[Corrected] Wooster Collective’s Marc Schiller Fails to Disclose Marketing Ties with Banksy Movie

by Art Fag City on April 19, 2010 · 53 comments Events

POST BY PADDY JOHNSON
art fag city, exit through the gift shop, banksy
A scene from Banksy’s “Exit Through the Gift Shop.” Image courtesy of the Cinetic Media.

Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Schiller had received money for marketing the movie. This was not the case.

“The most interesting people for me live in that grey area.” says Wooster Collective‘s Marc Schiller, defending the marketing campaign of Exit Through the Gift Shop, a documentary about famed street artist Banksy, “They constantly confuse and keep you guessing.”

Perhaps these opinions explain why Schiller refuses to disclose his own financial ties with the film, while having marketing for the movie completely co-opt his twitter feed and authoring 15 or more posts on the artist over the past month. According to indieWIRE, Producers Distribution Agency is handling the marketing for the movie – a team that includes Schiller, Richard Abramowitz, and Donna Daniels. Schiller linked to this article himself over the weekend, but when I asked him over twitter if he was doing the marketing for the movie he denied it. “Nope,” he told me. Continuing, “Why would I lie? You know we’ve been passionate about this for years. We’ve been very close to the film for a long time.”

I don’t know why he’d deny his involvement either. Believing in Banksy before taking on the marketing for the film (as his blog clearly evidences) is no excuse for failing to disclose financial ties to the movie. Schiller does not offer an impartial opinion on films he’s marketing, but presents himself otherwise.  It’s dishonest and abusive to readers and twitter followers who didn’t necessarily sign up to read endless updates about the film.

This is particularly a problem in the case of Melena Ryzik’s New York Times feature on the movie, which quotes Schiller on the subject of the film without mentioning his work marketing the film. ‘“Banksy is making a movie that's 100 percent like a Banksy exhibition,” Mr. Schiller said. He called it a prank, then corrected himself, labeling it “a Banksy event.”’ The suggestion that by merely watching the movie, viewers have the opportunity to partake in Banksy’s mischief may be a powerful motivator to see the movie, but it’s marketing think. That’s fine, but not mentioning that you’re being asked to think that way is not. In fact, it’s illegal.

UPDATE: After the jump, and article related to Schiller marketing tactics run in the WSJ October 15, 1999.
‘Genie’ in a computer; Internet marketing campaign creates cyberbuzz for teen pop singer Christina Aguilera. By Erin White, The Wall Street Journal

When executives at RCA Records were plotting ways to create buzz
around teen pop singer Christina Aguilera’s debut album, they knew
the Internet would play a crucial role.

The trick was marketing Aguilera without making teens feel they
were actually being marketed to.  On a 1-10 scale, Internet marketer
Ken Krasner says, teens “have their bull detectors on 11. “

So RCA hired a team of young cybersurfers to swarm the Web and
start chatting about the 18-year-old Aguilera on popular teen
Internet sites such as www.alloy.com, www.bolt.com and www.gurl.com.

They posted information casually – sometimes sounding like fans,
sometimes like official spokesmen – but always making sure not to
come off as lame adults trying to be cool or marketers pitching a
product.

It worked.  Thanks in large part to the advance buzz online, the
album Christina Aguilera was No. 1 on the charts when it debuted in
late August.

Many record-company executives may be worried about losing revenue
from the distribution of music over the Internet.  Nevertheless, they
are using the Web as a major part of their marketing strategy, and
pumping up the volume to new levels.

“We have figured out how to use this medium so that it really is
meaningful – it’s not just experimental anymore,” says Neil Foster,
chief financial officer at RCA Records.

Internet marketing, adds Nick Cucci, the label’s marketing vice
president, is no longer, “Oh, let’s make sure we have a Web site. “

RCA, a unit of Germany’s Bertelsmann AG, started to build
Aguilera’s Web presence even before her first single, Genie in a
Bottle, was available in stores.  Just as the record started to get
radio play in May, RCA hired Electric Artists, a small New York
Internet marketing firm, to handle a six-month campaign to put
Aguilera’s planned album on top of the charts.

Founded two years ago by Krasner, a former RCA marketing
executive, and Marc Schiller, former new media head for the House of
Blues chain, Electric Artists is at the forefront of Internet music
marketing.  Its clients include Capitol Records, Elektra Records and
Jive Records, and artists ranging from Depeche Mode to Emmylou Harris
to Melissa Etheridge.

