Before prevalent social media, a static webpage and a few mailing lists could shake a brand.

My 1999 #Swatch #Protest archive shows how amateur radio operators used hand-coded HTML, listserv chains, and Usenet newsgroups to stop Swatch’s #satellite from advertising on their radio frequencies.

Relive the early-internet playbook here: vees.net/hobbies/hamradio/swat…

#InternetHistory #DialUpDays #Space #DigitalProtest #ARRL #AMSAT

Swatch Protest of 1999 | Rob Carlson

In early 1999 Swatch set out to publicize its new “Swatch .beat Internet Time” by launching Beatnik, a grapefruit‑size “mini‑Sputnik” satellite from the Mir space station.

^vees.net