The Anti-Permanent Pearlman Poster League of the East (APPPLE) was an early (1979-1984) example of grass-roots

political satire Political satire is a type of satire that specializes in gaining entertainment from politics. Political satire can also act as a tool for advancing political arguments in conditions where political speech and dissent are banned. Political satir ...

performed to generate media coverage. It employed tactics now known as

culture jamming Culture jamming (sometimes also guerrilla communication) is a form of protest used by many anti-consumerist social movements to disrupt or subvert media culture and its mainstream cultural institutions, including corporate advertising. It at ...

and guerilla communication.

History

The group was founded to protest

Al Pearlman Al Pearlman was a Democratic member of Philadelphia City Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a cit ...

, a Philadelphia councilman in the 1970s and 1980s. Pearlman had a habit of campaigning through masonite signs, 2x4 feet, nailed to

telephone A telephone, colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that enables two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most ...

poles fifteen feet off the ground; though required by law, these were not removed after elections, and some stayed up for several elections and were simply modified from one election to the next. The group argued, in a 1979 call to ''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', often referred to simply as ''The Inquirer'', is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded on June 1, 1829, ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is the third-longest continuously operating da ...

'' that explained the first poster, that Pearlman should pay rent for the signs. The Pearlman posters featured pictures of Pearlman, which the Anti-Pearlman Permanent Poster League would decorate with creative new designs in the broad daylight wearing white coveralls with a large apple on the back. They would often call

Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', often referred to simply as ''The Inquirer'', is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded on June 1, 1829, ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is the third-longest continuously operating da ...

columnist

Clark DeLeon Clark is an English language surname with historical links to England, Scotland, and Ireland, ultimately derived from the Latin ''clericus'' meaning "scribe", "secretary" or a scholar within a religious order, referring to someone who was educated ...

prior to the redesign jobs who would month after month reveal their latest exploits to his readers with stories and pictures. Most of the posters were removed by Pearlman's people within days of the changes.

Known posters

References

{{Reflist Culture jamming Posters