From May 28th – 31st the Société de Développement du Boulevard Saint-Laurent (SDBSL) hosted a four day party known as the Mainfest. Despite bad weather reports, the sun shone radiantly throughout most of the festival. This was wonderful for local merchants, musicians, performers, and pedestrians who converged at the Mainfest to participate in a multitude of activities. This was also fantastic for the Schering-Plough Corporation because their brand Coppertone set up a promotional stand at the festival to distribute sunscreen and inform pedestrians about Coppertone products as part of a guerrilla marketing campaign. An entire weekend of rain would have put a damper on Coppertone’s sunscreen publicity.

Under the bright sun, Coppertone promoters gave pedestrians free samples of sunscreen while warning them about the problems caused by the sun’s ultra violet rays. They also invited people to have a free evaluation of their facial skin to test for existing sun damage. The test was administered by a man in a white laboratory coat in the shade beneath a Coppertone branded umbrella. He performed his test with a “diagnostic camera” which took one picture, developed it in two different ways laid out side by side. On the left, the picture appeared overexposed and hid any skin blemish and on the right, the picture was underexposed revealing every wrinkle and spot on one’s face. The diagnosis was performed by comparing the two pictures. The man pointed out skin abnormalities from the underexposed picture. If he found skin problems participants were told that they could prevent further harm by using Coppertone products. If he found no damage, people were told to use Coppertone to prevent future skin problems.

Instead of thanking Coppertone for caring so much about my well being, I approached the Coppertone display to ask some very important questions. Why was Coppertone so concerned about my skin? Do they truly care or is this another marketing ploy to brand the Coppertone name? Is their diagnosis real or is it a sales tactic? How qualified is the man giving the diagnosis? I know that sun exposure can cause skin damage, but can Coppertone really protect me? Does Coppertone contain any ingredients which cause skin damage? These questions induced a little panic in the Coppertone promotion team. I guess the presence of my camera man didn’t help. Though, I didn’t get to the bottom of all these questions, I did discover some awful truths about their campaign.

Since the promoters didn’t work for Coppertone it was hard to find out anything about their products. Coppertone paid actors and event organizers from New Ad, a marketing company who delivers young people to corporations, and a nurse from Quality Health Services LTD. The nurse alleged that he could not make any formal diagnoses because he was not a doctor. In fact, none of the promotional staff could not answer any questions about how the product worked, how it was made, what ingredients were in the sunscreen or if any ingredients used in the sunscreen were harmful.

Like the glare of the sun, light shed on the true intentions of Coppertone’s promotional spectacle. Coppertone’s campaign was not designed to help people but to scare them.  If someone is told that they may develop skin cancer because they are not well protected from the sun, they should be more likely to take advice from the street promoters and apply Coppertone sunscreen. Furthermore, if people are told they have skin problems from someone that resembles a doctor, they may be scared enough to use Coppertone more frequently so the ‘damage’ doesn’t escalate, especially if the Coppertone name is associated with cancer prevention. If Coppertone was really concerned about people’s skin, they would have hired real doctors to make real medical assessments instead of contracting a nurse from Quality Health Services LTD who can only provide an unprofessional opinion. He only told me he was a nurse and that he was not making an actual diagnosis after I inquired. Those who didn’t ask may have assumed he was a doctor giving valid evaluations, prescribing Coppertone to prevent skin cancer.

If Coppertone sunscreen really prevented skin cancer, my argument could be moot. Maybe a little scare for something healthy wouldn’t be so bad after all. These tactics are commonly used in anti-smoking and anti-drinking and driving commercials. The main problem is that Coppertone sunscreen does not do very well in research conducted by independent sources.

In 2008, the Environmental Working Group conducted an investigation of nearly 1 000 brand name sunscreens. This report concluded that none of Coppertone’s 41 sunscreens met the Environmental Working Group’s criteria for safety and effectiveness. Coppertone was accused of using dangerous ingredients including Oxybenzone, which is reported to be a possible cancer causing agent (for a comprehensive list of harmful ingredients used by Coppertone, follow this link).

The other sources of research on Coppertone products are conducted and/ or  sponsored by Coppertone themselves. The Coppertone Solar Research Center is responsible for testing Coppertone’s sunscreen for safety and effectiveness. This center was opened in 1971 and is described by Coppertone as the world’s largest state of the art facility for testing the quality of their sun-care products. In addition, the Coppertone Research Fund was established to provide financial support for dermatology research in Canada. Research on Coppertone sunscreen is mainly conducted by their research center through their charity fund, a blatant conflict of interest. In addition, they hire promoters, like those at the Mainfest, who cannot answer basic questions regarding the safety or effectiveness of their sunscreen.

