A few days ago, there was a taped released by "Mark Ecko Enterprises" of a guy running past security at Andrews Air Force base and spraying "Still Free" on Air Force One (the video can be seen here). When Air Force officials were alarmed at the release of the video, it was revealed the stunt was a hoax. More accurately, it was a political message by Mark Ecko. I think.
Going into the details of the hoax (news story here), they rented a 747 jetliner, painted it to resemble Air Force One, and then recreated a scene where two guys hop over barbed-wire fence to spray their tag in black ink.
You'd think this would be a job for Adobe Photoshop, but I gues Ecko (I think there's a funny accent character over the "o" here) probably figured that from the massive royalties he's still getting from his PS2 game, go "large" with this project.
The thing is...
...yeah, it's clever, but did you really have to spend tens of thousands to piss the Air Force off? I understand this is partially a political statement, but I could have saved you the trouble and told you that it's not worth it. I thought my "tag" on George W. Bush's favorite Texas Steakhouse outside of Waco, Texas would be a stunning and clever way to protest his policy on... well, I really don't remember. I was a little drunk at the time so the details are blurry, but my angst was precise!
Unfortunately, it only got me banned from every Texas Steakhouse west of the Mississippi. My grass roots zeal only served to deny me a great source of boot-shaped beer glasses.
Really, as citizens, the only real tools you have for change are being informed and voting (one helps the other... unless you're more a "gut voter" - you know, voting for the guy with the cooler name, or the one that looks most like the Fonz?). Still, it's funny how rich people try to go one step further every now and then. Actresses, lobbyists, tycoons and such often come up with interpretive ways of influencing change their own way in this nation. Some give preachy soap box Oscar speechs, some hand out free limosine rides and Raiders tickets to congress people, and some spend tens of thousands of dollars painting an ambigious sign on a foax Air Force One.
Dress it up however you want, the fact remains that at the end of the day, your two best tools for American change are a newspaper and a perforated chad. Sure, people pull stunts to mix things up, like convincing you that wer'e under some tyrannical 1984 regime where cyborgs read our minds and nuclear war is a hair away, or even pretending to have once served in the Navy with John Kerry just to call him an incredible wuss. Nonetheless, nothing beats an informed citizen.
And, for the record, no hoax photos on this page cost me any money (yet - not counting any future court fees).
A few days ago, 
Unfortunately, it only got me banned from every Texas Steakhouse west of the Mississippi. My grass roots zeal only served to deny me a great source of boot-shaped beer glasses.