Creative protest and community-building in Cape Town

Even the most moving activism needs refreshing (or, in this case, zombifying) from time to time

This video describes the twists and turns led from a typical Yes Men project idea to one that made much more sense... in ways we didn't initially understand.

It also describes how even the most creative, expressive, moving activist forms imaginable—the anti-apartheid singing protests that continue to this day with new targets—need refreshing (or, in this case, zombifying) from time to time.

It recounts how we found out that the most valuable thing wasn't the media attention this project received, but rather the cohesion it furthered within the community of public-space occupiers in Cape Town.

It talks about humor—how it has a role in campaigns and movements, but it also has some big limits.

There wasn't room to recount in the video that the thing we felt most driven to do because we'd done it for twenty years—i.e. write fake press releases on behalf of our targets—was not only not necessary in this case, but maybe even counterproductive.

There also wasn't room to tell how one of the things we assumed was necessary for a project to even work at all—a reveal press release—in this case simply wasn't.