My favorite pranksters, The Yes Men, coordinated a press conference on behalf of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. In attendance were reporters, some of whom were “in on” the prank. Hijinks ensue:
The Chamber was recently found to have grossly inflated their membership numbers, and have been hemorraging high-profile companies in part because of their position on climate change.
Andy discusses his first prank, before the Yes Men existed:
Andy Bichlbaum, co-founder of activist group the Yes Men, emerged after 26 hours in New York City’s central lockup with all charges against him dismissed.
“The judge just laughed,” said Bichlbaum. “The police had a less well-developed sense of humor - and, it turned out, much less regard for the law. But all in all, I’m ecstatic that they arrested me.”
At 10am Tuesday, Bichlbaum was arrested and charged with trespassing, after he and 21 “Survivaballs” gathered on New York City’s East River and announced they were to going to “take the UN by storm” from the water, since all the land approaches were sealed. Once at the UN, they would supposedly use the Survivaballs to blockade the negotiations and refuse to let world leaders leave the room until they’d agreed on sweeping cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, as Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon has demanded.
The Yes Men, Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonano, struck again this week, exposing some of the world?s biggest corporate criminals and showing that maybe profits shouldn’t be our only goal. Today they share the insider stories behind their latest pranks and discuss the question that drives their new movie: is the free market the only solution to solving our problems?via http://blip.tv/file/2642413
The Yes Men were contacted to address the “Catastrophic Loss” conference at the Ritz-Carlton in Amelia Island, Florida, in May of 2006. They were contacted via their (now defunct) spoof website halliburton-contracts.com.
They attended, posing as representatives from Halliburton, and announced a revolutionary product called SurvivaBall™.
More photos, video animations, and the presentation transcript are available here (it’s hard to find.)
UPDATE: added GRITtv and WNYC coverage to the bottom of the post.
Following closely their last awesome prank on the New York Times, this time it’s the rag known as the “New York Post,” and it’s packed full of revelatory news, none of which is accurate in the slightest, of course.
Playing in theaters starting today (U.S.) and tomorrow (world wide) is the related film The Age of Stupid. Here is the trailer.
The Age of Stupid, which features music by Radiohead and Depeche Mode and includes documentary footage filmed in America, the United Kingdom, India, Nigeria, Iraq, Jordan, and The Alps, premieres today in New York City and Canada, and tomorrow in 75 countries around the world. Residents of every other country in the world will be able to watch the film online for free here for the next month. It’s no coincidence that the film’s release comes just days before the UN General Assembly’s session on climate change, as the filmmaker hopes it can catalyze the groundswell necessary to motivate people toward real and sweeping action. From the looks of the trailer, it just might.
And finally in October their new film “The Yes Men Fix the World” will be released. Here’s the official trailer.
“Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonanno were spotted yesterday on Lafayette Street, cajoling passers-by to go see their new climate-change epic The Yes Men Fix the World, opening at the Film Forum Theater on Houston Street October 7. The two notorious troublemakers sneak into corporate events disguised as captains of industry and pull off the funniest pranks known to (Yes) Man. Sources say they’re hitting the streets because they don’t have an advertising budget. Good luck, guys! Maybe if you pretend to be Bono people will come see your show (see Page Six).”
“The Yes Men confused and amused morning commuters in New York City with their mock version of the New York Post featuring the massive headline : We’re Screwed. Their new movie, The Yes Men Fix The World, is said to be one part rousing manifesto and two parts screwball comedy. Its worldwide premiere next month will be in New York, New Orleans, and Bhopal, India. And if you’re engaging in corporate shenanigans of the best kind, send us a link to your video at grittv@grittv.org”
WNYC’s Arun Venugopal spent the day with the Yes Men as they spread the word about an environmental catastrophe that could hit New York City.
<embed src=”http://www.youtube.com/v/nhq8YRxSVYE&autoplay=&fs=1&showinfo=0&showsearch=0&rel=0&” type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” allowscriptaccess=”always” allowfullscreen=”true” wmode=”opaque” width=”480” height=”415” id=”myytplayer”></embed> <div style=”font-size:0.9em;”> <a href=”/watch/2300999-yes-men-and-the-new-york-post”>Yes Men and the New York Post</a> - Watch more <a href=”http://vodpod.com”>Videos</a> at Vodpod.</div>
The Yes Men infiltrated the “Go Expo” conference in Calgary in June 2007, after being contacted through their fake Exxon website. They announced a revolutionary new energy process and fuel product, accompanied by a slick presentation, back story, and props.
They were ejected eventually, but not before making their point.
The Yes Men are available for hire as educators in media literacy.
The date of this prank was pushed back so as to not interfere with the election. As I’ve mentioned before, The Yes Men are available for hire as educators in media literacy.
As always, this prank was executed with professionalism and flair. An excerpt:
Court Indicts Bush on High Treason Charge
By Bart Garzon Published: July 4th, 2009
WASHINGTON (AP) — George W. Bush, the 43rd President of the United States, was indicted Monday on charges of high treason. The charges, filed by Attorney General Russ Feingold late in the evening, allege that Mr. Bush, knowing full well that Iraq possessed no weapons of mass destruction, falsified information in order to pursue the disastrous Iraq War. (See “U.S. Knew No W.M.D.s in Iraq,” on Page A1.)
The former President appeared perturbed by his own charges against him. (GAVIN BELLOWS/BOSTON GLOBE)
20091020 at 16:11 
