Animal rights have been increasing in prominence over the last few years through the prism of vegetarianism and veganism. Brighton has been a hotspot for vegan activism over the last few years, and there a lot of protest stickers in the city encouraging people not to eat meat. However, there are many other areas where animal rights are compromised including fur, testing on animals, mass extinctions, and live animal transportation, and these topics also feature in protest stickers relatively often.
The Animal Liberation Front is a leaderless resistance movement that undertakes direct action in support of animal rights. Some consider them to be terrorists (Photo: Hannah Awcock, Church Road, 24/04/19).Another anti-fur sticker with a pretty unequivocal message. I thought that public opinion had mainly turned against fur, but it is still common enough for activists to see it as an important issue (Photo: Hannah Awcock, New Road, 04/02/17).Respect for Animals is an organisation based in Nottingham that campaigns against the international fur trade (Photo: Hannah Awcock, Dyke Road, 06/08/16).Fox hunting remains a controversial topic, even though it has been banned in the UK since 2005. (Photo: Hannah Awcock, Queen’s Road, 20/04/19).Brighton Hunt Saboteurs uses non-violent direct action to prevent illegal fox hunts (Photo: Hannah Awcock, Jubilee Street, 27/08/16).Experimenting and testing on live animals is another well-publicised controversial topic. This sticker uses a particularly graphic image (Photo: Hannah Awcock, West Street, 27/10/16).The Swiss League against Vivisection has been campaigning for animal rights since 1883. Here they are targeting a specific airline in an attempt to pressure them to change their practices (Photo: Hannah Awcock, Queen’s Road, 24/03/17).The RSPCA is a well known charity in the UK. They investigate animal cruelty, rescue animals, and prosecute those responsible. In this sticker they are calling for an end to the practice of transporting livestock long distances before they are slaughtered (Photo: Prince Albert Street, 20/04/19).PETA, or People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, is another well known animal rights organisation. They are an international organisation, with more than 6.5 million supporters around the world. They focus on 4 main areas where they believe animals suffer the most: laboratories, the food industry, fashion, and entertainment. Although animals in circuses are much less common than it used to be, it is still legal for UK circuses to use wild animals (Photo: Hannah Awcock, North Street, 09/12/18).It isn’t clear who made this sticker. The message reads “Don’t bet with William Hill greyhound killers.” The ‘H’ in William Hill has been overlaid with a ‘K’. Greyhounds typically live for 10-14 years, but they only race for about 4. I think this sticker is accusing William Hill of killing greyhounds when they are no longer competitive (Photo: Hannah Awcock, Church Road, 24/04/19).The symbol on this sticker may be familiar to you now as the Extinction Rebellion logo. The symbol itself is older however, created in 2011 by artist ESP. The circle symbolises the planet, whilst the hourglass indicates that time is running out for many species (Photo: Hannah Awcock, Grand Parade, 18/04/17).This march was organised in 2019 by Brighton Vegan Activists. I really like the design of this sticker, so it seemed like a good one to end on! (Photo: Hannah Awcock, Queens Road, 20/04/19).
There were quite a few stickers relating to veganism and animal rights stuck on these phone boxes in Charing Cross Road (Photo: Hannah Awcock, Charing Cross Road, 23/03/17).
I have written about protest stickers related to animal welfare before, but I have since collected enough stickers to put together a post solely about vegetarianism and veganism. According to The Vegan Society, there are more than half a million vegans in the UK. Whilst this isn’t many, it’s more than three and a half times the number there was in 2006. There are also around 1.2 million vegetarians in the UK and the variety of vegan alternatives in shops and restaurants is increasing all the time. Whether it’s a fad or a lasting trend remains to be seen, but there are certainly plenty of protest stickers on the issue.
To see whereabouts in London I found these stickers, check out the Turbulent London Map.
This sticker makes a connection between veganism and the environment, arguing that meat production contributes to global warming and pollution, amongst other things (Photo: Hannah Awcock, 14/02/17, Tate Modern).
This sticker implies support of veganism rather than actually spelling it out. Rain has caused the ink to bleed, making quite a pretty pattern (Photo: Hannah Awcock, Charing Cross Road, 23/03/17).
This sticker is disputing the argument that animals for the meat industry can be killed humanely (Photo: Hannah Awcock, Charing Cross Road, 23/03/17).
This sticker targets the stereotypically British drink, tea, as a way of protesting the mass consumption of milk (Photo: Hannah Awcock, Charing Cross Road, 23/03/17).
This sticker goes into more detail about the milk industry, portraying it as vicious and cruel (Photo: Hannah Awcock, Charing Cross Road, 23/03/17).