Coppertone’s Mainfest masquerade came to an end when members of the Optative Theatrical Laboratories drew attention to the hypocrisy of associating Coppertone sunscreen to cancer prevention, especially by promoters who know nothing about the product. Since Coppertone paid actors to promote their sunscreen at the Mainfest, we intervened by sending in actors of our own. Because of the insincerity of their campaign, they were culture jammed. Here is what transpired:

In an attempt to diversify its media holdings and reach a new, more socially aware public, CanWest Global Communications Corporation has purchased several internet sites, blogs and forums deemed until recently to be too small-scale for a large media corporation to even be interested in.  This online publication, the OTL Blog, is one of them.

“Let’s face it,” said Canwest Global CEO Leonard Asper in a press conference yesterday, “our audience is aging and those who will replace them are fed up with traditional media and are turning to the internet.”

CanWest CEO Leonard Asper announcing purchase of this blog and other internet properties yesterday

Asper doesn’t feel that the canada.com network or the online versions of his company’s traditional media holdings, which include the Global television network and newspapers like the Montreal Gazette, are up to the task of attracting the new, socially aware audiences that advertisers covet.  Instead, the company has opted to simply purchase new media that attracts them already.

Readers of this blog who have grow accustomed to its more, dare we say, radical spin on current events and the arts have nothing to fear.  CanWest assures surfers that the content style of all purchased publications will remain unchanged.

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“We don’t want to upset the apple cart,” joked Asper, “we’ll leave that to the writers!  It is very important to us that the new web properties we acquired retain their cool, after all, that’s why people read them.”

What maintaining cool means for this blog in particular is that lamer elements will be pushed to the background to allow more hip and fashionable elements to have their moment in the sun.  For example, we are in the process of re-editing the post about the anti police brutality march to include a couple of paragraphs about the stylish military fatigues worn by the cops and where you can purchase them yourself!

We’re also going to be altering some of the language used to make things cooler.  The term repression, for example, is clichéd.  Instead, we’ll be talking about radical or extreme cop actions and rate the police officer’s athletic ability in what’s going to be called the Teargass Throwing Olympics!

Also, instead of drab posts about feminists burying apples or arguing about abortion rights, we’re going to focus on some of the hotties in the crowd and give away a cosmetics kit (courtesy of L’Oreale) to the sexiest chick we find at each demonstration!

Some of our regular writers may not be happy with these changes, but they will be happy with their paychecks.  Some readers may say that we’ve gone too far, but that’s what happens when you push the envelope, baby!  Isn’t that, after all, what radicalism is all about?

Asper, it seems, would agree and is excited about his company’s purchase of this and other publications.  He summed up his views on this venture and concluded the press conference with two words:

“APRIL FOOLS!!!”

Montreal hosts North America’s oldest St. Patrick’s Day parade, which started officially in 1817, even though its roots go back as far as 1759.  With such an ancient history by Canadian standards, many assume that the parade is steeped in authenticity. After witnessing the parade this year, however, many viewers were left with the impression that the event was mostly a military and police parade and with lots of corporate advertising and very little trace of Irish authenticity, history or meaningful celebration.

Usually scheduled on the Sunday closest to March 17, St. Patrick’s Day proper, this year the parade was moved up a week to Sunday the 22nd, allegedly in hopes of having better weather. There is speculation that parade organizers were concerned about spillover into the parade from last Sunday’s anti-police brutality demonstration, which could have created a dangerous situation. Police firing tear gas into the parade crowd and clashing violently with demonstrators could easily have provoked a riot. Organizers also surprised the public by banning Falun Dafa activists from the parade despite their marching presence for over 5 years. Parade spokesperson Gerald Showers attempted to explain the rationale behind the ban by suggesting The Falun Gong practitioners “have a hard time with instructions,” and that “we’ve asked them repeatedly to stop giving out pamphlets that depict torture and some of the reasons why they’re in the parade.” Gerald Showers, representing the United Irish Societies of Montreal, claimed: “We have very clear rules about parade conduct, and people who don’t adhere to the rules aren’t asked back…The parade is a celebration, not a demonstration.”

Replacing the Falun Dafa activists accused of holding a “demonstration” against oppression was a demonstration of military power. After giving the activists the boot, Gerald Showers boasted of his replacement “celebration”:

“Between 12:50 and 1:10 p.m. two CF-18 fighter jets…from CFB Bagotville will fly about four fly-pasts from west to east (over the parade)…From 1:20 p.m. to 1:40 p.m. we’ll have three CH-146 Griffon helicopters doing four fly-pasts.”

It was difficult to understand how the United Irish Societies chose to differentiate between “demonstration” and “celebration”; while activists accused of “demonstrating” were banned, the massive military presence was deemed a “celebration,” despite the fact that the British imperialist history of these forces is clearly at odds with the Irish experience. Indeed, because Canada was colonized and created by Great Britain and because Canada’s head of state is still the Queen of England, these military units are essentially cut from the same cloth as the oppressive British forces that provoked historical Irish tragedies such as the Great Famine and Northern Ireland’s Troubles.

