Latest Hijinks

The Yes Men agree their way into the fortified compounds of commerce, ask questions, and then smuggle out the stories of their hijinks to provide a public glimpse at the behind-the-scenes world of business. In other words, the Yes Men are team players... but they play for the opposing team.

Acceptable Risk

Dow Discovers a Golden Skeleton!

April, 2005 |

On April 28, 2005, at a London banking conference to which they had accidentally been invited because of their satirical website, "Dow representative" "Erastus Hamm" unveiled "Acceptable Risk," a Dow industry standard for determining how many deaths are acceptable when achieving large profits.

Bhopal on BBC

Dow Does the Right Thing

November, 2004 |

Jude announces a radical new direction for Dow, where they take full responsibility for the 1984 Bhopal India disaster.

Global warming petitions, Cleveland

May, 2004 |
We have been out for half an hour, and already we have collected a dozen on-camera signatures supporting Bush's new pro-America ice age.
Heritage

Smash the State

April, 2004 |

Heritage is the biggest free-market think tank - in fact the biggest think tank period - in Washington. It has a budget of $25 million and provides "talking points" to conservative Congressmen who don't have time to do their own research. Heritage is a kind of "grey eminence" behind Congress, and very actively helps direct U.S. politics.

Dow Does the Wrong Thing

December, 2002 |

On Dec. 3, 2002, the eighteenth anniversary of the Union Carbide (i.e. Dow) disaster at Bhopal, a press release was sent out by Dow-Chemical.com, telling Dow's story more honestly than Dow ever does.

Sydney

End of the WTO

May, 2002 |

Andy and Mike have decided on an entirely new tack for this lecture, one unmarked by the bombast and lunacy of previous ones. Since parody hasn't worked, they've decided to try that old standby, sincerity.

Plattsburgh

Let them eat hamburger

April, 2002 |

In April of 2002 Mike meets Richard Robbins at a conference in upstate New York. Richard has written a book on corporate globalization, and he offers to organize a lecture by the WTO for his students at the State University of New York in Plattsburgh, where he is a professor.

CNBC

Might makes right

June, 2001 |

On July 6, 2001, an email arrives at GATT.org from a television producer with CNBC Marketwrap Europe. The producer wants a representative of the WTO to debate an “anti-globalization” activist (possibly Naomi Klein) live in front of millions of TV viewers. The date: July 19th, the eve of the G8 protests in Genoa.

Tampere

Beyond the golden parachute

January, 2001 |

In January of 2001, the organizers of a "Textiles of the Future" conference in Tampere, Finland send an e-mail to GATT.org asking for a WTO representative to deliver their keynote address. Andy and Mike are glad to oblige, and the organizers are delighted.

Salzburg

Salzburg

October, 2000 |

In May 2000, an organizer of a conference on international trade law in Salzburg, Austria writes to GATT.org inviting WTO Director-General Mike Moore to serve as a panelist. "Moore" politely declines but suggests a replacement, “Dr. Andreas Bichlbauer.”