In June, Electric Artists kicked off what it called “Stage One” of
its plan: surfing the Web to see what people were saying about
Aguilera.  After recording the song Reflection for Walt Disney Co.’s
animated hit Mulan, as well as doing a two-year stint on the Disney
Channel’s Mickey Mouse Club, Aguilera had already generated some
discussion in chat rooms and fan sites.  So had her new single, Genie
in a Bottle.  But many people didn’t know she was the singer on the
Genie single.  That’s when Electric Artists’ team of “posters” –
mostly recent college graduates – stepped in.

The posters first compiled a list of teen-age sites, news groups
and e-mail addresses for Web-savvy fans.  The tally today tops 1,500
individual fans, 30 news groups and 25 sites.  In early July, the
posters started Stage Two: generating online discussion among fans.

“Does anyone remember Christina Aguilera – she sang the song from
Mulan, Reflection?  I heard she has a new song out called Genie in a
Bottle,” a typical Electric Artists posting would say.  Staffers also
spent time monitoring teen bulletin boards and fan sites to answer
Christina Aguilera” whenever a fan asked “Who sings that Genie song? “

As Aguilera’s single got more airplay – still the most important
driver in creating a hit – Electric Artists fed fans more information
about her via the Web and encouraged them to request Genie on radio
stations and MTV.  Pleas that said, in essence, “Call your local
station to request it.  It is No. 19 now, and we can make it No. 1. .

. .  Please help! ” went out in mid-July.  According to Schiller, those
requests went to a core group of fans the company already had
cultivated, so they knew the requests were coming from Electric
Artists.  The company even listed a Web link where fans could find
phone numbers of radio stations playing the song.

The effort helped drive Genie to the top of the singles charts,
but the push was still on to prepare for the album’s debut.  Electric
Artists continued to send out Web updates on such items as Aguilera’s
TV appearances and encouraged teens to visit the several official
Internet sites operated by her management and RCA Records.

In August, Electric Artists began its biggest push, generating
attention for the Aug. 24 launch of Aguilera’s album in stores.  The
marketers put 30-second song snippets from the album on one of
Aguilera’s official fan sites for fans to download.  But they
recommended against higher-tech gimmicks that would allow downloading
an entire song for fans to play with a special computer attachment.

Aguilera fans “are not the Webhead electronica rave crowd,” Krasner
says.

In the final days before the album’s debut, RCA also hired a
direct-marketing company to make an electronic postcard filled with
song snippets and biographical information.  On Aug. 23, the postcard
was e-mailed out to 50,000 Web addresses culled from a database of
people considered prospective buyers based partly on their previous
album purchases.

Another tactic: persuading big music retailers to post the album’s
cover on their Web pages.  Although teens usually know the names of
artists and albums to look for, parents shopping for their kids often
don’t, so winning prominent display can be a big sales help, Schiller
says.

The result was just what RCA executives hoped for: The album
debuted at No. 1 on the charts and has sold more than 951,000 copies.

It reached double platinum status – meaning 2 million albums shipped
– in record time and still remains in the top five.

{ 53 comments }

Loki1967 April 19, 2010 at 3:56 pm

Forget Marc being a weasel here. I would be pissed if I was Banksy for having this controversy arise which could affect his own reputation. The last thing a Street Artist wants to be known as is a Corporate Style Sell Out.

Loki1967 April 19, 2010 at 11:56 am

Forget Marc being a weasel here. I would be pissed if I was Banksy for having this controversy arise which could affect his own reputation. The last thing a Street Artist wants to be known as is a Corporate Style Sell Out.

Marc Schiller April 19, 2010 at 4:34 pm

Paddy – Great headline that will definitely get you a lot of retweets. Congrats on that. The problem is that it’s 100% untrue. I have no financial involvement with the film at all. We’ve been involved with the film in various ways for over two years. We saw the finished film six months ago and fell in love with it. We told Banksy and Cinetic that we would do everything and anything we could to make this film a success. Not because of money, but because we are incredibly passionate about it. We’ve been working 20 hours a day promoting the film in lots of different ways. Nothing was hidden at all from anyone. Have you seen the Facebook fan page we set up? It’s as clear as day. So I’m baffled why you would wrote the post and not just call me. If you don’t have my number it’s 646-705-XXXX. I do hope you retract your story because it’s misleading to the highest degree.

