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In breve

Creating near-identical websites to those of our targets, but altering them to illustrate our target taking a certain action, such as announcing a new initiative that supports our campaign goals.

Never attempt to win by force what can be won by deception.

— Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince

Those of us who propose alternatives to the entrenched status quo often hear the refrain “it’s always been that way.” When we demand change, we’re told our idealistic flights of fancy have no relevance to the real world. But what if we could short circuit that reflexive response and demonstrate that the changes we’re working for are not only possible, but would enjoy popular support? This is the goal of many culture change tactics, and website spoofing can be especially effective at this.

Website spoofing subverts expectations and shows what it would look like if the targets of our campaigns were to take the actions we want them to.

Website spoofing is a specific form of identity correction that involves creating near-identical websites to those of our targets, but altering them to illustrate our target taking a certain action, such as announcing a new initiative that supports our campaign goals. We then disseminate the spoof website as if it were authentic (hosting it using a similar or plausible domain name), often with a press release purporting to come from the target or with the support of spoofed news coverage. The spoof website then spreads virally for a period of time, garnering actual media coverage of the purported event/announcement. Ideally before the spoof website is found to be inauthentic, a “reveal” press release is then published that takes credit for the spoof website and ties it into the larger campaign message.

As with hoaxes, culture jamming, and identity correction, the purpose of website spoofing is to subvert expectations and show what it would look like if the targets of our campaigns were to take the actions we want them to. In this way a spoof website is a form of prefigurative politics (see: THEORY: Prefigurative politics), which attempts to manifest in our current reality the kind of change we want to see. We capture popular attention and attack the sense of futility and cynicism that claims change is not possible. As a side benefit, when the target inevitably refutes the spoof campaign, it makes them look bad by publicly opposing a positive message. The viral attention can also garner popular support for the broader campaign.

In 2017, Native American activists created websites for the announcement of the rebranding of the Washington NFL team as the “Washington Redhawks.” The campaign included a new logo for the team, a fake press release, and several supporting websites spoofing popular sports media covering the announcement. Scores of social media activists who were in on the campaign spread the spoofed websites before the “reveal” was announced. Other examples include pro-consent spoofs of Playboy’s Top Ten Party School list and Victoria Secret’s PINK line of lingerie, both by the group FORCE: Upsetting Rape Culture.

Website spoofing is a great way to draw a ton of attention to your campaign, but the attention can be fleeting, which is why it is so important to incorporate the tactic into a larger campaign that mobilizes people to take further action. It’s a powerful tactic that can spark hope and imagination to show that a different world is really possible.

Teoria chiave

Prefigurative politics

Instead of pressuring your obstinate target into taking positive action, show the world how easy it would be for them to do what you want them to and how much public support they would get for it. Rather than waiting around for evil corporations to recognize the error of their ways and change course, we create that alternative reality (or at least the semblance of it) by rewriting the story and getting the public to believe, at least for a moment, that it’s real.

Principio chiave

Put your target in a decision dilemma

Spoofing your target’s website to show them supporting your campaign message puts your target in an awkward position. Either they let you ride the coattails of their brand to virally draw attention to your campaign, or, more likely, they will come after you for impersonating them and be seen as publicly opposing a positive message or course of action. When Victoria’s Secret managed to get the PINK Loves Consent website taken offline, the group behind the spoof put out a press release and petition casting the company as hostile to consent and in favour of rape culture. Centre your campaign around a universally positive value and force your target to either publicly refute it or join the forces of good.

Metodologia chiave

Battle of the story

Spoofing a website ultimately lets you create a new narrative, rewriting the characters (your targets) with different motivations, values, and behaviours. The more entrenched and immovable your target is, the more power your rewritten narrative has, since it disrupts the public’s ideas of what’s possible.