012 skywriting and earthwriting
"These are words or symbols communicated to people over large distances by writing them in the unusual media of the sky or earth. Skywriting by airplane was used on October 15, 1969, to place a large nuclear disarmament symbol in the sky over the rally against the war in Vietnam, which was then taking place on the Common in Boston, Massachusetts.66 Earthwriting was used by a California rancher, Edwin Frazer, who lived near San Diego, when his milder protests against sonic booms from planes based at the nearby Miramar Naval Air Station had been ignored. In huge letters in his back pasture he ploughed the word QUIET. (It didn’t work either.67) Variations could be achieved by planting contrasting crops, trees and the like in the desired pattern, or by arranging such materials as rocks or shrubs in the form of a word or symbol on hillsides or mountains."...
High scoring campaigns using this method
Historical cases from the Nonviolent Action Database that used this method
Allegany County resists nuclear dumping, 1989-1990
The state of New York was required by federal law to have a nuclear waste dump by January 1, 1993. In 1988, a special siting committee formed to determine where to put the dump. The siting commission considered five sites in rural Allegany County, Ne...
Billboard Utilising Graffitists Against Unhealthy Promotions (BUGA UP) campaigns against tobacco advertising, Australia, 1978-1994
In the 70s and 80s in Australia, tobacco companies had free reign to advertise in nearly all media, and tobacco advertising was a visual mainstay throughout public spaces. In addition, the prevailing mainstream view considered smoking to be an issue ...
Peace activists pledge resistance against U.S. military intervention in Central America, 1984-1990
In the early 1980s, it was no secret that United States president Ronald Reagan would use any means necessary to end or prevent the influence of Communism and the Soviet Union around the globe. The two countries had been engaged in a bitter ideologic...
Blacks in Huntsville, Alabama, sit in and win racial desegregation at lunch counters, 1962
Huntsville, Alabama, grew quickly during the United States’ Space Race with the Soviet Union. From 1950 to 1960, the population tripled from 16,000 to 72,000, with 30% black citizens. With Redstone Arsenal and the National Aeronautics (NASA) bringing...
Harvard students campaign for a living wage, 1998-2002
In the fall of 1998, Harvard students began a Living Wage Campaign that would last for almost four years. The Campaign was headed by the Progressive Student Labor Movement (PSLM) and aimed to help all Harvard employees receive a “living wage”. The de...
Times Beach residents win fight for relocation from contaminated dioxin sites
Between 1970 and 1976, Russell Bliss used a toxic mixture of motor oil and dioxin to spray the unpaved roads in Times Beach, MO. The community hired Bliss, a career waste disposer, to reduce its dust problem. Unbeknownst to residents of the small tow...
Greenpeace challenges Costco, protects endangered seafood, 2011
On 20 June 2010 Greenpeace kicked off their campaign targeting Costco wholesale super market’s seafood policies by floating a blimp with the words “Costco: Wholesale Ocean Destruction” over the company’s corporate headquarters in Issaquah, Washington...
Residents protest, gain closure of Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant, USA, 2005-2013
The Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power plant has been running since 1972 in its home of Vernon, Vermont. Vermont Yankee was born at a time when environmentalists were cracking down on nuclear power. In between the 1970’s and 1990’s, numerous protests took ...
Argentines protest Uruguayan paper mills, 2005-2008
Argentina and Uruguay have a history of friendly diplomatic relations, with their countries sharing similar heritages, mutual alliances and significant cultural and political ties. However, following the 2005 announcement of the construction of two p...
Pennsylvanians campaign against nuclear-related Delaware River pump (Dump the Pump), USA, 1982-1988
In February of 1981, the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) unanimously approved the construction of a $42 million dollar water pump. The proposal claimed the pipeline would bring much-needed water to Montgomery County and areas of Bucks County. ...
Low scoring campaigns using this method
Historical cases from the Nonviolent Action Database that used this method