This stickers builds on the arguments above by suggesting milks derived from alternative sources. The web address belongs to an organisation called Animals Deserve Absolute Protection Today and Tomorrow (ADAPTT–I suspect the name was chosen for the acronym rather than anything else), which promotes veganism and animal rights (Photo: Hannah Awcock, Charing Cross Road, 23/03/17).
This sticker focuses on fish, listing characteristics seemingly intended to invoke sympathy. I suspect that most people would not normally associate these attributes with fish, and many vegetarians do eat fish (pescatarians) (Photo: Hannah Awcock, Charing Cross Road, 23/03/17).
This sticker aims to persuade the viewer that veganism is healthy, suggesting that eating meat leads to higher rates of cancer. It also promotes a YouTube video, a particularly common tactic on animal rights stickers (Photo: Hannah Awcock, Charing Cross Road, 23/03/17).
The key slogan of this sticker has been obscured, but it’s message is clear, condemning the attitude that human appetites are more important than the suffering of animals. It utilises another common tactic of animal rights stickers, photos of cute animals (Photo: Hannah Awcock, Pentonville Road, 23/03/17).
Like most other cities, stickers of all kinds are a common sight on the streets of Brighton (Photo: Hannah Awcock).
Brighton is a coastal city in the south of England, about an hour away from London by train. It is well known for being an open and accepting city, and it also happens to be my home town, so it’s very special to me. I have written about protest and dissent in Brighton on Turbulent London before, but the city also has an awful lot of protest stickers so I think it deserves (at least) one more post. I took the pictures featured here on a walk down a single (admittedly quite long) road in the city. London Road runs from the city centre to the outskirts in the direction of London, funnily enough. Quite run down when I was younger, the area along the road is going through a rapid process of gentrification, to the extent that is known by some as the Shoreditch of Brighton. Gentrification is frequently a contested process however, and London Road has no shortage of protest stickers.
This is a tile stuck to the wall of a Greggs bakery, so not technically a protest sticker, but I couldn’t resist putting it in because I like it so much. London Road is changing rapidly, and not everyone supports the changes (Photo: Hannah Awcock).
Le Turnip produces quite a few satirical stickers, and I have featured some of them before on the blog. This one apes CCTV warning signs, but refers to Sauron, the personification of evil in the Lord of the Rings. Sauron’s eye sits atop a huge tower, and can see everything that goes on in Middle Earth (Photo: Hannah Awcock).
Many of the issues protested in London Road stickers are similar to those in London. This striking sticker criticises the reliance of the state on police forces. Brighton generally has an anti-authoritarian vibe (Photo: Hannah Awcock).
The anti-authoritarian vibe is also played out through this sticker, variations of which are common throughout Brighton, not just in London Road. The dome which the cannabis leaf is imposed on is frequently used as a symbol of Brighton. It comes from the Brighton Pavilion, a palace built by George IV (Photo: Hannah Awcock).
Another cause close to the hearts of many Brightonians is environmentalism. The city elected the first ever Green Party MP in 2010, and had one of the first Green-run councils in the country (Photo: Hannah Awcock).
Some stickers along London Road are about less familiar issues however. Most of this sticker has been obscured, but it is still possible to make out that it is declaring solidarity with the Zapatistas, a topic which I have not seen in a London sticker yet (Photo: Hannah Awcock).
Unfortunately, not everyone in Brighton is liberal and accepting, this sticker declares a vicious anti-immigration stance in support of UKIP. This was not the first time I have seen this sticker around the city, and I must admit I have removed them from the streets in the past (Photo: Hannah Awcock).
The location of stickers can sometimes be important. These stickers were on the entrance to the London Road open market, which has fish stalls (Photo: Hannah Awcock).
There are many people in Brighton who are not afraid to be different. Nevertheless this sticker accuses people of being sheep, blindly following the herd (Photo: Hannah Awcock).
Just like in London, protest stickers in Brighton are subject to the ravages of time. It is just possible to make out that this sticker is calling for the boycott of Israeli goods, although the colours have faded and most of the letters have worn away (Photo: Hannah Awcock).
Anti-fascism is another prominent issue in Brighton, largely due to the March for England demonstrations that are frequently held in the city. This stickers adapts the normal anti-fascist logo to reflect the city’s large LGBTQ population (Photo: Hannah Awcock).
The March for England events draw participants and opponents from elsewhere to Brighton. This stickers comes from Southampton, a city along the coast to the west of Brighton (Photo: Hannah Awcock).
Turbulent Isles 