The creative industry often expects professionals to work for "exposure" rather than fair pay, harming emerging artists, writers, and designers. This norm devalues creative labor and perpetuates financial instability. A satirical approach could address this issue by creating shared awareness and pushback through humor.

A Token of Protest

One way to highlight this issue could involve a purely symbolic cryptocurrency named "Exposure" with no real monetary value. Creatives could "send" these tokens in response to lowball or exploitative offers, turning frustration into a collective inside joke. Features might include:

• A public ledger tracking anonymous instances of exposure-based offers
• A meme generator for sharing token transactions socially
• An infinite supply to mock the abundance of unpaid opportunities

The token would use blockchain for irony—mimicking speculative crypto trends while underscoring how creative work is undervalued.

Building Cultural Momentum

For this to work, creatives would need to adopt it as a shared language. An initial phase could involve:

1. A simple wallet to send/receive tokens
2. Social media campaigns using humor to explain the concept
3. Browser tools to detect exposure offers in emails

Unlike existing efforts like FuckYouPayMe (which focuses on direct confrontation), this approach leans on satire to foster solidarity. Revenue isn’t the goal, but merch or sponsorships from fair-wage advocates could sustain it.

Why It Might Work

Symbolic gestures often gain traction when they resonate culturally. If creatives collectively embrace the joke, it could:

• Create social pressure against exploitative practices
• Offer a cathartic way to critique systemic issues
• Attract attention to fair compensation norms through viral memes

The real value lies in making the problem visible—turning an unfair expectation into something laughable and absurd.