Last but not least: The Copenhagen Citizen Complaint Weapon

 
Around two years ago, there was a campaign against outdoor advertising in Zurich. And seven months ago, a group of people roamed the streets of Berlin-Kreuzberg, attaching "spam" stickers to advertising posters in order to counter the "nuisance" (original quote) caused by outdoor advertising (see: ). Now in Copenhagen, members of the anti-advertising alliance "Citizens for an advertising-free city center" have taken action in a night campaign. They have covered 250 advertising posters in the city center with oversized stickers, which are normally stuck to letterboxes in Denmark. The message: "Ingen reklamer tak" (no advertising please). According to the Tagesspiegel, the inflationary spread of advertising in Copenhagen is a thorn in the side of the organization. The angry citizens are particularly opposed to the fact that advertising in public spaces cannot be "unsubscribed". "At home, you can say 'Advertising, no thanks!' to letterbox advertising by sticking a sticker with these words on it. To remind people of this right, we have stuck similar stickers on advertising posters all over the city," an anonymous participant told the Tagesspiegel.
The Danish advertising industry was of course "not convinced" by the campaign, to quote former German Foreign Minister Fischer. According to the Tagesspiegel, it is an essential part of the free market that companies can provide information about their products in the prevailing competitive situation. Even newer suppliers would have no chance against the established ones if they could not even inform consumers of their existence. However, the anti-reclamation alliance's question as to why this communication should take place in the public sphere of all places when there are so many other channels was not addressed.
The Copenhagen Citizens' Proclamation Brigade appears to be fundamentally unimpressed by any criticism. After all, the group members are prepared to take a lot of punishment if they are caught: In Denmark, there are heavy fines for damaging outdoor advertising. On the contrary, the group sees itself as being in the right and considers its actions to be civil disobedience rather than a criminal offense. After all, the city council had simply sold outdoor advertising space in the city to advertisers without asking the citizens for their opinion. What the group cannot be denied is a sense of democratic co-determination.