The Scapa Society (Society for Checking (or Controlling) the Abuses in Public Advertising) was an organization founded in Britain in 1893 to protest against the burgeoning advertising business. It was founded by Richardson Evans, and has been called "the first organised reaction against advertising" Its early members included

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He ...

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work. ...

William Holman Hunt William Holman Hunt (2 April 1827 – 7 September 1910) was an English painter and one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. His paintings were notable for their great attention to detail, vivid colour, and elaborate symbolis ...

Arthur Quiller-Couch Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch (; 21 November 186312 May 1944) was a British writer who published using the pseudonym Q. Although a prolific novelist, he is remembered mainly for the monumental publication '' The Oxford Book of English Verse ...

and

John Everett Millais Sir John Everett Millais, 1st Baronet, ( , ; 8 June 1829 – 13 August 1896) was an English painter and illustrator who was one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. He was a child prodigy who, aged eleven, became the youngest ...

. Morris's last public speech before his death, in 1896, was at a meeting of the society. He spoke of the general lack of concern for environmental issues: "We have to remember that the enormous majority of the people of the country do not care one straw about natural beauty". The society published a journal ''A Beautiful World'' from 1893 until at least 1922. Its work helped bring about the Advertisements Regulation Act 1907, which controlled structures over tall in areas of natural beauty. By 1933 it had changed its name to The SCAPA Society for the Prevention of Disfigurement in Town and Country, and produced a report on the disposal of domestic refuse in the countryside, in conjunction with the

Women's Institutes The Women's Institute (WI) is a community-based organisation for women in the United Kingdom, Canada, South Africa and New Zealand. The movement was founded in Stoney Creek, Ontario, Canada, by Erland and Janet Lee with Adelaide Hoodless being t ...

. It later became the Advisory Council for the Control of Outdoor Advertising.

References

Social impact of advertising Environmental organizations established in 1893 Environmental organisations based in the United Kingdom 1893 establishments in the United Kingdom {{UK-org-stub