Editing Adbusters (section)

===Blackspot Shoes campaign===
In 2004, the foundation began selling [[vegan]], indie shoes. The name and logo are "open-source";<ref>{{cite web|url=http://adbusters.org/metas/corpo/blackspotshoes/aboutblackspot.php |title=BlackSpot Shoes : Philosophy Behind the Shoes |access-date=25 June 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070522105440/http://adbusters.org/metas/corpo/blackspotshoes/aboutblackspot.php |archive-date=22 May 2007 }}</ref> in other words, unencumbered by private trademarks.<ref>[http://adbusters.org/metas/corpo/blackspotshoes/info.php#] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080720081744/http://www.adbusters.org/metas/corpo/blackspotshoes/info.php|date=20 July 2008}}</ref> Attached to each pair was a "Rethink the Cool" leaflet, inviting wearers to join a movement, and two spots&nbsp;– one for drawing their own logos and another on the toe for "kicking corporate ass."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://veganline.com/rethinkthecool.htm |title=Rethink the Cool - from Adbusters |website=Veganline.com |access-date=3 January 2017}}</ref>

There are three versions of the Blackspot Sneaker.  The V1 is designed to resemble the [[Nike, Inc.|Nike]]-owned [[Converse (shoe company)|Converse]] [[Chuck Taylor All-Stars]] (Nike bought Converse in 2003).<ref name="independent">{{Cite news |last=Aitch, Iain |title=Kicking against the system |url=http://news.independent.co.uk/world/politics/article82640.ece |work=The Independent |date=15 December 2003 |access-date=20 November 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071206133717/http://news.independent.co.uk/world/politics/article82640.ece |archive-date=6 December 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref> There is also a V1 in "fiery red."

The V2 is designed by Canadian shoe designer [[John Fluevog]]. It is made from organic [[hemp]] and [[recycled]] car tires.

After an extensive search for [[anti-sweatshop movement|anti-sweatshop]] manufacturers around the world, Adbusters found a small union shop in Portugal.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://adbusters.org/metas/corpo/blackspotshoes/info.php |title=Blackspot &#124; Adbusters Culturejammer Headquarters |access-date=29 March 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080720081744/http://www.adbusters.org/metas/corpo/blackspotshoes/info.php |archive-date=20 July 2008 }}</ref> The sale of more than twenty-five thousand pairs<ref name="adbusters.org">{{cite web |url=http://adbusters.org/metas/corpo/blackspotshoes/info.php |title=Blackspot – Blackspot Shoes |publisher=Adbusters.org |access-date=29 March 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080720081744/http://www.adbusters.org/metas/corpo/blackspotshoes/info.php |archive-date=20 July 2008}}</ref> through an alternative distribution network is an example of Western consumer activism marketing.<ref name="adbusters.org" />

Adbusters describes its goals vis-à-vis Blackspot as follows:

{{blockquote|Blackspot shoes is our experiment with grassroots capitalism. After spending many years railing against the practices of megacorporations like McDonalds, Starbucks and Nike, we wanted to prove that running an ethical, environmentally responsible business is possible ... and that taking market share away from megacorporations is better than whining about them.<ref>{{cite web | title = Support + Subscribe | work = Adbusters.org | url = http://www.adbusters.org/support_subscribe | access-date = 20 May 2012 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120519224410/http://www.adbusters.org/support_subscribe | archive-date = 19 May 2012}} Text 'hidden' under the "Why do we sell?" tab.</ref>}}

====Reception====
Heath and Potter's ''[[The Rebel Sell]]'', which is critical of Adbusters, claimed that the blackspot shoe's existence proves that "no rational person could possibly believe that there is any tension between 'mainstream' and 'alternative' culture."<ref name="rebel" />

In the June 2008 cover story of ''[[Businessweek|BusinessWeek Small Business Magazine]]'', the Blackspot campaign was among three profiled in a piece focusing on "antipreneurs." Two advertising executives were asked to review the campaign for the article's "Ask the Experts" sidebar.  Brian Martin of ''Brand Connections'' and Dave Weaver of [[TM Advertising]] both gave the campaign favorable reviews.

Martin noted that Blackspot was effectively telling consumers, "We know we are marketing to you, and you are as good as we are at this, and your opinion matters," while Weaver stated that "This is not a call to sales of the shoe so much as it is a call to participate in the community of Adbusters by buying the shoe."<ref>{{cite web | title = Meet the Antipreneurs | date = June–July 2008 |publisher = businessweek.com | url = http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_66/s0806039879656.htm?chan=search | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090201224951/http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_66/s0806039879656.htm?chan=search | url-status = dead | archive-date = 1 February 2009 | access-date =31 July 2008 }}</ref>