Hey!

Whilst I was going through your city today - we were on our way to the RSPCA place, anyways - on *all* of the bill boards round there some mindless pillock has tagged "God is Real" all over them.
Anyone else noticed it whilst driving around?

Alex

Maybe the advertisors should sue god or something. They sue nightclubs/businesses when they stick stuff up.

I'm sure god is real, but whos god. I mean do the christian thing boy and bomb iraq because georgy say so. Or Blow yourself up and meet osama in the afterlife.

My perspective is this:
If I ask you now how to get to the city centre you could answer me with the directions that would suit you. But you'd need to understand where I'm coming from in order to guide me there. Even then two different people may give me different routes.

If I was to ask you how to live my life you would need to understand where I'm coming from. And no one exact route or opinion is right.

Religion is a direction to live your life and no matter how stubborn it is there is no 'right' one, no 'only way' , no 'one truth and light'. I say find your own way there follow YOUR heart not some fool who spends money of postering the walls.

"Who's the bigger fool, the fool or the fool who follows him?"

Obi Wan (a long time ago... )

Yep, it seems to be all over the place. It's on all the Billboards around SUFC ground.

Originally posted by sjw1705
Yep, it seems to be all over the place. It's on all the Billboards around SUFC ground.

Think Neil Warnock did it?

Originally posted by MobileB
Think Neil Warnock did it?

No mention of Referees so I shouldn't think so...;)

isn't this that guy with the curly hair that does this?

Yes, It is a friend of mine. Short with dark curly hair. I won't mention his name as I feel it would be unfair.

He has been doing this for a couple of years now. He has his reasons. This isn't something that I have not encountered before. I have not seen him for a while and I hope he is ok.

Originally posted by ultracynic
isn't this that guy with the curly hair that does this?

yeah that definitely narrows it down.

I was briefly tempted to grab a spraycan and amend the daubings with "ly smelly".

Is this the same guy who wrote 'The Truth By God'? A couple of copies of that have turned up in my life (in odd ways) over the last couple of years.

Interesting stuff, if slightly insane!

Originally posted by disc0tech
Is this the same guy who wrote 'The Truth By God'? A couple of copies of that have turned up in my life (in odd ways) over the last couple of years.

Interesting stuff, if slightly insane!

Very possibly. He is a very clever guy, that is the problem

My mate reckons it's a Priest trying to drum up business!

he did a performance at the music festival thing on endcliffe park this year i think, very good poetry type thing, nice guy as far as i can tell

Its on all the posters on abbeydale road too - maybe should be amended to "Allah is real " down there ...

Noticed it in the last seven days. Is he the same bloke who had a very clever little image, three letters or so into a logo, it could be seen everywhere in the hunters bar area, but always on 'transient' items, never public property. I was working on sharrowvale rd one day, and he 'blessed me' with a huge big loving smile:) Grrrr

the missus noticed him on a ladder doing it yesterday as we were driving home. can't say i noticed, when driving i'm not really looking out for nutters on ladders...

Originally posted by Phanerothyme
yeah that definitely narrows it down.

I was briefly tempted to grab a spraycan and amend the daubings with "ly smelly".
pmsl that would be quality Phan - go on, do it :P

Originally posted by Pete1024
Religion is a direction to live your life and no matter how stubborn it is there is no 'right' one, no 'only way' , no 'one truth and light'. I say find your own way there follow YOUR heart not some fool who spends money of postering the walls.


that says it so perfectly, must say - took me a while to figure that one out.

sometimes though I still find myself falling into that cycle of searching for the only truth, not gettin anywhere, finding there is no one only truth, then after a while thinking there must be one true something, then back to the start again..

I wouldn't call him a fool though, he's very brave and at least found his own truth unlike many others ;)

This kind of billboard editing on the fly is often quite amusing. There was a group in Leeds in the mid-90s. Had something to do with the Chumbawumba crowd, if I recall correctly. used to go round amending ad hordings. The day they changed "Above all, it's a Rover" to "above all, it's a polluter" was an entertaining one. Mind you, as I thought at the time, the message would be rather more accurate if the last word had been swapped for "utter crap". Och well.

The adverts are pretty rubbish usually so the additional spray painting makes them more interesting.

As long at they are not writing on walls or buildings I don't have a problem with anyone having their say by defacing a billboard.

Originally posted by joyphil
This kind of billboard editing on the fly is often quite amusing. There was a group in Leeds in the mid-90s. Had something to do with the Chumbawumba crowd, if I recall correctly. used to go round amending ad hordings. The day they changed "Above all, it's a Rover" to "above all, it's a polluter" was an entertaining one. Mind you, as I thought at the time, the message would be rather more accurate if the last word had been swapped for "utter crap". Och well.

