Buying cheap art prints and pop culture posters is an inexpensive way to decorate. Besides being cheap wall art, however, posters serve an important cultural purpose. They are used by propagandists, advertisers, and protestors as a means of mass communicating a message and encouraging action. The action may be as simple as urging consumers to buy detergent or as culturally meaningful as urging young people to boycott corporations for human rights violations or ecological damage. One of the most influential political posters of all time is the Barack Obama “HOPE” poster by Shepard Fairey. At the micro level, of course, hanging cheap art prints and other posters in your apartment or dorm room communicates to others a subtle message about the kind of person you are.

There are many different types of po