Marc Schiller April 19, 2010 at 12:34 pm

Paddy – Great headline that will definitely get you a lot of retweets. Congrats on that. The problem is that it’s 100% untrue. I have no financial involvement with the film at all. We’ve been involved with the film in various ways for over two years. We saw the finished film six months ago and fell in love with it. We told Banksy and Cinetic that we would do everything and anything we could to make this film a success. Not because of money, but because we are incredibly passionate about it. We’ve been working 20 hours a day promoting the film in lots of different ways. Nothing was hidden at all from anyone. Have you seen the Facebook fan page we set up? It’s as clear as day. So I’m baffled why you would wrote the post and not just call me. If you don’t have my number it’s 646-705-XXXX. I do hope you retract your story because it’s misleading to the highest degree.

Art Fag City April 19, 2010 at 4:50 pm

Strangely I am reminded of when you used faked outrage over sexism into a marketing op for your company. I believe that ended in you asking Tokion out for sushi. http://www.woostercollective.com/2006/10/our_dialogue_with_ken_miller_of_tokion.html

In any event, may I direct you to the following:

Schiller linked to this article himself over the weekend, but when I asked him over twitter if he was doing the marketing for the movie he denied it. “Nope,” he told me. Continuing, “Why would I lie? You know we’ve been passionate about this for years. We’ve been very close to the film for a long time.”

I think it’s really icky not to mention there’s no relationship there.

Art Fag City April 19, 2010 at 12:50 pm

Strangely I am reminded of when you used faked outrage over sexism into a marketing op for your company. I believe that ended in you asking Tokion out for sushi. http://www.woostercollective.com/2006/10/our_dialogue_with_ken_miller_of_tokion.html

In any event, may I direct you to the following:

Schiller linked to this article himself over the weekend, but when I asked him over twitter if he was doing the marketing for the movie he denied it. “Nope,” he told me. Continuing, “Why would I lie? You know we’ve been passionate about this for years. We’ve been very close to the film for a long time.”

I think it’s really icky not to mention there’s no relationship there.

Marc Schiller April 19, 2010 at 5:06 pm

Paddy – Of course there’s a relationship there. There’s been one for years. It’s pretty obvious. Your friend Hrag knows that because I personally invited him to a press screening. I did TONS of things to market this film. Sara and I have worked around the clock for the film and will continue to do so. Never hid anything for anyone, including Melena Ryzik. That’s why your blog post is so inaccurate and crazy. We’ve been completely transparent.

Marc Schiller April 19, 2010 at 1:06 pm

Paddy – Of course there’s a relationship there. There’s been one for years. It’s pretty obvious. Your friend Hrag knows that because I personally invited him to a press screening. I did TONS of things to market this film. Sara and I have worked around the clock for the film and will continue to do so. Never hid anything for anyone, including Melena Ryzik. That’s why your blog post is so inaccurate and crazy. We’ve been completely transparent.

Rob April 19, 2010 at 5:28 pm

Thank you, Paddy for posting this. Marc’s incessant schilling for the Bansky movie also made me wonder about the nature of his flackery. Even if he’s volunteering and not getting any direct financial benefit from berating Wooster and Twitter followers with obnoxious PR spam and hype, he’s still reaping lucrative attention to his marketing company and services. It doesn’t matter if no money changes hands, it should have been acknowled that Marc is an official PR person for this movie, not just a fan. Reminds me of the 11 Spring Street ickiness.

Rob April 19, 2010 at 5:28 pm

Thank you, Paddy for posting this. Marc’s incessant schilling for the Bansky movie also made me wonder about the nature of his flackery. Even if he’s volunteering and not getting any direct financial benefit from berating Wooster and Twitter followers with obnoxious PR spam and hype, he’s still reaping lucrative attention to his marketing company and services. It doesn’t matter if no money changes hands, it should have been acknowled that Marc is an official PR person for this movie, not just a fan. Reminds me of the 11 Spring Street ickiness.

