Insignia of Protest (2): Zero-Currency Notes

This way of protesting against corruption, especially bribery, is originated in India. It is based on Gandhi's idea of peaceful non cooperation directly applied to civil servants and government officials who request extra payment from citizens. It is a polite way to say "No!" in a country where corruption is a deeply rooted habit and a majority of its people has first-hand experiences with it (see also "Corruption in India"). But it is also a way of shaming and scaring functionaries feeling all too safe. For this purpose, the zero-rupee banknote was introduced to the public by the non-governmental organization 5th Pillar, in 2007. 

http://india.5thpillar.org/ZRN

In an obvious case of attempted bribery, the banknote is to be handed out by the victim directly to the official. Then the case should be made public. Here's an example reported to the 5thpillar :

"Mr. Ashok Jain got his car towed in Chennai. When he went to the C1 police station, he was asked Rs 800 as fine. He was ready to pay the amount in return for a receipt, which they were not willing to give. After much talking and convincing, he called his friend Vinod Jain who handed a Zero Rupee Note to one of the policemen. When he did that, they realized that he was a part of the 5th Pillar organisation and without any further questions they asked him to pay the marked fine of Rs 150 and handed him the receipt immediately."

Other success stories can be read on the 5thpillar website. Watch also this nice Bollywood style video: The Zero Rupee Note - A Short Film

Other countries: In Bosnia, another NGO called "Centre for Responsible Democracy", introduced the “I give zero marks for bribes" campaign in June 2011.

See also: Insignia of Protest (1): Shoes and Shoeing

Insignia of Protest (1): Shoes and Shoeing

On occasion of the recent protests against German President Christian Wulff, there is left to take a closer look at the insignia of protest, used by people around the world to express their disgust and anger about corruption, cronyism and other features of fake-democracies.

Shoes & Shoeing: Mr. Wulff is currently under pressure to resign from office because of several occurrences, the last of which being the more than impertinent attempt to silence reporting. And after he had even himself called his misbehavior "unworthy of a president" in a nationwide TV program but nevertheless reaffirmed to stay in office, this was the moment to unbox the old shoes.

from "Shoe for you, Mr. President!" https://www.facebook.com/events/265735003480723

Here's a report (in German language) where you can see the old Muslim (?) tradition of Shoeing, surprisingly applied in Germany:

Showing (soles of) shoes or throwing shoes after somebody is seen as a heavy insult in many countries, especially of the Arab world. We have seen on TV people trampling around pictures of Saddam Hussein (2003) and Gaddafi (2011) and Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zaidi throwing his shoes at US president G.W. Bush, thereby expressing their deepest condemnation and disgust. Why Shoes? Shoes, especially soles of shoes, are seen as carrier of dirt and uncleanness and everybody who ever visited a mosque knows that it is not allowed to enter with shoes on. 

Btw, what happened with Mr. Muntadhar al-Zaidi after being detained by the Iraqi army in February 2011? He's the hero of Shoeing. In his honor a giant shoe monument was installed Tikrit, the birthplace of Saddam Hussein but de-installed later by the Iraqi police.

Wikipedia-entry of Shoeing provides a list of notable incidents regarding this nice tradition. Would you really wonder if this practice is also employed for shoe advertising ... ? (Go to the TrendyShoeShop.com to learn more)