Zombie Protest
‘Zombie’ by The Cranberries is an anti-war/protest song inspired by tragedy. A visceral response to the death of two children in an IRA bombing in Warrington, England in 1993.
The song has two messages: A condemnation of the IRA carrying out attacks in the name of Ireland and a condemnation of the IRA killing innocent children in the attacks.
‘Zombie’ has become an anthem for anti-terror and innocent people trapped by other people’s violence. The song doesn’t name any groups or organisations, it doesn’t take sides, meaning the song’s messages apply to recent attacks today as much as they did back in 1993.
Written by Dolores O’Riordan, her anger and frustration pours into the song. Backed by distorted electric guitars and drums, creating heavy sound giving the song huge impact.
To express the two messages from the song, the vinyl record cover will express a message on each side of the cover.
The front side expresses the condemnation of terrorist groups carrying out attacks in the name of a country. Very often a people or race are attacked and discriminated against because of the violent actions of a few of that particular people or race.
The main type ‘VIOLENCE TRAPS INNOCENT PEOPLE’ has been distorted by moving and shaking a print out of the type in a flatbed scanner while the document is being scanned. The joy of this process is the outcome is different every time. This distortion gives the same effect as the loud, distorted electric guitars in the song and the large scale of the distorted type on the cover gives impact and hierarchy to the message.
The start of Dolores O’Riordan’s quote “This song’s our cry against man’s inhumanity to man;” is represented in the lyrics ‘But you see, it’s not me, it’s not my family’. Starting the link between the song and the protest messages.
The rear side expresses the condemnation of the killing innocent children in war. Each year thousands of children are killed directly or indirectly by war. Today in particular children are killed from air strikes and being forced to be child soldiers in places like Yemen and Palestine.
The main type ‘INNOCENT CHILDREN ARE BEING KILLED’ has again been distorted. This distortion represents the loud, distorted electric guitars in the song and the large scale of the distorted type on the cover gives impact and hierarchy to the message.
The end of Dolores O’Riordan’s quote “and man’s inhumanity to child.” is represented in the lyrics ‘Child is slowly taken’. Continuing the link between the song and the protest messages.
The poster is the protest/call to action for people to act on the causes. The two messages are expressed on each side of the double sided poster.
The main type ‘WHY OPRESS A MAJORITY OF PEOPLE BECAUSE OF THE VIOLENT ACTIONS OF A MINORITY. STOP XENOPHOBIA’ asks why are a people or race are attacked and discriminated against because of the violent actions of a few of that particular people or race. This needs to stop.
This message is aimed at people who discriminate against another people or race because of the violent actions of a few of that particular people or race.
The main type ‘MURDERED CHILDREN ARE THE BY-PRODUCT OF ADULT VIOLENCE IN WAR. STOP KILLING CHILDREN’ tells that each year thousands of children are killed directly or indirectly by war. This needs to stop.
This message is aimed at governments and groups who participate in war.
The campaign will create social content with anti-war protest messages using the distorted type and show them online from the ‘Zombie Protest’ social pages. Showing content on social media is key to bringing to protest to the digital age with those who care about the anti-war movement.
People who interact with the campaign will be asked to get creative and join the anti-war protest by creating their own distorted type anti-war protest message using their home or work scanner and upload the image on social media using the #ZombieProtest hashtag, which the ‘Zombie Protest’ social pages will repost.
Protesters will be given step by step instructions to creating their own Zombie Protest message from downloading the ‘Anton Regular’ font to how to create the distorted type by using a scanner.
For those protesters who don’t have access to a scanner or want to go more digital than traditional, the campaign will introduce a ‘Zombie Protest’ app which will allow users to type in their anti-war message using the ‘Anton Regular’ font and liquify, distort, warp, swell and twirl the text by touching the screen on the text and moving the text about. This effect gives the same effect as the text being distorted using a scanner.
Protesters will be able to export their message for social media where they can share their anti-war message with the #ZombieProtest hashtag.
Users can also purchase their message on protest signs, t-shirts, flags, artwork, stencils and mobile phone cases etc. with the #ZombieProtest hashtag from the app and bring the protest to the streets and their homes.
Those who went with the more traditional route by distorting the type on their scanner can upload their distorted type message to the app and purchase the above items also.
The campaign will deface OOH advertising posters and billboards that feature a picture of an adult or child to get the two messages across in a way that grabs the public’s attention.
The messages that are expressed in the posters will be spray painted onto the ads using spray paint and stencils.
Positioning ‘STOP XENOPHOBIA’ and ‘STOP KILLING CHILDREN’ over the mouths of the adult and child represents censorship, often these issues are ignored by the public or brushed under the carpet by governments.
Protesters can also engage with the OOH graffiti messages by creating stencils on the ‘Zombie Protest’ app and displaying their message on the streets. The bolder, the greater the impact.
