In 2013, Edward Snowden exposed some of the surveillance measures intelligence agencies enact in the name of public security. While much of the publicity surrounded America, and specifically the NSA, it emerged that the British government was far more intrusive than any other state implicated in the disclosures. Perhaps the most shocking of these revelations was how little the general population seemed to care.
We’re Always There intervenes with the public, and aims to subvert these institutions. The campaign re-appropriates familiar visual language, and introduces factual statements detailing invasions of privacy. The reading of road signs and more generic looking posters is a relatively formulaic task, which serves to make the antagonistic statement less expected, and more impactful.
The rhetoric excusing such unethical, and undemocratic surveillance is equal parts patronising and accusing. The strapline we’re always there offers both the reassurance that someone is looking out for you, but simultaneously alludes to a sinister omnipresence. The public is encouraged to intervene and subvert as they please, be it distributing materials, or creating their own—the only suggestion is to remind the world that we’re always there.
You can visit the sample website here.