Last week, we came across a cleverly subversive advertisement for Meta’s controversial smart glasses, which overlaid socialite Kylie Jenner’s face with one of the terrifying bug-eyed monsters from John Carpenter’s “They Live” and a bold type caption that reads “We’re always watching” when viewed from a specific angle.
The billboard, created by activist group Everyone Hates Elon, called attention to how Meta’s camera-adorned and AI-enabled spectacles have quickly turned into a privacy-invading nightmare. The optics of the problem is so bad that Meta is now trying to ban “manfluencers” and juvenile pranksters who use the glasses to record members of the public without their consent.
The public backlash has become so strong, even those who bought a pair of the “pervert glasses” are choosing to leave them at home.
Now, the activist group has come up with its next — and even more brutal — stunt. A new “advertisement” adorning a bus station in London, not far from Meta’s King’s Cross office, shows late sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein wearing a pair of the specs while getting his picture taken for the New York sex offender registry.
“Glasses for people who don’t do consent,” the caption reads.
Glasses for people who don’t do consent - simple but true
Not surprising given that they are also produced by people who don’t do consent.
If we’re calling these “pervert glasses” does that mean we need to also start calling all the surveillance cameras that routinely record video of people without their consent or awareness “pervert cameras”? Because I’d be okay with that.
Yes.
Especially because cops abuse them for stalking their sexual victims.
CCTV cameras aren’t at chest level. Or upskirt level.
I’m seriously worried some bros would find this non ironically appealing. Incidentally these are probably the target demographic for the product. I’m happy this subversive piece states clearly to the rest of us what Meta would prefer to dog whistle. I love love love ad subversion. We are relentlessly subjected to increasingly dystopian omnipresent consumerist discourse and an answer is necessary.
Image just needs a “/s” at the bottom
