Britney Defaced NYC Subway Posters: Post 9/11 Vandalism. Where can I find it?

[rik]

Hey guys! I’m kind of getting big on collecting items (not even Britney related but, art and music from the 2000s)

https://ibb.co/PMWrKmT

im actually getting a shirt worn by a crew member at the 2001 VMAs because I think it’s really cool, and have recently got some VHS. I was wondering if you guys would be willing to help me locate something very specific. 
 

In November 2001, just 2 months after 9/11, Britney’s HBO special premiered.  several ads promoting the HBO special were plastered on billboards in subway stations across the city. They were defaced. People were very angry during this time about the emphasis on pop culture as opposed to the existing political climate. Just under a month before the graffiti and defaced posters were spotted around subways in New York, President George W. Bush announced the US invasion in Afghanistan. This decision has invoked countless of deaths (military and everyone on the ground) and global criticism. The war on terror continues today.
 

https://youtu.be/osXkym5GHXI

Some defaced posters read ‘it’s Over’, ‘can we afford this anymore’, ‘America’s *****’, and ‘Britney Spears is everyrhinf wrong with America’.  Some posters call Britney ‘self righteous’, and have scribbles of the Taliban. It’s strange that society attributed grievance and blame to Britney for the actions of governments and terrorist organizations?  it was easy to back then I guess, but isn’t excusable.

I wonder if anyone looks back at this now and thinks, holy **** that was cruel and quite s**ist. Either way, I believe this is a piece of modern art that America should be ashamed of, but also not hide. It’s actually quite an interesting piece and telling of where North America was just under 2 decades ago. 
 

Anyway, I know that @Jordan Miller said we might be opening a merch store soon so I was wondering if anyone knew where I could locate this historical artifact? Were these destroyed shortly after? Anyone know how much these could sell for? 
 

original source: https://mrbellersneighborhood.com/2001/11/defacing-britney

Defacing Britney

By WILL BECTON AND STEPHEN HOBAN • 11/21/2001Neighborhood: ALL OVER, MULTIPLE

 

[DollyParton]

I remember this very well. 

[MeAgainstTheMusic_]

America is what’s wrong with America 

[rik]

3 hours ago, AreYouReady said:

I remember this very well. 

Omg tell me ur thoughts 

 

3 hours ago, MeAgainstTheMusic_ said:

America is what’s wrong with America 

yup

 

@Midnight feature this I wanna know where these are/what happened to them 

[Isla]

These are so ****ed up, although I’m not sure why’d you want to own one?

[Oxic]

Really interesting perspective, I had never been aware of the national context when that concert happened.

[rik]

21 minutes ago, Isla said:

These are so ****ed up, although I’m not sure why’d you want to own one?

I mean I think it would be kind of cool to own a piece of history that says Britney Spears is everything wrong with America, it’s edgy and very telling of the amount of power and controversy (even though she didn’t deserve this level of backlash) during this time. 
think of it as owning an artifact. I personally wouldn’t want anything beyond the “everythint wrong w America” one 

 

17 minutes ago, Oxic said:

Really interesting perspective, I had never been aware of the national context when that concert happened.

yes an icon

[Isla]

16 minutes ago, Rik said:

I mean I think it would be kind of cool to own a piece of history that says Britney Spears is everything wrong with America, it’s edgy and very telling of the amount of power and controversy (even though she didn’t deserve this level of backlash) during this time. 
think of it as owning an artifact. I personally wouldn’t want anything beyond the “everythint wrong w America” one 

 

yes an icon

Ahh I get you

[DollyParton]

12 hours ago, Rik said:

Omg tell me ur thoughts 

 

yup

 

@Midnight feature this I wanna know where these are/what happened to them 

For me at that time i realized how much hated she became, even when she still was with Justin. She was soo overexposed, at the same time she tried to changed her image from sweet girl to a more mature image, but the public saw this as ‘slutty’, so she became such an easy target to be hated. 
 

i was only 10 around this time, but one of Britney biggest fan. I remember it very well, and also  remembered i didnt like this new mature image and also started to dislike Britney actually. 

[Look But Don't Touch]

12 hours ago, Rik said:

I wanna know where these are/what happened to them 

Umm they are most likely destroyed now lol after the promo ended they get rid of it I guess and threw it away in little pieces, who would keep something like that 

[ifuseekleon]

You could always locate a clean promo poster and deface it yourself? 

I think these promo posters were glued on to the surfaces whether it be a wall or a billboard space so these were most likely unusable after that, i think if anyone attempted to peel them off they'd come off in ripped pieces

I hope you find something though 

[rik]

2 hours ago, ifuseekleon said:

You could always locate a clean promo poster and deface it yourself? 

  I guess I could but   wouldn’t ever deface that myself especially because theyre super expensive on ebay

You’re absolutely right though, I assume it’s been ripped off perhaps because you can see the TLC poster right underneath one of the posters (the blue face under one of them in the link)

I wish someone kept these honestly. At least many pictures were taken! 

Perhaps ill get them scanned and developed onto film or something 

3 hours ago, Look But Don't Touch said:

Umm they are most likely destroyed now lol after the promo ended they get rid of it I guess and threw it away in little pieces, who would keep something like that 

 

[HIM]

People are so fascinated by *****. They draw them so well. Points for the art and dedication  

[rik]

5 minutes ago, HIM said:

People are so fascinated by *****. They draw them so well. Points for the art and dedication  

It is interesting that they went to every subway station for this. It also clearly got attention. Also let’s not act like Lana del ray doesnt have a pic of Kevin federline with his throat cut open in her living room lol 

this is something from 2001, it’s interesting to see where we have come and what we still need to improve on

[Look But Don't Touch]

32 minutes ago, Rik said:

 

[Oprah Winfrey.]

Well damn I never knew this, I was born in 2000 so… 

now it makes sense why she  honored the troops during the hbo special…I’ve also done research in the past and yeah Britney was literally the “American Dream” young hot blonde and rich. I heard her music is representative of America in an article and I still remember when people thought she was being used as a distraction all throughout the bush administration (some speculate to shave her head to take focus off the wrong BUSH was doing) 

I think this same article mentioned they used Britney’s music to scare off Somalian pirates cus the pirates immediately knew the ship was American when they heard Britney… I still don’t how accurate that is lol

huh I mean it wouldn’t be the far fetch of idea to think the media has used Britney and pop culture as distractions over the years. That’s kinda what celebrities are used for tbh to keep us entertained and take focus off our stressors

i mean even currently the freeBritney movement was being called a bipartisan issue that both sides of the government can come together on