Rob April 19, 2010 at 1:28 pm

Thank you, Paddy for posting this. Marc’s incessant schilling for the Bansky movie also made me wonder about the nature of his flackery. Even if he’s volunteering and not getting any direct financial benefit from berating Wooster and Twitter followers with obnoxious PR spam and hype, he’s still reaping lucrative attention to his marketing company and services. It doesn’t matter if no money changes hands, it should have been acknowled that Marc is an official PR person for this movie, not just a fan. Reminds me of the 11 Spring Street ickiness.

tom moody April 19, 2010 at 5:30 pm

Financial or commercial (same thing), illegal or icky (not the same thing). Reblogging Wooster Collective is always a challenge because you are having to decide if something is legitimately “street” or if you are being co-opted by a marketing campaign someone is being paid for. I reblogged a Banksy rat drawing once with all those doubts in place; another time I caught myself before plugging a sneaker campaign. Schiller could be both a passionate fan and paid flack–the news media who quote him should say whether its either or both, and Schiller should be up front about it: “I’m a fan and paid and proud.”

tom moody April 19, 2010 at 5:30 pm

Financial or commercial (same thing), illegal or icky (not the same thing). Reblogging Wooster Collective is always a challenge because you are having to decide if something is legitimately “street” or if you are being co-opted by a marketing campaign someone is being paid for. I reblogged a Banksy rat drawing once with all those doubts in place; another time I caught myself before plugging a sneaker campaign. Schiller could be both a passionate fan and paid flack–the news media who quote him should say whether its either or both, and Schiller should be up front about it: “I’m a fan and paid and proud.”

tom moody April 19, 2010 at 1:30 pm

Financial or commercial (same thing), illegal or icky (not the same thing). Reblogging Wooster Collective is always a challenge because you are having to decide if something is legitimately “street” or if you are being co-opted by a marketing campaign someone is being paid for. I reblogged a Banksy rat drawing once with all those doubts in place; another time I caught myself before plugging a sneaker campaign. Schiller could be both a passionate fan and paid flack–the news media who quote him should say whether its either or both, and Schiller should be up front about it: “I’m a fan and paid and proud.”

greg,org April 19, 2010 at 6:07 pm

Here’s the Tweet you started this off with last night:

“Is @MarcDSchiller being paid to promote the #Banksy movie? If so, he should DISCLOSE before abusing followers with endless tweets.”

Which you then switched to, “Will you gain nothing the film’s success?”

I’m not a fan of Banksy. My personal preference is to never hear or see anything about Banksy, but with all the hype his work has engendered, it seems hilarious that a weekend of tweets is the media straw that breaks camel’s back.

I am, however, a fan of Marc. And anyone who follows his Twitter knows that he obviously wants the film to succeed. He’s said clearly he’s not being paid. He clearly calls his clients his clients when he tweets about them. I guess I just don’t see the big deal.

And judging by your edits to the post, and you downgrading of Marc’s “crime” from lying and “illegal” to just “icky,” I’m guessing that you’re seeing the same thing.

DISCLOSURE: Marc’s wife and I worked together 11 years ago. He and I met F2F at Nick Denton’s house. We also disagree about Rev. Billy, who I can’t stand.

greg,org April 19, 2010 at 6:07 pm

Here’s the Tweet you started this off with last night:

“Is @MarcDSchiller being paid to promote the #Banksy movie? If so, he should DISCLOSE before abusing followers with endless tweets.”

Which you then switched to, “Will you gain nothing the film’s success?”

I’m not a fan of Banksy. My personal preference is to never hear or see anything about Banksy, but with all the hype his work has engendered, it seems hilarious that a weekend of tweets is the media straw that breaks camel’s back.

I am, however, a fan of Marc. And anyone who follows his Twitter knows that he obviously wants the film to succeed. He’s said clearly he’s not being paid. He clearly calls his clients his clients when he tweets about them. I guess I just don’t see the big deal.

And judging by your edits to the post, and you downgrading of Marc’s “crime” from lying and “illegal” to just “icky,” I’m guessing that you’re seeing the same thing.

DISCLOSURE: Marc’s wife and I worked together 11 years ago. He and I met F2F at Nick Denton’s house. We also disagree about Rev. Billy, who I can’t stand.

greg,org April 19, 2010 at 2:07 pm

Here’s the Tweet you started this off with last night:

“Is @MarcDSchiller being paid to promote the #Banksy movie? If so, he should DISCLOSE before abusing followers with endless tweets.”

Which you then switched to, “Will you gain nothing the film’s success?”

I’m not a fan of Banksy. My personal preference is to never hear or see anything about Banksy, but with all the hype his work has engendered, it seems hilarious that a weekend of tweets is the media straw that breaks camel’s back.

