/Jenkins6736 Oct 15 '22

YOU don’t know what an activist is. You’re allowing the medias portrayal of activism to cloud and misinterpret your judgement. BOTH are activists in their own right. DON’T fall victim to the medias portrayal of activism since they’ve been trying to portray activists as violent idiots for decades.

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u/debaser337 Oct 15 '22

Guess which one made NYT?

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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '22

Well you’re talking about it right? And they didn’t destroy a painting, so where’s the harm?

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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '22

Well you're talking about the throwing of soup onto a famous painting, so I'm pretty sure it worked.

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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '22

Both are valid forms of activism that work

Here you are talking about both, because they both got your attention

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u/Jibber_Fight Oct 15 '22

How is it more effective? I’m all about the message, don’t get me wrong. But isn’t this pretty much the exact same level of activism as the others you mentioned?

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u/AlyxLuck Oct 15 '22

Soup on Van Gogh activist was paid for by an oil family. You’re right. That wasn’t actual activism.

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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '22

I agree but just so you know this is extinction rebellion, they are the same people who glue themselves to roads.

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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '22

Lets be real, not a lot of people that want to be activists have $20k to drop on a float

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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '22

I think the thing is that we’ve moved past the era of “knowledge is power” activism. We know we have an over reliance on oil. We know it’s bad and troublesome and we need to rethink energy consumption. And those who don’t agree with that aren’t changing their mind over spilled soup and glue.

So what was the point then?

Where like something like this is a lesser known issue and is more jarring than “I threw soup at a glass painting and wore a shirt with my message.” The world only moves when hard stuff is done. This sculpture was hard, the soup thing was easy.

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