FakeUp is a complex project comprised of many different steps that involved the participation of many experts from diverse fields of work by Martin Bricelj

First, the core of the action was created…

CityLight posters
They were produced in a professional manner as any other commercial project, with a team consisting of a professional fashion photographer, art director/ graphic designer and Cosmopolitan’s make-up artist. For the texts on posters, we collaborated with our leading copywriter and consulted two expert microbiologists on the topic of bio-chemical weapons and diseases.
For models, we tried to use as many different profiles of people as possible: an Iranian man, a japanese girl, a grandfather, an aunt, a younger cousin, etc.

AVBIA organisation
The next phase was constructing a fake organization. We carefully selected a catchy name AVBIA, which stands for Association of Victims of Biochemical Attacks.

Combining the UN logo with the symbol for biohazard, we created a logotype for the organization that makes it appear legitimate and believable. We then selected the president of Avbia Slovenia and hired a student worker to carry out the petition.

www.avbia.org
Most websites concerned with biochemical agents and warfare tend to focus on a single aspect or detail. In contrast, the AVBIA website includes information gathered from many different sources and gives and offers a wider and more informative view of the subject. Moreover, anyone could phone the AVBIA headquarters in New York, where we also set up a fake president, and request additional information on AVBIA.

Mailing list
We set up a secret mail server for sending AVBIAs e-mails. E-mails sent from our office were masked so as to appear as if they were sent from avbia.org. In addition to info@avbia.org, we set up e-mail addresses ranging from afghanistan@avbia.org to switzerland@avbia.org. That way, there really appeared to be a global network of AVBIA offices.

Press release
In the press release, we announced that AVBIA is opening its first office in Slovenia and to mark the occasion it is petitioning against the use of biological and chemical weapons and presenting an exhibition entitled ‘Faces of Fear’ on the streets of Ljubljana.

Petition
The petition took place and on the main square of Ljubljana, where our PR person, our fake president and a student worker were gathering the signatures. The petition could also be signed through a form on AVBIAs website.

Press response
The media response was overwhelming! We appeared on the TV news, on radio, many websites linked the AVBIA website, our banners appeared on several web portals…

Our project was later featured in StudioCity, the most relevant non-mainstream show on national television, watched regularly by many intellectuals, younger and older alike.

Considering Ljubljana is a small city where nothing can stay a secret for too long, the project was surprisingly successful and well received.

Fake uncovers
After one month the FakeUp project is presented once again in StudioCity, where the authors reveal the structure and steps of the project for the first time. This comes as a big shock for some journalists; Radio Student even expressed outrage.

Ultimately, the authors and collaborators were applauded for their effort and everyone agrees the action had the right goal.

Media hack as the main idea
There is no such thing as the main idea..
It can only be described through the main or general aspects of the whole idea.
We used the same tactics as the Anglo-American PR cabinet during the investigation of Iraq and its subsequent attack… we presented fictional information through all available media: print, newspapers, television news, web, banners, radio.
The audience believed all that they were served through mass media.
In my opinion, although extreme progress has been made in the activities of opposing (non-mainstream) media, proven well by the actions of the alter-globalist movement, the influence of commercial media is bigger than ever and still growing. That is why I think it is extremely important that everyone working in the media should spread messages responsibly and with honest intentions.