SF’s latest guerrilla ad campaign is fighting AI propaganda with a dose of profane satire, as two local social media accounts join forces to mock the city’s relentless barrage of AI billboards while taking aim at billionaire-backed politics.
Parody punk band Civic Joy Fucks unveiled a new series of guerrilla posters on social media this week in partnership with the collective Upcycled Brigade, taking aim at the relentless AI advertising campaigns blanketing San Francisco with messages urging businesses to replace human workers with artificial intelligence.
In announcing the campaign, Civic Joy Fucks joked that the existing AI ads were too "cryptic," prompting the group to produce a more explicit parody.
The hand-painted posters use the same blunt, confrontational approach as the ads they parody, with one telling workers they should expect to be left destitute after AI takes their jobs.
“We hope you die cold and alone on the streets after our AI employee replaces you, you piece of shit,” reads one poster. Another mocks the prospect of more AI advertising, declaring that residents should expect even more of it.
The campaign follows the recent debut of Civic Joy Fucks, a parody punk band featuring performers dressed as Mayor Daniel Lurie and other figures associated with the city’s tech and political establishment, as Coyote Media reported. The group has partnered with the Upcycled Brigade, a local collective that creates hand-drawn, hand-lettered posters to challenge corporate messaging and political power.
The Upcycled Brigade has spent the past few years installing guerrilla ads addressing international conflicts, corporate power, and local politics. Its earlier work included posters supporting Palestinians and Iranians, as well as messages criticizing tech companies including Palantir, Google, and Amazon.
One poster altered Google’s branding to read “Genocide,” accompanied by a caption accusing the company of profiting from the genocide of Palestinians. Another called for taxing the wealthy, providing free Muni service, and boycotting Israel, while invoking New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s political platform.
The collective is also urging residents to vote for Connie Chan for US Congress and Jt Brookter for District 10 Supervisor in the upcoming election, criticizing billionaire influence over San Francisco elections.
As SFist reported last year, a different group called Replacement.ai paid to run parody billboards in San Francisco and New York City, including one above Bar 49 at 16th and Market streets thanking artists for contributing their work to AI systems without compensation.
Another billboard mocked AI companies' assurances about the responsible use of their products, joking that a system capable of explaining how to build bioweapons had merely asked users to promise not to misuse it.
Related: Fake, Satirical Startup 'Replacement.AI' Puts Up Haunting Billboards In SF, NYC
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