The Yes Men
They create and maintain fake websites similar to ones they intend to spoof, which have led to numerous interview, conference, and TV talk show invitations.
Since this time, the Yes Men have continued performing large-scale hoaxes, in what they describe as a collaborative effort with journalists to help the media tell stories which they believe are important.
[4] The Yes Men often deploy a satirical approach: they pose as a powerful entity (typically a corporate or government representative or executive) and make ridiculous and shocking comments that caricature the ideological position of the organization or person.
A sense of humor and shock value is usually employed to make these issues more palatable to the general public and to call greater media attention to stories of interest.
[5][6] On occasion, the Yes Men's phony spokesperson will make announcements that represent fictitious scenarios for the anti-globalization movement or opponents of corporate crime.
This has often resulted in false news reports, such as those covering the demise of the World Trade Organization, or Dow Chemical paying compensation to the victims of the Bhopal disaster.
The Yes Men have posed as spokespeople for the WTO, McDonald's, Dow Chemical, and the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The two leading members of the Yes Men are known by a number of aliases, most recently, and in film, Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonanno (Jacques Servin[7] and Igor Vamos, respectively).
The Yes Men encourage activist and student groups to make their voices heard through crashing conferences, creating fake websites, and getting arrested.
and encouraged supporters to sign a "Patriot Pledge" agreeing to keep nuclear waste in their back yards and send their children off to war.
[15] On December 3, 2004, the twentieth anniversary of the Bhopal disaster, Andy Bichlbaum appeared on BBC World as "Jude Finisterra",[16] a Dow Chemical spokesman.
[18] The Indian government reported that more than half a million people were exposed to the gas, leading to numerous early and late health defects.
The Yes Men claim on their website that they have been told by contacts in Bhopal that once they had got over their disappointment that it wasn't real, they were pleased about the stunt and thought it had helped to raise awareness of their plight.
They then unveiled a gold spandex body suit that they said would allow productivity to increase, as managers would not have to oversee workers in person but could keep track of them via images on an attached screen as well as implanted sensors.
On June 14, 2007, the Yes Men acted during Canada's largest oil conference in Calgary, Alberta, posing as ExxonMobil and National Petroleum Council (NPC) representatives.
[37] When the Yes Men arrived at the conference they said that Lee Raymond (the promised speaker) was unable to make it due to a pressing situation with the president.
In the actual speech, the "NPC rep" announced that current U.S. and Canadian energy policies (notably the massive, carbon-intensive processing of Alberta's oil sands, and the development of liquid coal) are increasing the chances of huge global calamities.
At this point, event security recognized the Yes Men and forced them off stage, and the 'punchline' – that the candles were made of Vivoleum obtained from the flesh of an "Exxon janitor" who died as a result of cleaning up a toxic spill – was not delivered to the audience, but only to reporters.
[40][41] The fake edition shows their ideas for a better future with headlines such as Iraq War Ends and Nation Sets Its Sights on Building Sane Economy.
"[45] On September 21, 2009, one day before a UN summit lead-up to the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2009, over 2,000 volunteers distributed throughout New York City a 32-page "special edition" New York Post, blaring headlines (cover story "We're Screwed") that the city could face deadly heat waves, extreme flooding, and other lethal effects of global warming within the next few decades.
On September 22, 2009, the Yes Men demonstrated, on the alleged behalf of Halliburton and dozens of other climate threatening corporations, an inflatable ball-shaped costume known as the SurvivaBall, claiming it was a self-contained living system for surviving disasters caused by global warming.
[54][55] The Yes Men were not able to complete the conference without being exposed as a hoax, although their message that the United States Chamber of Commerce needs to reevaluate their direction in terms of clean energy was their primary concern and was received.
During the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, the Yes Men put out a statement in which they purported to be the Canadian environment minister, Jim Prentice.
[60] A man called Bradford Houppe, from the Ethical Affairs Committee at Royal Dutch Shell gave a four-minute-long apology to the people of the Niger Delta for ruining their land, water, and communities.
The hoax site posted the claim "GE Responds to Public Outcry – Will Donate Entire $3.2 Billion Tax Refund to Help Offset Cuts and Save American Jobs."
[61] In June 2012, the Yes Men collaborated with Greenpeace and members of the Occupy Seattle movement to create ArcticReady.com, a parody website criticizing Shell Oil's drilling activities in the Arctic Circle.
In October 2015, at the annual Politicon non-partisan political convention, the Yes Men promoted an interview with whistleblower Edward Snowden, known to be living in exile in Russia.
Following up the "Better Deal" agenda[66] released by the party a week earlier, prankster Andy Bichlbaum posed as Frank Spencer, Deputy Vice Chair for Civic Engagement of the Democratic National Committee (DNC).
Dated May 1, 2019, the edition's headline read "UNPRESIDENTED" and the lead article described Donald Trump's resignation from the presidency after a period of unrest.
