Both works, the culturejammers.org image of a silhouette man spray painting and American flag comprising of commercial logos rather than stars and the photo of Vietnamese Mahayana Buddhist monk burning himself, demonstrates an activist movement against government investing in other interests. Although both acts provide different consequences: on one extreme a man died and on the other the activist movement used commercial tactics against corporations. The difference between the two movements is associated with the severity of each action. The Buddhist committing suicide to act out against the direct oppression of Buddhist in South Korea and the culture jammers use of advertising to act out against indirect oppressive regime in the United States. The Buddhist monk setting himself on fire happened in 1963, which was an extraordinary event at the time.
Not because a man committed suicide in protest but because the footage was broadcast over the entire world – something that was only recently capable do to the invention of the T.V. Although not as extreme, culture jammers’ campaign to fight commercial advertising with advertisements is just as remarkably innovative in how technology played a key role in the demonstration of activism. In terms of activism, there are different extremities that groups make take, depending on the form of oppression and the severity of the situation, but would it be as significant if those forms of protest were reversed. If culture jammers lit themselves on fire to protest the corporatization of America or the Buddhist monks putting up advertisements, if they could, to rebel against a oppressive government. Each act is measured by what is needed to change an establish way of thinking and, consequently, needs the appropriate action to do so.