Anti-Santa billboard nixed

Professur

Professur

Well-Known Member
LONDON (AP) - Perhaps the elves put a curse on it. An art exhibition that questioned the existence of Santa Claus has been scrapped at the last minute, its British creator said Friday.

In an attempt to highlight the evils of consumerism, Glasgow School of Art student Darren Cullen had been planning to unveil an advertising billboard in the city Friday featuring the slogans Stop Lying To Your Children About Santa Claus and Santa Gives More To Rich Kids Than Poor Kids.

But Maiden Outdoor, which owns the billboard, vetoed it after the plan generated media interest.

"The company was contacted by a newspaper and I think they felt it was too contentious a theme," Cullen said.

"I am disappointed but I am going to be contacting other companies to see if they can help. I hope to get the project up and running some time soon."

Cullen, who is in the final year of study, denied he was trying to ruin the magic of Christmas.

"Santa Claus is a lie that teaches kids that products will make them happy," he said.

"Before they're old enough to think for themselves, the story of Santa has already got them hooked on consumerism. I think that's more immoral than this billboard."

The billboard is part of a public art project students are required to do each year.

It is not the first time Cullen has featured Father Christmas.

His portfolio includes a drawing of Santa saying "I killed Jesus" as well as posters and stickers telling parents: "Stop lying to your children about Santa Claus."

"Our students work with public spaces and unconventional sites as a means of creating dialogue about the things that matter to them and to all of us," said Tanya Eccleston, head of environmental art and sculpture at Glasgow School of Art.
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What a colossal asshole.

Source
 
Luis G said:
I agree with him.
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As do I - it's sad that we feel the need to base a so-called religious holiday on a fat dude in an ill-fitting red jumpsuit and then lie to our kids and tell them sitting on this oke's lap will somehow magically give them whatever they desire....and when the after Christmas bills come we all bitch and moan about the amount we'd spent.

Wonder if that billboard company would have been more comfortable with the subject if the guy had made an ad that read "Jesus Christ does not exist, stop lying to your kids"? Seems to me it's more acceptable these days to question and taunt religious beliefs, rather than the capitalist falacies that rule our worlds these days :rolleyes:
 
Uki Chick said:
How cruel! Can't he let the kids have some kind of fun at Christmas.
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Why should the amount of fun kids have at Christmas be dependent on the existence of a fat fuck in red?
 
3 childless "agrees". 2 fathers who think he's an idiot. Pattern?
 
Actually I agree too, I think it's time to remove the Santa crap. And if we get votes per kid, I think I win.
 
AlphaTroll said:
Why should the amount of fun kids have at Christmas be dependent on the existence of a fat fuck in red?
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It's not a matter of being dependant on it, but society has grown up with it for so long, that trying to change it now is a little late. How do you start telling a young child now that Santa is full of shit and he doesn't exist. You can tell children what the true meaning of christmas is, but at this point it's a little late to ruin it for them.
 
Uki Chick said:
It's not a matter of being dependant on it, but society has grown up with it for so long, that trying to change it now is a little late. How do you start telling a young child now that Santa is full of shit and he doesn't exist. You can tell children what the true meaning of christmas is, but at this point it's a little late to ruin it for them.
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Better start now than later then.
 
I partly agree with his message

but

he is still a collosal asshole

and

Santa shouldn't be scrapped because the trouble lies not in what Santa is, but how Santa is used.

No buisness should be allowed to portray Santa in advertising. Keep the jolly man strictly in iconoclastic stature and Christmas specials. If Jesus is not used to sell hair products then Santa shouldn't be anyway near a commercial of ad of any kind.
 
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