I am, however, a fan of Marc. And anyone who follows his Twitter knows that he obviously wants the film to succeed. He’s said clearly he’s not being paid. He clearly calls his clients his clients when he tweets about them. I guess I just don’t see the big deal.

And judging by your edits to the post, and you downgrading of Marc’s “crime” from lying and “illegal” to just “icky,” I’m guessing that you’re seeing the same thing.

DISCLOSURE: Marc’s wife and I worked together 11 years ago. He and I met F2F at Nick Denton’s house. We also disagree about Rev. Billy, who I can’t stand.

samson white April 19, 2010 at 6:08 pm

Paddy, this is low. Do you really not have anything else to write about? You go on these half-baked slandering campaigns that you probably took all of ten minutes to think about, evidenced in the spelling and punctuation errors. I’ve never liked this blog’s snark and lack of depth (most analytical art related posts read like they took ten minutes from conception to posting, and I’ll substantiate that if you like) but regardless of if this guy made a blunder or is more broadly dishonest, posts like this just smack of your own bitterness and playing New York art world Nancy Drew.

samson white April 19, 2010 at 6:08 pm

Paddy, this is low. Do you really not have anything else to write about? You go on these half-baked slandering campaigns that you probably took all of ten minutes to think about, evidenced in the spelling and punctuation errors. I’ve never liked this blog’s snark and lack of depth (most analytical art related posts read like they took ten minutes from conception to posting, and I’ll substantiate that if you like) but regardless of if this guy made a blunder or is more broadly dishonest, posts like this just smack of your own bitterness and playing New York art world Nancy Drew.

samson white April 19, 2010 at 2:08 pm

Paddy, this is low. Do you really not have anything else to write about? You go on these half-baked slandering campaigns that you probably took all of ten minutes to think about, evidenced in the spelling and punctuation errors. I’ve never liked this blog’s snark and lack of depth (most analytical art related posts read like they took ten minutes from conception to posting, and I’ll substantiate that if you like) but regardless of if this guy made a blunder or is more broadly dishonest, posts like this just smack of your own bitterness and playing New York art world Nancy Drew.

Zachary Adam Cohen April 19, 2010 at 6:53 pm

Marc

is there a financial arrangement or not? Are you being paid in ANY way by anyone or firm having to do with the film?

Z

Zachary Adam Cohen April 19, 2010 at 6:53 pm

Marc

is there a financial arrangement or not? Are you being paid in ANY way by anyone or firm having to do with the film?

Z

Zachary Adam Cohen April 19, 2010 at 2:53 pm

Marc

is there a financial arrangement or not? Are you being paid in ANY way by anyone or firm having to do with the film?

Z

Art Fag City April 19, 2010 at 7:05 pm

From @greg.org

Here’s the Tweet you started this off with last night:

“Is @MarcDSchiller being paid to promote the #Banksy movie? If so, he should DISCLOSE before abusing followers with endless tweets.”

Which you then switched to, “Will you gain nothing the film’s success?”

I switched to: will you gain nothing from the film’s success after he’d replied with the two comments above. He said he would, but how was left unspecified. Anyway, from my perspective Wooster Collective and whatever Marc does with his companies should be separated. I don’t think you should be in a position where as Tom says “you have decide if something is legitimately “street” or if you are being co-opted by a marketing campaign someone is being paid for.” Personally, I don’t think this was clear enough.

@samsonwhite: Spelling mistakes don’t evidence anything other than the fact that there’s a human behind the posts. Please write your own blog if you don’t like this one’s so called “lack of depth”.

Art Fag City April 19, 2010 at 7:05 pm

From @greg.org

Here’s the Tweet you started this off with last night:

“Is @MarcDSchiller being paid to promote the #Banksy movie? If so, he should DISCLOSE before abusing followers with endless tweets.”

Which you then switched to, “Will you gain nothing the film’s success?”

I switched to: will you gain nothing from the film’s success after he’d replied with the two comments above. He said he would, but how was left unspecified. Anyway, from my perspective Wooster Collective and whatever Marc does with his companies should be separated. I don’t think you should be in a position where as Tom says “you have decide if something is legitimately “street” or if you are being co-opted by a marketing campaign someone is being paid for.” Personally, I don’t think this was clear enough.

@samsonwhite: Spelling mistakes don’t evidence anything other than the fact that there’s a human behind the posts. Please write your own blog if you don’t like this one’s so called “lack of depth”.