Subvertising took off years ago, but I haven't seen many good ones in sheffield for a while.

Liked the "No personality? Buy a new car" graffito on car ads.

"god is real" is a bit of a non-sequitur really.

what does he mean by "God", "is" and "Real" in this context?

Define your terms! lol

Originally posted by joyphil
This kind of billboard editing on the fly is often quite amusing. There was a group in Leeds in the mid-90s. Had something to do with the Chumbawumba crowd, if I recall correctly. used to go round amending ad hordings. The day they changed "Above all, it's a Rover" to "above all, it's a polluter" was an entertaining one. Mind you, as I thought at the time, the message would be rather more accurate if the last word had been swapped for "utter crap". Och well.

This is still going on in LS6....the billboards on the corner of Hyde Park corner are often changed ....makes me smile everytime I visit.

LS6 is ace...:)

Originally posted by boyface
This is still going on in LS6....the billboards on the corner of Hyde Park corner are often changed ....makes me smile everytime I visit.

LS6 is ace...:)

I'm glad to hear it. Subvertising - fantastic term. Maybe I'll take it up as an extension to my profession. Putting horns on that Halifax bespectacled character wherever his grinning mug turns up would be a start.

Slightly tangentially, my designer mate and I have long cherished the ambition to open an advertising agency along the lines of Reggie Perrin's Grot Corp. We'd specialise in anti-advertising. "Don't buy it, it's excrementally useless" would be the gist of our message. Its success is assured because we Brits are such a universally cynical bag of curmudgeons we'd automatically snap something up if told it was rubbish, and vice versa. Anyone out there with business funding who agrees with me?

I hate all these adverts around where I live, and so it doesnt bother me in the slightest, I kinda like it to be honest-takes your focus away from all the same boring crap thats plastered all over sheffield.

...I know the guy, I won't mention his name out of respect he was an old client at a graphic design company I used to work for years ago.

Think he was responsible for the "love is the answer" campaign as well, he looks like he's constantly of his nut.

The last time I saw him when I was throwing a proper wobbly in my car becuase I couldn't get parked at the DVLA off Cemetary Road, I was at the lights next to the vine screaming, turn round and he's just stood looking at me with a massive grin on, it made me smile anyway.

I'm down for people like him, beats the savage bag head/drunk scum we're all too used to.

Its also on billboards on Spital Hill.I wonder if the cctv was switched on?

At the risk of being a curmudgeonly old fogey....

And whilst finding subvertising an extremely interesting subject - didn't it originate in the US with folks abusing the billboards by the Interstates in the 1950s and 1960s? .....

I would say that if we tolerate and condone this form of artistic improvement, then we also implicitly tolerate any other form of graffiti and defacement - walls, street name signs, etc.

Most advertising stinks - but if we dislike the idea of less intellectually satisfying griffiti cluttering up the streets then are we being a little bit hypocritical here?

Just stirring the pot...:)

Joe

Credit to the guy, he uses white paint on black posters and vice versa :)
The logo I think he used to use was the O with and N inside then an E inside that. To spell ONE (obviously)
God isn't real to me but since the belief stops some people turning into nutters ( or makes some worse....) Im ok with it.
Actually, maybe Im not. Im not a fan of war.
Just a big ol' hippy :D

Originally posted by JoePritchard
At the risk of being a curmudgeonly old fogey....

And whilst finding subvertising an extremely interesting subject - didn't it originate in the US with folks abusing the billboards by the Interstates in the 1950s and 1960s? .....

I would say that if we tolerate and condone this form of artistic improvement, then we also implicitly tolerate any other form of graffiti and defacement - walls, street name signs, etc.

Most advertising stinks - but if we dislike the idea of less intellectually satisfying griffiti cluttering up the streets then are we being a little bit hypocritical here?

Just stirring the pot...:)

Joe

Well, I think advertising billboards are fair game -
- The billboard is going to be torn down anyway (or the poster is at least) i.e guaranteed removal at no extra cost.
-I don't remember agreeing to having asinine marketing drivel assaulting my eyes at every junction, traffic light and bus stop.
- It frequently improves the billboard, often making it funny, or at least diverting the veiwer away from the sell.

Tagging someone's shop window or front door is slightly different since that is not an ephemeral communication channel in its own right, and removal is an extra cost to the owner/proprietor.

But yeah, it's a grey area. If we could train all the talentless little p*ss artist taggers in design and proportion, I wouldn't mind seeing a little more graffiti where appropriate (breaking up the outlines of brutalist architecture, adding a splash of colour to a grey, concrete vista etc.

