- From gallons of blood to living in a tree, protests can take many forms.
When the bigwigs in the government get carried away with abusing their power, we little guys have two options. We either vote them out or — if that doesn’t work or isn’t an option — we protest.
Not every protest involves angry shouting and masses of people carrying plaques, though. Occasionally protests get really inventive, or just straight-up bizarre.
Here are six strange forms of protests from around the world. Not all of them were successful, but at least they caught people’s attention.
6. Pothole Plants
Potholes are an everyday nuisance all over the globe. And since the authorities won’t do anything about them, citizens in many places have taken it upon themselves to fill the potholes.
With plants.
In 2014, locals furious with the deteriorating roads in Kings Country, Canada, started planting sunflowers in the potholes. A similar stunt happened in Port Arthur, Texas, but the residents stuck trees in the potholes instead.
In the latest protest, one Josh Anderson from Hopewell, Virginia, filled a “tree-sized pothole” with an actual tree in April 2023. A while later, city workers had come and torn the tree away — without fixing the pothole.
So, Anderson planted another tree.
5. Vincent the Sheep
In 2019, the local government in the town of Saint-Nazaire in western France enacted new rules on class sizes in schools. One class was just barely one student short — but there would be no exceptions to the policy.
The class was shut down, much to the chagrin of students, teachers, and parents alike.
Shortly afterward, however, a new student suddenly arrived at the school. The teachers registered a “Vincent P.” to the class and, as it now fulfilled the student count requirements, the class was back on.
Just one thing, though — Vincent P. was a small black sheep enrolled in the class in protest. He reportedly attended all class functions until the local government relented and officially reinstated the class.
4. Blood on the Streets
It’s usually not a good sign when the streets flow with blood after a protest. In 2010, streets in Bangkok, Thailand, turned bloody but not because of a government crackdown.
Protesting against then-prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, 50,000 protesters donated nearly 80 gallons of blood. Clad in red shirts, they then proceeded to dump blood on the street in front of the prime minister’s office.
“We will curse them with our blood and our soul!” the protesters yelled as the pavement turned crimson around them.
Needless to say, that made for quite a show. Yet, it fell short of expectations — the protesters had been aiming for 265 gallons but couldn’t find enough donors.
3. Thriller Night
In 2011, months-long student protests were rocking Chile with no end in sight. Angered over what they saw as a broken education system, combined with sky-high tuition costs, the students tried every trick in the protest book, but nothing seem to work.
One day, some 3,000 protesting students gathered in front of the Presidential Palace to demand education reform. They looked a bit weird, though — the students were clad in ragged clothes, their faces painted pale and fake blood smeared all over them.
Then, music came on. Thousands of students performed an appropriately costumed rendition of Michael Jackson’s Thriller dance routine.
It was impressive, but ultimately pointless. The government wasn’t swayed by the meticulously rehearsed dance performance and the protests went on for several more years.
2. Good Fairy Grandmothers
In the early 1990s, Anchorage, Alaska, established the Anchorage Parking Authority (APA) to control unauthorized parking. Yet, power quickly went into APA officials’ heads and they started fining people for issues that had nothing to do with parking.
APA agents made a mistake when they fined Caroline Pacillo for having her license plate sticker on the wrong side of the plate. Incensed, Pacillo and her sister took action.
They dressed as fairies, complete with sparkling dressed and fake wings, and drove a pink three-wheeler around Anchorage. Wherever they found parking meters about to run out, they would top them up to prevent the hapless driver from getting fined.
APA officials amped up their efforts, but the parking fairies always got to the meters first. Thanks to them, the APA lost $100,000 in revenue over just one year.
Four years later, the APA shut down, in large part due to the Pacillo sisters’ campaigning.
1. Two Years in a Tree
Tree-sitting is a form of protest where an activist settles down to live in or around the tree to prevent it from being hacked down. It’s not a new thing — it first gained popularity in the ‘70s — but Julia Butterfly Hill took tree-sitting farther than anyone else.
In December 1997, Hill climbed a giant sequoia tree in California to keep a lumber company from felling it. She set up camp on a tree branch and stayed there for more than two years.
Hill ended up living in the tree, which she named Luna, for a total of 378 days. Finally, the lumber company relented and gave up on its logging rights, saving the tree.
Since her tree sit, Hill has continued as an activist for various causes, including protesting an oil pipeline in Ecuador. Yet, she can go see Luna whenever she wants — the tree’s owners have given her lasting visitation rights.
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