Art Fag City April 19, 2010 at 3:05 pm

From @greg.org

Here’s the Tweet you started this off with last night:

“Is @MarcDSchiller being paid to promote the #Banksy movie? If so, he should DISCLOSE before abusing followers with endless tweets.”

Which you then switched to, “Will you gain nothing the film’s success?”

I switched to: will you gain nothing from the film’s success after he’d replied with the two comments above. He said he would, but how was left unspecified. Anyway, from my perspective Wooster Collective and whatever Marc does with his companies should be separated. I don’t think you should be in a position where as Tom says “you have decide if something is legitimately “street” or if you are being co-opted by a marketing campaign someone is being paid for.” Personally, I don’t think this was clear enough.

@samsonwhite: Spelling mistakes don’t evidence anything other than the fact that there’s a human behind the posts. Please write your own blog if you don’t like this one’s so called “lack of depth”.

Art Fag City April 19, 2010 at 7:29 pm

Also, Marc, you should feel welcome to make any comments you would with me over the phone on the blog.

Art Fag City April 19, 2010 at 7:29 pm

Also, Marc, you should feel welcome to make any comments you would with me over the phone on the blog.

Art Fag City April 19, 2010 at 3:29 pm

Also, Marc, you should feel welcome to make any comments you would with me over the phone on the blog.

Marc Schiller April 19, 2010 at 8:41 pm

Paddy – I’m confident that if we spoke, or if you knew me at all, than 80% of what you wrote on your blog would be crossed out and retracted. You have written something that you want to be true and the more you find out it’s not, the more entrenched you become. Nobody deserves a character assassination, especially when the facts don’t support it. I wrote you in an email a few minutes ago that when you say that I must be getting something out of the relationship (knowing now that it’s not money), my response is, of course I am! Don’t we all benefit directly or indirectly from everything we do? Since when is benefiting from something a negative? Aren’t you benefiting today from attacking me? So if it’s not money that I am benefiting from, what “benefit” do you find “icky”? Helping a friend? Working tirelessly for something you believe in? Leveraging the contacts and skills that you have? I am still completely baffled why you have attacked me knowing that you could have found out the answers to your questions very easily by simply emailing or calling me.

Marc Schiller April 19, 2010 at 8:41 pm

Paddy – I’m confident that if we spoke, or if you knew me at all, than 80% of what you wrote on your blog would be crossed out and retracted. You have written something that you want to be true and the more you find out it’s not, the more entrenched you become. Nobody deserves a character assassination, especially when the facts don’t support it. I wrote you in an email a few minutes ago that when you say that I must be getting something out of the relationship (knowing now that it’s not money), my response is, of course I am! Don’t we all benefit directly or indirectly from everything we do? Since when is benefiting from something a negative? Aren’t you benefiting today from attacking me? So if it’s not money that I am benefiting from, what “benefit” do you find “icky”? Helping a friend? Working tirelessly for something you believe in? Leveraging the contacts and skills that you have? I am still completely baffled why you have attacked me knowing that you could have found out the answers to your questions very easily by simply emailing or calling me.

Marc Schiller April 19, 2010 at 4:41 pm

Paddy – I’m confident that if we spoke, or if you knew me at all, than 80% of what you wrote on your blog would be crossed out and retracted. You have written something that you want to be true and the more you find out it’s not, the more entrenched you become. Nobody deserves a character assassination, especially when the facts don’t support it. I wrote you in an email a few minutes ago that when you say that I must be getting something out of the relationship (knowing now that it’s not money), my response is, of course I am! Don’t we all benefit directly or indirectly from everything we do? Since when is benefiting from something a negative? Aren’t you benefiting today from attacking me? So if it’s not money that I am benefiting from, what “benefit” do you find “icky”? Helping a friend? Working tirelessly for something you believe in? Leveraging the contacts and skills that you have? I am still completely baffled why you have attacked me knowing that you could have found out the answers to your questions very easily by simply emailing or calling me.

Pepe April 19, 2010 at 8:48 pm

Just like Banksy, I’ve started to lose respect for wooster.

Wooster was one of the first sites I discovered years ago; covering good street art. It WAS an amazing site, with great information. Then when banksy came into the mix, it was countless post over and over about the guy. It makes me sit back and think… How many people are/behind “Banksy”? Who’s getting paid? Is this team run like a corporation? Is it actually bunch of creatives sitting around a table and out-sourcing these paintings on the street? For the sake of street art, I hope not.