The latest edition of the St. patrick’s Day parade, its 185th, began with a phalanx of decidedly non-Irish security forces marching, such as the Montreal Police, RCMP, and Canadian military.

Indeed, the majority of the parade involved military units, secret societies and corporations marching, advertising both violent warfare and consumer products. The most shocking reality advertisement was by the clothing store L’Equipeur, who had people carry their billboards at regular intervals throughout the parade, much like a repetitive commercial on TV (albeit one that cannot be muted or blocked out)! L’Equipeur and parent company Mark’s Work Warehouse certainly deserve to be boycotted en masse for polluting the parade with their corporate spam. Many other corporate advertisements played prominently throughout the parade, and in contrast to the life-affirming, yet banned Falun Gong practitioners, one reality ad appeared for the francophone Urgel Bourgie funeral home.

As though Gerald Showers’ corporate “celebration” wasn’t enough already, true to his word, military helicopters and fighter jets flew past overhead in an intimidating performance, drowning out all sounds of human celebration with their noise pollution.

Following the parade, police became more heavy-handed than usual. After arresting 221 people last Sunday, the Montreal police warned parade-goers against celebrating too heartily with a posting on the official parade site:

“1. Civil behaviour toward all event participants is expected. 2. Montreal’s public assets and urban furniture belong to the entire population: please treat them with respect. 3. The consumption of alcohol is strictly prohibited on public roads.”

The police made good on their threats to rain on the parade and arrested 10 celebrants, mostly for “public drunkenness” according to Montreal police Constable Raphaël Bergeron. Following the parade, revellers headed to the nearby bars on Crescent, Bishop and Mackay Streets. There are reports that around 4:30 p.m., after being provoked by police over 300 revellers spilled over into the parking lot between Crescent and Bishop. There was a standoff, and police dispersed the crowd with a group of about 20 officers.

A group of six police officers on bicycles were also seen arresting two young men, with one officer screaming, “he’s the one,” while another officer grabbed a man who was heading into the Pharmaprix on the corner of Ste. Catherine and Guy St. The man’s head was slammed into the glass window of the store as police handcuffed him, and then dragged him away into a police van.

Culturally-speaking, this parade demonstrated firstly how weak, diluted, and scattered Irish-Canadian culture has become, and secondly, how easy it is for oppressive powers like corporations and military units to co-opt and profit from vulnerable cultures. The sad thing is that until Montrealers of Irish heritage start standing up for their culture, their culture will continue to erode and deteriorate only to be replaced with a parasitic and ersatz corporate culture where profit and marketing takes precedence over real Irish heritage.

March 15th marked the 13th International Day Against Police Brutality, and in Montreal the mood was tense after an unusually brutal year whereby police officers killed a young man after they found him playing dice with his friends. Early in the evening on August 9th, 2008, 18 year old Fredy Villanueva was shot dead at point-blank range by Constable Jean-Loup Lapointe, as his accomplice, Stéphanie Pilotte, looked on. After killing the unarmed Villanueva, Lapointe went on to shoot two of the other youth present, one of them in the back. In Montreal police abuse is systemic, and there are special concerns about racial profiling, harassment of the disadvantaged, and police brutality in general.

Protest Against Police Brutality

Protesters met at 2 p.m. in front of Mount Royal metro station to express their displeasure with the Montreal police and their brutal ways. Organized by the Collective Opposed to Police Brutality (COBP), the protesters are demanding justice for victims of police brutality and the end of police oppression. The COPB also provides legal information for people who are threatened by police.

Unfortunately most years in Montreal the International Day Against Police Brutality turns violent once police begin attacking protesters. Ironically by instigating violence against those opposing police brutality, the police actually highlight the message that they are, in fact, brutal. Last year there were over 30 arrests after police turned violent.

Dramatically-speaking, it has been a farcical year in Montreal with the police attempting to control the theatre in the streets, demanding the banning of masks and even attempting to make illegal certain types of discourse, script or language. Exacerbating these problems is the fact that the police not only want to curtail critical drama on the streets, but they have also upped the stakes of their own intimidating performance;  allegedly as a form of protest for higher wages, police have altered their uniform/costume by dressing up in military fatigues. Despite the fact that the mayor of Montreal has asked police to act professionally and not to wear the camoflage pants at the protest, the police refused, essentially creating provocative recipe for violence.

The protest began at 2 p.m. at Mount Royal metro station. Usually a bustling square, the public space was transformed into a huge carnivalesque gathering place, with protesters preparing to march as the Chaotic Insurrection Ensemble rehearsed.

