Well hello again, 

As our time in the desert nears, I want to say a few words about one of the most unique aspects of the Burning Man experience — Decommodification. This principle reads:

In order to preserve the spirit of gifting, our community seeks to create social environments that are unmediated by commercial sponsorships, transactions, or advertising. We stand ready to protect our culture from such exploitation. We resist the substitution of consumption for participatory experience.

Yes, that.

Last summer, I put a lot of thought into “Friends don’t let friends exploit Burning Man,” an email that laid out some ways we can keep commodification out of our community. The overall message was: “We value creativity, connection, and sharing authentic experiences with each other over commercial sponsorships, advertising and transactions. Here’s how you can do the right thing.” I hoped it would make a difference but I’m not sure it did.
 

We value you, not what you have
In short, Burning Man is not, and cannot, be a backdrop for any commercial efforts. Default world companies are always wanting to piggyback onto what’s “cool” in the hopes it will make them cool by association. People are welcome to promote themselves, their products, and their businesses at every other event that we know of, quite literally everywhere else in the world. In Black Rock City though, we aspire to have a different kind of experience. One that is free of commercialism and transactional relationships. 

I’m not going to mince words. Burning Man is under attack. Year after year, our art and culture are increasingly being exploited by commercialization. It worries me and it should worry you.

Prepare to facepalm
In 2018, a tech company hosted a logo’d launch party on playa for their latest mobile app, the designers of an art project treated the event as a media opportunity, and a global upscale fashion brand made luxury products using the likeness of one of the playa’s artworks.

Now, I’m not going to get into all the ways I see our principles being eroded by greed or by people not thinking. Negative attention is still attention and we’d be playing right into their hands if we publicly named them. But believe me, folks, it’s real bad.

I double-dog dare you to show me your real photos of Burning Man on social media: the gritty ones, the ones of you making art, the ones of you dirty and dusty, the real ones. 

Reclaim the hashtag #burningman.

If you’re on Instagram, you might have explored that #burningman tag I wrote about in my first email and come across so-called “influencers” showing off their playa wares (check out this Burning Man Journal piece about this particular issue).

Participation > Consumption, Gifting > Selling, Making > Buying
Since the exploitation of our community is such a big issue, and one that threatens to damage our culture, I’m asking you to get involved. It’s not enough to simply go, “Tsk, tsk, someone should do something about that.” You are that someone. You need to do something. 

There’s a crazy story going around that a bunch of folks, dressed in nothing but adult diapers, went around photobombing Insta-models who were using Burning Man as a backdrop for their fashion shoot. These diaper-clad people not only brought a touch of the weird to the playa, but they also put a spotlight on the problem of commodification in a hilarious way. 

I’m not asking you to be confrontational. There’s no need to incite a riot. If photobombing fashion shoots in diapers isn’t your thing (though I kind of hope it is), think of ways you can help eradicate the commercialism of Burning Man. Be curious. Ask questions. If you see what looks to be a photoshoot, gently ask if it is. If you see someone handing out branded product samples, engage with them. If you get invited to some kind of a “launch party” on the playa, inform a Black Rock Ranger or contact Media Mecca in Center Camp.

Please, everyone’s help is needed to release the grip commercial exploitation has on our beloved non-transactional community. Do your part, do better, pretty please with a cherry on top. 

Best,

Charlie “Louder!” Dolman

P.S. One more to go, folks. I can practically smell the playa dust from here.

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