I also hope Wooster Collective gets there story straight. Being that they are so “involved” into the street art scene. Don’t become to mainstream…. kind of like Banksy is getting.

Here are some more street art sites with less banksy, more emerging artist, and better designed.

http://blog.vandalog.com/
http://www.unurth.com/index
http://www.streetsy.com/

Pepe April 19, 2010 at 4:48 pm

Just like Banksy, I’ve started to lose respect for wooster.

Wooster was one of the first sites I discovered years ago; covering good street art. It WAS an amazing site, with great information. Then when banksy came into the mix, it was countless post over and over about the guy. It makes me sit back and think… How many people are/behind “Banksy”? Who’s getting paid? Is this team run like a corporation? Is it actually bunch of creatives sitting around a table and out-sourcing these paintings on the street? For the sake of street art, I hope not.

I also hope Wooster Collective gets there story straight. Being that they are so “involved” into the street art scene. Don’t become to mainstream…. kind of like Banksy is getting.

Here are some more street art sites with less banksy, more emerging artist, and better designed.

http://blog.vandalog.com/
http://www.unurth.com/index
http://www.streetsy.com/

Rob April 19, 2010 at 10:13 pm

Marc, even if you’re working pro bono, you’re still an official Banksy PR flack and should’ve been upfront about that. “Icky” is that feeling you get upon realizing a once trusted street art site has been completely co-opted as a marketing mouthpiece.

Rob April 19, 2010 at 6:13 pm

Marc, even if you’re working pro bono, you’re still an official Banksy PR flack and should’ve been upfront about that. “Icky” is that feeling you get upon realizing a once trusted street art site has been completely co-opted as a marketing mouthpiece.

Amy Kassen April 20, 2010 at 12:54 pm

I don’t think its fair to judge Marc’s support for an artist or to assume that he is promoting Banksy because of financial gains he gets. How is this different from any other blog writing on an established artist? Do we assume that those blogs are just writing about Damien Hirst or Jeff Koons because they are being paid to do so? It seems that Marc just admires Banksy for similar reasons that so many people do which is why he is such a popular artist.

This comment has been edited for spamming.

Amy Kassen April 20, 2010 at 12:54 pm

I don’t think its fair to judge Marc’s support for an artist or to assume that he is promoting Banksy because of financial gains he gets. How is this different from any other blog writing on an established artist? Do we assume that those blogs are just writing about Damien Hirst or Jeff Koons because they are being paid to do so? It seems that Marc just admires Banksy for similar reasons that so many people do which is why he is such a popular artist.

This comment has been edited for spamming.

Amy Kassen April 20, 2010 at 8:54 am

I don’t think its fair to judge Marc’s support for an artist or to assume that he is promoting Banksy because of financial gains he gets. How is this different from any other blog writing on an established artist? Do we assume that those blogs are just writing about Damien Hirst or Jeff Koons because they are being paid to do so? It seems that Marc just admires Banksy for similar reasons that so many people do which is why he is such a popular artist.

This comment has been edited for spamming.

sally mckay April 20, 2010 at 2:46 pm

Conflict of interest is the murkiest, most anxiety-making issue in art criticism. It’s not black-and-white — any artwriter who claims to be pure is either lying or self-deluded. But the ick-factor is real. There are boundaries, and they need to be examined…go Nancy Drew!

sally mckay April 20, 2010 at 2:46 pm

Conflict of interest is the murkiest, most anxiety-making issue in art criticism. It’s not black-and-white — any artwriter who claims to be pure is either lying or self-deluded. But the ick-factor is real. There are boundaries, and they need to be examined…go Nancy Drew!

sally mckay April 20, 2010 at 10:46 am

Conflict of interest is the murkiest, most anxiety-making issue in art criticism. It’s not black-and-white — any artwriter who claims to be pure is either lying or self-deluded. But the ick-factor is real. There are boundaries, and they need to be examined…go Nancy Drew!

M.Maxwell April 20, 2010 at 3:13 pm

This post instantly reminded me of Bill Hick’s monologue about Advertisers and Marketing.

http://sennoma.net/main/edits/Hicks.html

M.Maxwell April 20, 2010 at 11:13 am

This post instantly reminded me of Bill Hick’s monologue about Advertisers and Marketing.

http://sennoma.net/main/edits/Hicks.html

Ellen April 20, 2010 at 4:58 pm

Even if there is nothing icky about marketing ties, it is simply annoying to all of a sudden have your twitter feed filled with Banksy stats. Especially since Marc is normally a great person to follow!

