The atheist bus campaign is going international… Or to be more precise a whole bunch of different people all over the place have liked what we’ve done in the UK and are doing similar things in their own towns and cities. Here’s a round-up of the international developments!
Bus Kampagne / Germany – the campaign to put buses on the streets in Germany (Köln, München, Berlin) is now online. Site visitors can choose their slogan and make online donations. Berlin and München transport authorities do not want the ads it seems, but the guys are determined to find alternatives.
Atheist Bus / Switzerland (DE | FR | IT) – local bus firms are resisting the advertisements, but this might also result in bans on religious advertising. Paypal donations are possible.
Atheist trams / Croatia – ads appeared for 1 day on trams in Zagreb but were removed after complaints. Freedom of speech in a formerly communist country? News in Croatian here, Google translation from Slovenian here.
Campagna Bus / Italy – despite some legal issues with the bus company the campaign continues in Italy, with €30000 raised so far.
Bus ateo / Spain – buses in Madrid, Barcelona, Malaga with slogans in Spanish and Catalan.
If there are other atheist buses anywhere else please do let us know in the comments!
We were invited to make a presentation at Re:publica ‘09 in Berlin about the campaign. Here is the video of the presentation – click Jon’s face to start the video! Then fast forward 5 minutes into the video.
This campaign has gone well and truly global. We’ve inspired organisations around the world to launch atheist adverts on buses, including a Christmas campaign from the American Humanist Association, which you can view here – but sadly, one place you’re not going to see the ads is Australia. The Atheist Foundation of Australia have come up with the mildest slogan of all (”Atheism – Celebrate Reason”) and yet the company responsible for transport advertising has balked, ironically giving no reason whatsoever for this strange decision. Here’s the press release:
ATHEIST FOUNDATION OF AUSTRALIA INC
MEDIA RELEASE
BUS SLOGAN REJECTED!
‘APN Outdoor’, the company responsible for Public Metropolitan Transport Advertising, says no to atheism.
The bus slogan campaign proposed by the AFA with the thought provoking sentiment, “Atheism – Celebrate reason!” has been refused for display by ‘APN Outdoors’. Various other phrases have also been deemed unacceptable.
Following the lead of Humanists in London and Washington in the USA, with their intended bus signs, an international programme by humanists and atheists was to commence on the 20th January 2009 using buses to express the secular viewpoint.
Richard Dawkins is supporting the London bus signs, and has stated that such a campaign “will make people think”.
President of the Atheist Foundation of Australia Inc, David Nicholls said: “I am flabbergasted. This is extremely disappointing and a severe blow to freedom of expression in Australia. We are witnessing the result of seemingly paranoid executives interfering with pertinent social comment. This action has thwarted the right to state peacefully and openly a legitimate and timely message without violence.
Australia is going to look provincial and narrow in outlook to the rest of the world because of this decision. The planet is moving to a more enlightened era but apparently, public transport advertising agents in Australia have missed the bus.”
You can send the AFA a friendly email to show your support: info {at} atheistfoundation.org(.)au
Here is a quick summary of all of the press coverage the campaign has received so far. If you know of more then please post the links in the comments, or contact us. We can speak English, French, German, Italian and Swedish at atheistcampaign.org but we can’t manage all languages!
The atheist bus campaign is going international… Or to be more precise a whole bunch of different people all over the place have liked what we’ve done in the UK and are doing similar things in their own towns and cities. Here’s a round-up of the international developments!
