Has this ever happened to you? You’ve just arrived home from BRC, you’re scrolling through Instagram, only to see people promoting their brands and clothing lines with pictures from the playa?

Doesn’t that break your heart a little?

It bums me out, too.

Burning Man truly is your opportunity to turn your phone off*, take a break from promoting how great your life is, and “be here now.” If we’re not careful, Burning Man could end up like the rest of the world, where advertising is so pervasive it doesn’t always register when we’re being sold to. We may not even notice anymore, but in the default world we’re always someone’s “target market.”

Black Rock City is a city where you are valued based on how you contribute to the community, not for who you are, what you have or what you’re selling. That’s why Burning Man’s Principle of Decommodification is so important for us to uphold as a community.

How can you help?

Here’s what NOT to do:

• DON’T photograph your product at Burning Man (not even your super-cool handmade festival belt)… not cool.

• DON’T use Burning Man imagery to promote your personal (or your company, or another company’s) brand, service or product… ick.

• DON’T commodify someone’s art or mutant vehicle by using it for selling or promoting something. Burning Man artists gift their work to citizens of Black Rock City… and they don’t appreciate it being in your ad.

• DJs: please DON’T use images or videos of your sets on playa -- or the fact that you “played at Burning Man” -- to promote your club gigs the rest of the year… just no.

• DON’T film your music video here, either. Black Rock City isn’t an awesome backdrop, it’s an actual community… really.

• Don’t even think of rolling up in an energy-drink-branded truck / car / bike / sampling vehicle... eye roll.

• Lastly, DON’T post your Burning Man photos on any business-affiliated Instagram or Facebook page… just don’t.

The absence of commercialism allows us the rare opportunity to gift rather than sell, to receive rather than buy. It allows us to try social currency instead of transactions.

A scene from They Live (1988)

Commercial sponsorships, advertising and transactions are not our way. Decommodification allows us to flip the default world’s capitalistic narrative, and instead focus on what really matters – creativity, connection, and sharing authentic experiences with each other.

Who are you and how will you act when you’re no longer bombarded by corporations trying to give you those answers, sell you their product, and your net worth or celeb status no longer gets you in the door? At Burning Man, you get to find out. But not unless we safeguard our community against exploitation.

Don’t forget to leave your logo’d clothes behind, too. If you must have words on your clothes, try stenciling some on with spray paint. It was good enough for the Sex Pistols! (Cover up those logos on rental vans and RVs too! But probably not with spray paint.) And seriously, why would you want to waste time in Black Rock City on social media? Put your phone away, be present, and tell your friends all about it afterward!

Most importantly, DO enjoy and appreciate this rare place where you are not being sold to…

P.S. Two down, three to go. Next up: As promised, more about consent…

* There are awesome professional photo galleries with lots of Burning Man pictures in case you need a memory prompt. (https://gallery.burningman.org/)

Ü-FALL photo by Julia Wolf aka foxgrrl

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Burning Man Project • 660 Alabama St. San Francisco, CA 94110 • 415-865-3800
Burning Man Project is a 501c3 nonprofit organization, tax ID 45-2638273.
All contributions are fully tax deductible to the extent allowable by law.