I understand that Marc is a fan, but Banksy is not an unknown at this point and the non-stop tweeting doesn’t help him.

As a marketing strategy, it backfired. There is a good chance I would have seen the film, but I’ve really lost all interest at this point.

I also think it undermines Banksy’s image. I started to think Marc WAS Banksy. And that Banksy suddenly is really, really annoying on twitter.

Ellen April 20, 2010 at 12:58 pm

Even if there is nothing icky about marketing ties, it is simply annoying to all of a sudden have your twitter feed filled with Banksy stats. Especially since Marc is normally a great person to follow!

I understand that Marc is a fan, but Banksy is not an unknown at this point and the non-stop tweeting doesn’t help him.

As a marketing strategy, it backfired. There is a good chance I would have seen the film, but I’ve really lost all interest at this point.

I also think it undermines Banksy’s image. I started to think Marc WAS Banksy. And that Banksy suddenly is really, really annoying on twitter.

M.Maxwell April 20, 2010 at 7:15 pm

This story also reminds me of this marketing campaign that is currently playing itself out on all media outlets. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ytech_gadg/ytech_gadg_tc1694

M.Maxwell April 20, 2010 at 3:15 pm

This story also reminds me of this marketing campaign that is currently playing itself out on all media outlets. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ytech_gadg/ytech_gadg_tc1694

NXX May 29, 2010 at 3:38 am

The whole thing is clearly a Banksy/Fairey hoax (and a worthy one).

But Marc Schiller is an obvious dilletante that is trying to muscle into the hype as much as possible so when the whole thing breaks JT Leroy style he will be able to say he was totally in on it bc he’s such a fucking art marketing and PR genius. Hooray for art marketing and PR!!!!!

NXX May 28, 2010 at 11:38 pm

The whole thing is clearly a Banksy/Fairey hoax (and a worthy one).

But Marc Schiller is an obvious dilletante that is trying to muscle into the hype as much as possible so when the whole thing breaks JT Leroy style he will be able to say he was totally in on it bc he’s such a fucking art marketing and PR genius. Hooray for art marketing and PR!!!!!

Doug July 21, 2010 at 1:47 pm

It doesn’t seem like Marc learned anything from this debacle, as he’s twittering about Wooster Collective posts he’s written for a USA network blog (http://twitter.com/MarcDSchiller/statuses/19074570637). He fails to mention, both on Twitter and his blog post, that USA is a client of his marketing company, Electric Artists. He is clearly being compensated and not disclosing it. I don’t think it matters if the checks are being written to Electric Artists or Wooster Collective—they’re being cashed the same place.

Doug July 21, 2010 at 9:47 am

It doesn’t seem like Marc learned anything from this debacle, as he’s twittering about Wooster Collective posts he’s written for a USA network blog (http://twitter.com/MarcDSchiller/statuses/19074570637). He fails to mention, both on Twitter and his blog post, that USA is a client of his marketing company, Electric Artists. He is clearly being compensated and not disclosing it. I don’t think it matters if the checks are being written to Electric Artists or Wooster Collective—they’re being cashed the same place.

Paul Alexander Thornton November 16, 2011 at 5:42 am

Forgive me for starting up this thread again as i only stumbled across this today by chance and read it for the first time. 

I wanted to simply say that having never actually met Marc or Sara, they both showed an amazing level of openness to me as a complete unknown when I first e-mailed them my work out of the blue about 3 years ago. Not only that but they supported my work and featured it many times on Wooster Collective since, which I in part attribute to much of my early exposure and success. 

Presumably this was based on nothing more than my work itself (or so I like to think) and I have also come across other artists who have had a very similar experience with Marc (and Sara).

What other reason would they have had to support a stranger from another country, and taken up space on their blog with my work, the blog which you claim is governed by some other agenda?

So it’s safe to say, at least from my perspective, that Wooster Collective definitely is shaped by work that Marc and Sara are passionate about. I get the feeling when I e-mail them my work that whether or not it gets featured depends entirely upon the impact the work has upon them personally.

Wooster Collective is still one of my favourite art blogs. I’ve never seen artfagcity.com before but this article seems ill-informed and badly written.

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