The person concerned also was the person behind this in the begining. I'm not sure that it is still his thing though as his head is in another place now.

http://www.shefinfo.org.uk/britart/index2.htm

Someone decided to paid "God is Real" on the front of our building.

Shame nobody's named the person concerned - we could send them the cleaning bill. :clap:

Try reading this very good description I found.

http://www.uas.alaska.edu/whalesong/volumes/vol24_issue2/illness.html

Sometimes it is very easy to make assumptions about people, be they good, or bad.

I don't really want to say anymore about this as like a couple of us, who know him, have said already it would be unfair to.

Another good read is this

http://www.supenn.com/genius/000226.html

and I can reccomend the Kay Redfield Jamison book if you want to learn more. It had me in tears on more than one occasion.

Maybe he could go electronic and somehow get "God Is Real" electronic messages to pop up on the telly ads - or subconscious programming ... that would be spooky - lots more wars around !

I think Jonathan Miller had the right idea ...

Originally posted by Pete1024
Maybe the advertisors should sue god or something. They sue nightclubs/businesses when they stick stuff up.

I'm sure god is real, but whos god. I mean do the christian thing boy and bomb iraq because georgy say so. Or Blow yourself up and meet osama in the afterlife.

My perspective is this:
If I ask you now how to get to the city centre you could answer me with the directions that would suit you. But you'd need to understand where I'm coming from in order to guide me there. Even then two different people may give me different routes.

If I was to ask you how to live my life you would need to understand where I'm coming from. And no one exact route or opinion is right.

Religion is a direction to live your life and no matter how stubborn it is there is no 'right' one, no 'only way' , no 'one truth and light'. I say find your own way there follow YOUR heart not some fool who spends money of postering the walls.

"Who's the bigger fool, the fool or the fool who follows him?"

Obi Wan (a long time ago... )

no they bomb iraq becoase bush and blair tells them to

When I first noticed one when driving past I thought it said 'God is Red' which I thought was good in a funny way, when I realised it was just your common-o'-garden 'God is Real' I was a little disappointed.

I think if it's to meet with current Trading Standards it really should read 'God is Real*' and then have some small print along the lines of..

"*Any opinions portrayed in this graffiti is purely subjective and cannot be proven and are solely the thought and ideas of the 'artist' responsible. "God" is a registered trade mark of Heaven Inc, All right reserved 2004 (AD)."

Are you saying bush (or blair for that matter) are acting entirely independently and have no 'strings'

Originally posted by Zebra
Credit to the guy, he uses white paint on black posters and vice versa :)
The logo I think he used to use was the O with and N inside then an E inside that. To spell ONE (obviously)

I always used to read it as anyone (n e one)

Originally posted by uniB

I think if it's to meet with current Trading Standards it really should read 'God is Real*' and then have some small print along the lines of..

"*Any opinions portrayed in this graffiti is purely subjective and cannot be proven and are solely the thought and ideas of the 'artist' responsible. "God" is a registered trade mark of Heaven Inc, All right reserved 2004 (AD)."




LOL...... spot on, that made my night :clap:

What a load of rubbish.

If god was so real why would some sad fool have to go round spray painting it everywhere just so we all knew?

He should be fined for this. It makes the city look tacky and grubby.

Adverts are there for a reason - theyre to let us know what new products are out there and hopefully encourage us to buy them and spray painting over them isnt big or clever its childish whether its religious drivel (religion = delusion = stupidity in my opinion but thats another matter) or 'hilariously' changing the existing wording of the advert.

I suggest they either grow up or buy some canvas to spray paint their rubbish on and hang it in their own homes so we dont have to put up with it.

This is only in Sheffield as far as I know - does this mean God is more real in Sheffield than elsewhere ?

If it is such a good idea why did God not think of it first so that for example if you sliced open an apple, onion or other vegetable or a stick of blackpool rock, it would say God is Real for anyone to see.

And another thing - why did he not hijack the godisreal.com domain name - if you go there you can get plenty of merchanise - buy the t-shirt etc.

Originally posted by kittykat
What a load of rubbish.

If god was so real why would some sad fool have to go round spray painting it everywhere just so we all knew?

He should be fined for this. It makes the city look tacky and grubby.

Adverts are there for a reason - theyre to let us know what new products are out there and hopefully encourage us to buy them and spray painting over them isnt big or clever its childish whether its religious drivel (religion = delusion = stupidity in my opinion but thats another matter) or 'hilariously' changing the existing wording of the advert.

