[above: put this back in your next mass-mailed business reply envelope!]

If the comments on this article are any indicator, Shopdropping is controversial to say the least. Still, whether they amuse, inspire or disturb you, it is hard to argue with the sheer gumption and creativity behind these strange, subversive and interactive urban art projects.

Free Words is a book at the heart of a creative shopdropping art project. Over 2,500 copies of the book (clearly labeled as free) have been distributed in bookstores and libraries around the world just waiting to be picked up. And the content? Free Words contains 13,000 meticulously compiled words that are free to use and in the public domain.

The Droplift Project came about as an attempt to subvert, undermine or circumvent the mainstream exclusive music industry. They create their own CDs from found sounds and sprinkle them “among the established pop hits and top 40 products” to be bought by unsuspecting customers. Who profits? Well, the buyer is exposed to new music and ideas, the seller gets to profit and the composer leaps into the living rooms of new listeners. Is it illegal? “Depends on who you ask. We know we are protected by the First Amendment and the Fair Use clause of the Copyright Act.”

Zoe Saldana has put a great deal of effort into an art project that the future owners of will never appreciate. Wait, how does that work? Well, she buys items from Walmart and carefully replicates them by hand down to the pattern, fabric and embellishments. She then swaps her handmade creations for the one she purchased, adds the original tags and ‘returns’ them to Walmart for future sale. Above on the left are images of the originals, and the photographs on the right show the returned duplicates.

The Barbie Liberation Project is a droplifting project that dates back to the doll-and-action-figure boom of the 1980s. “Taking advantage of similarities in the voice hardware of Teen Talk Barbie and the Talking Duke G.I. Joe doll, er, ‘action figure,’ they absconded with several hundred of each and performed a stereotype-change operation on the lot” before returning them to the shelves. The result? G.I. Joes planning dream weddings and Barbies yelling war cries.

Packard Jennings and his cohorts have arguably done more creative shopdropping projects than virtually any of their contemporaries. He puts his political and economic views on the line through interactive subvertising and encourages others to do the same, allowing people to print out and participate in spreading his ideas if they so choose.

Previously: Beginner’s Guide to Shopdropping

(Check out our complete collection of Subversive Marketing and Culture Jamming.)

Shopdropping was probably the last kind of giving on most people’s minds as they shopped during the holiday season. Shopdropping, also known as droplifting, is the incredible act of reverse shoplifting: going into stores and putting things onto the shelves. Banksy is probably the best known shopdropper, famous for putting out his own subvertised versions of Paris Hilton’s CDs and hanging his subversive art in galleries. Here is your beginner’s guide to the art (or science).

Above: great ‘beginner’s guide to shopdropping’ including Banksy

Shopdroppers have their own reasons for doing what they do. Some are social and political culture jammers who want to raising awareness about consumerism or adding warnings to dangerous products. Others seek to promote their own product, such as an album left in a record store. Still others do it for their own amusement and artistic fulfillment without expectations of any kind of return.

Some shopdrop projects are individual endeavors while others are the work of highly organized groups, such as the Droplift Project. The Droplift Project takes found sound and turns it into an audio collage to create “new art, social commentary, parody and contemporary criticism.” Ryan Watkins-Hughes of ShopDropping.net adds his own labels to commercial products simply as a form of self-expression.

It might not surprise you to learn that reactions to shopdropping or droplifting vary as much as approaches to it and reasons for doing it. Some people find it harmless and amusing while others find it shocking and disturbing. Shopdroppers who are caught are variously freed by confused police or held on charges related to destruction of property or even fraud. Reactions, criticisms or other shopdropping thoughts?

Thanks to Kim for the tip! Got a tip? Send it here.

Next: Creative Shopdropping Art Projects