# BUGA UP Billboard Alteration

> An Australian anti-smoking and anti-alcohol campaign of unauthorised civil disobedience that altered existing billboards, blanking some letters and adding others so the slogan turned against its product, then signed BUGA UP. It is a style because the method fixes a signature: detourned commercial lettering at street scale under a shared name. Colour is borrowed from each host ad (the palette is illustrative). Peak: late 1970s to mid-1980s; the 1992 tobacco-advertising ban is context.

- Period: 1979–1985
- Where: Oceania
- Origin: Inner-city Sydney, October 1979: Bill Snow, Ric Bolzan and Geoff Coleman; spread to Melbourne, Hobart, Adelaide and Perth. Arthur Chesterfield-Evans was a member before entering politics
- Branch: Counterculture
- Also known as: B.U.G.A.U.P., Billboard Utilising Graffitists Against Unhealthy Promotions, Australian billboard liberation
- Page: https://stylogeny.com/styles/buga-up/

## How it works

- Alter the existing advertisement instead of making a new image, so the original layout carries the argument.
- Blank out chosen letters and paint in new ones until the slogan reverses its own meaning.
- Match the host ad's lettering closely enough that the edit reads as the advertiser confessing.
- Keep the change small and the wit dry; one or two altered words outweigh a paragraph of protest.
- Sign every alteration with the BUGA UP name so separate acts read as one movement.

## Its design choices

Defining choices make the style, characteristic ones are usual, occasional ones turn up now and then.

### Layout & composition
- [Full bleed](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/full-bleed/) (occasional)

### Space & hierarchy
- [Extreme scale contrast](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/extreme-scale-contrast/) (characteristic)
- [Single focal point](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/single-focal-point/) (characteristic)
- [Visual tension](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/visual-tension/) (characteristic)

### Typography
- [Hand-lettering](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/hand-lettering/) (defining)
- [Type as image](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/type-as-image/) (defining)
- [Grotesque & neo-grotesque](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/grotesque-and-neo-grotesque/) (occasional)

### Colour
- [Flat fields](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat-fields/) (characteristic)
- [Limited spot colours](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/limited-spot-colours/) (occasional)

### Form & shape
- [Naturalistic depiction](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/naturalistic-depiction/) (occasional)

### Surface & texture
- [Painterly brushwork](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/painterly-brushwork/) (characteristic)
- [Flat](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat/) (characteristic)

### Ornament
- [Ornament-free](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/ornament-free/) (characteristic)

### Imagery
- [Found & vernacular imagery](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/found-and-vernacular-imagery/) (defining)
- [Typography only](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/typography-only/) (occasional)

### Medium & production
- [Architecture & signage](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/architecture-and-signage/) (defining)
- [Hand-painted](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/hand-painted/) (defining)

### Tone & intent
- [Ironic & self-aware](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/ironic-and-self-aware/) (defining)
- [Rebellious & subversive](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/rebellious-and-subversive/) (defining)
- [Playful & witty](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/playful-and-witty/) (occasional)

Avoids: Abundant decoration, Floral & vegetal, Luxurious & glamorous, Calm & contemplative, Script, Modular grid, Generous white space

Palette: #c8102e, #ffffff, #111111, #f2c200

Typefaces: Hand-painted block capitals matched to the billboard's own lettering, Commercial grotesque advertising type of the host ads (altered, not chosen)

Known for: Marlboro billboard, North Sydney, altered to read 'it's a bore'; Arthur Chesterfield-Evans, BUGA UP member before entering NSW politics; Cancer Council of Western Australia credited the campaign with making it 'suddenly more respectable' for medical bodies to push for advertising reform

## Where it comes from, and what it’s close to

- Grew out of: [Situationist Détournement Graphics](https://stylogeny.com/styles/situationist-detournement.md) (1956–1972)
- Influenced by: [Punk & DIY Zine](https://stylogeny.com/styles/punk-diy.md) (1976–1986)
- Alike in its design choices: [Ultras Graphics (Curva Banners and Tifo)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/ultras-graphics.md) (1968–present), 60% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Israeli Political Poster (Tartakover to Lemel)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/israeli-political-poster.md) (1978–present), 59% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Stencil Street Art](https://stylogeny.com/styles/stencil-street-art.md) (1978–present), 56% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [West German Conceptual Film & Culture Poster (Hillmann and Rambow)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/neue-filmkunst-poster.md) (1953–1990), 52% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Black Lives Matter Street Murals](https://stylogeny.com/styles/blm-street-murals.md) (2020–present), 50% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Atelier Populaire (May '68 Screenprint Poster)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/atelier-populaire.md) (1968), 49% alike

## Sources

- Wikipedia, Billboard Utilising Graffitists Against Unhealthy Promotions (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_Utilising_Graffitists_Against_Unhealthy_Promotions)
- 'Civil Disobedience and Tobacco Control: The Case of BUGA UP', listed in the Wikipedia article's references (not independently verified)
- Cancer Council Western Australia monograph on tobacco control, as cited on Wikipedia (not independently verified)

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From Stylogeny (https://stylogeny.com/), an atlas of graphic-design styles by Van Riel Online Services. How it is made: https://stylogeny.com/about/. Cite as: Stylogeny, “BUGA UP Billboard Alteration”, https://stylogeny.com/styles/buga-up/