I suggest they either grow up or buy some canvas to spray paint their rubbish on and hang it in their own homes so we dont have to put up with it.

Are you related to Mr Kilroy Silk. Your outburst was reminisant of his ill-thought-through drivel. You are obviously a big fan of advertising. So its alright for giant corporations to bombard us with lies is it? But when a little guy does something for no profit but possibly to comunicate with the world its wrong and makes your city grubby.
Firstly the notion of being forcefed ideas for products that we don't need is, in my opinion, inherently evil. We see these products simply because we use a road or a bus stop and are made to feel inadequate simply because we don't have the lastest mobile or car. And have you noticed that most of these advetisements are in poor areas? That is because these companys believe that poor people are more easily fooled by advertising.....
Secondly, this guy who defaces these adds is a local hero. He makes no profits and attacks these evil corporations in a small but significant way.
A few years back I was part of a group that went spraying slogans on walls like 'bush is a muderer.' One of our number was arrested because people have attitudes like yours. 'If they make a million pounds from it its ok if it is to make a political or ideological stance then it is wrong? '
This guy is like a robin hood character. I am very impressed with his work although we could go much, much further.......:mad:

Originally posted by kittykat
What a load of rubbish.

If god was so real why would some sad fool have to go round spray painting it everywhere just so we all knew?

He should be fined for this. It makes the city look tacky and grubby.

Adverts are there for a reason - theyre to let us know what new products are out there and hopefully encourage us to buy them and spray painting over them isnt big or clever its childish whether its religious drivel (religion = delusion = stupidity in my opinion but thats another matter) or 'hilariously' changing the existing wording of the advert.

I suggest they either grow up or buy some canvas to spray paint their rubbish on and hang it in their own homes so we dont have to put up with it.

If you had read the whole thread, maybe you wouldn't have written this. Then again, maybe you would.

How do you figure that Delusion= stupidity?

As for adverts and "hopefully encouraging us to buy things". There is more stupidity in that than religion or delusion.

OK i take it back - big corporations are all evil arent they. Without them how many people would be out of jobs? Theyre adverts for gods sake. Companies need to get their products across to the consumer thats just a way of life and if you dont want to buy the product - dont! If you dont want to live in the western world where big companies sell things to us then go and live as a hermit in outer mongolia by all means. All im saying is that defacing them with religious tripe isnt big or clever. Infact its quite the opposite. A company trying to sell us things for a nutter trying to make us believe in god? I dont know whats worse! Well actually I do.

Originally posted by kittykat
OK i take it back - big corporations are all evil arent they. Without them how many people would be out of jobs? Theyre adverts for gods sake. Companies need to get their products across to the consumer thats just a way of life and if you dont want to buy the product - dont! If you dont want to live in the western world where big companies sell things to us then go and live as a hermit in outer mongolia by all means. All im saying is that defacing them with religious tripe isnt big or clever. Infact its quite the opposite. A company trying to sell us things for a nutter trying to make us believe in god? I dont know whats worse! Well actually I do.

Yes , Macdonalds are fantastic aren't they? they help so many people.

Globalisation and brainwashing..............what a good idea.

As for "nutters". I'm speechless that you even choose to use this term. You must never have been in contact with mental illness. Just hope that you never do.
In my experience karma is real and the fact that you choose to call people "nutters" will come back on you.
I had no experience of this at one time (although was not flippant enough to call people nutters) until my husband became seriously ill and spent 6 months in hospital and 2 years recovering. We live and learn.

You do not need to live in outer mongolia to have some sense of balance and morality in your life either.

Originally posted by kittykat
OK i take it back - big corporations are all evil arent they. Without them how many people would be out of jobs? Theyre adverts for gods sake. Companies need to get their products across to the consumer thats just a way of life and if you dont want to buy the product - dont! If you dont want to live in the western world where big companies sell things to us then go and live as a hermit in outer mongolia by all means. All im saying is that defacing them with religious tripe isnt big or clever. Infact its quite the opposite. A company trying to sell us things for a nutter trying to make us believe in god? I dont know whats worse! Well actually I do.

Are you for real? Coz we need more cars on the roads because they're too quiet. We need companies cutting down half the worlds forests so you can have a bit of card to rap your burger in - Because the planet comes second to washing up.
That channel they're proposing that just shows adverts all day was made for you - wasn't it. These corporations are ruining the planet - ruining peoples lives - all in the name of one thing - - Money!! If we don't stand up and fight these people then god help our grandkids.
Oh and KittyKat is an appropriate name. I've heard that cat food is full of ****!:|

How childish. Thats all i have to say.

MOD: Several posts removed. Please try to stay on topic and refrain from personal abuse.