Issue and Opponent: The issue at hand was the ability of tobacco companies to advertise in any medium, leading to cigarette ads being extremely commonplace in everyday life. The opponent was tobacco companies.
Dilemma Action: People believed that smoking could only be solved through methods of behavioral change. BUGA UP combatted this, instead pushing the idea that policy solutions would be useful in solving tobacco addiction. The method used was “subvertising” which represented how the group subverted common ads. Some actions were refacing billboard ads, revising slogans, and impeding tobacco-related events. They spray painted over letters and used similar colors to alter the billboard to display, often comical, anti-tobacco messaging while still appearing like the original ad. Over 50 billboards a week were being tampered with. The opposition subjected the tobacco companies to a dilemma action (either they do nothing and allow their satirization or spend resources to mitigate the campaign’s pressure).
Outcomes: The public and media response was very positive. Some BUGA UP graffiti artists would alter billboards in the daylight to broaden support, and many artists would be encouraged by passersby as they changed tobacco messaging. Over 30 people were arrested between 19780994. In 1994, Australia banned tobacco ads on billboards, which many attributed to BUGA UP. BUGA UP started a larger campaign, in which altering ads was one tactic used. Another tactic was used at the Marlboro Australian Open tennis tournament, in which BUGA UP Sky wrote “cancer country” above.