Chaotic Insurrection Ensemble rehearsing

The crowd was thick with arts-activists and many people wore masks of all varieties, a reminder of the recent victory against the attempted mask-ban.

Lovely dramatic masks

One man even dressed up as a Taser to raise awareness about the deadly police weapons.

Taser costume

Visiting the fringes of the gathering was a surreal experience, as critical citizens and dramatic voices melted away to what resembled a police state. Hidden in alleyways were riot cops, two helicopters buzzed overhead, and vans full of police officers lined surrounding streets.

Police chopper overhead

More overtly, a few lines of riot cops were visible on most sides of the square. One officer belonging to the very police force that attempted to ban masks was actually spotted wearing two masks himself.

Officer wearing 2 masks

Even more bizarrely, the horses of the cavalry unit were actually outfitted with riot masks.

Even police horses wore masks

At 2:30 p.m. the crowd began to surge and move. The marching band started playing, vegetables were thrown and fireworks exploded in the air, adding to the festive atmosphere. The line of riot police had to get out of the way at 2:50 p.m. as the protest surged to the west towards the tony Saint Denis street, which was quickly inundated with protesters chanting “A qui la rue? A nous la rue!” The Reclaim the Streets action quickly shut down traffic in both directions, and the avenue of pricey consumerism was transformed into a theatre of protest, complete with activist couples dancing as the Chaotic Insurrection Ensemble played on.

Dancing in the streets

As the carnivalesque march moved south, at around 3:25 p.m. it was greeted by a wall of riot cops on Saint Denis and Sherbrooke streets. Rather than let the dramatic march continue, police fired tear gas at the crowd, who responded by pelting their own projectiles such as vegetables, eggs, and paint bombs.

Police fire tear gas at activists

The police responded with more tear gas and strategies to divide and disperse the crowd. Activists broke into smaller groups and police played cat and mouse with many of them throughout the afternoon, with reports of rubber bullets being fired at demonstrators. How many people were injured by the police is the subject of speculation, but there is evidence that over 200 people were arrested, an unusually high number for a march of this nature. Shell casings retieved following the police tear gas attack revealled that the chemical weapon is actually called “Direct Impact”.

police chemical weapon casing

Upon reflection, this important protest was very theatrical in nature. As activists struggled for control of the street performance to get the critical message out, police cracked down on the show with their own brutal theatricality. It was empowering to see activists countering the police’s helicopters, cavalry units, tear gas shells, and military costumes – with fireworks, a DIY marching band, Reclaim the Streets, dramatic performances, and a strong, clear message that every Montrealer should heed - no more police brutality!

We’ve been getting quite a bit of it on this trip, both local (Halifax Herald, Daily News) and national (CBC, Globe and Mail).

Most of it is already online here:

www.optative.net/neptune/media.html

After a long drive and a day of flyering, talking to the media and in general having a good time in Halifax, we headed to Annapolis Royal for our first Nova Scotia show, yesterday, November 14th, the 400th anniversary of Lescarbot’s play.

Of course, we had to pay a visit to the “birthplace of drama” (really the birthplace of cultural genocide on Turtle Island), the Port Royal settlement. Neptune wasn’t all that happy to see us and gave a rainy reception to prove it.

Neptune even blew apart the umbrella that was keeping our camera dry. Fortunately, Trickster gave us a way to use this to our advantage. You’ll be able to see it all on video soon enough.

Back in Annapolis, we set up at the King’s Theatre, a wonderful space run by truly kind people who really care about the arts and what they mean.

Our show went well and the talkback was, um, heated….

It started off as a discussion about whether or not we could look at a 1606 play through 2006 eyes and degenerated into an argument where members of Musique 400, clearly not getting the distunction between cultural genocide (appropriating elements of native culture, re-shaping them to serve a colonialist purpose, then widely distributing them to effectively re-create perception of natives) and actual, physical genocide (killing people), decided to call our play “bullshit”.

While they seemed very dedicated to their arguments, they didn’t want to have their images associated with them in our documentary and demanded we stop filming, claiming that other people in the audience felt the same, which, we found out later, wasn’t the case.

In fact, the rest of the audience, and Annapolis Royal in general, seemed ready to take a closer look at the role that Lescarbot’s play has really played in history.

(this post has been expanded since it originally appeared)

The Montreal cast and crew of Sinking Neptune is leaving for Nova Scotia tomorrow morning.

We will be playing a show in Anapolis Royal at King’s Theatre on Tuesday, November 14th and two shows in Halifax at The Bus Stop on November 15th and 16th.

We’re going to help start the next 400 years of theatre off on a more inclusive, activist and critical foot and have already began to encounter much support and much resistance.

When something interesting happens, and it surely will, this is where it will be posted first.

Stay tuned…