Issue and Opponent: The Yes Men targeted the World Trade Organization (WTO). The group labels themselves anti-globalization advocates.
Dilemma Action: In 1999, The Yes Men created a fake website to mock the WTO. With a remarkable resemblance to the official World Trade Organization website, the activist begins to receive requests on behalf of various organizations for participation from the WTO as they mistakenly believed that the mock website is a legitimate platform of the WTO. Under the alias, Mike Bonanno and Andy Bichlbaum, the two men begin answering the requests that of the people mistaking the website for the real WTO website. They went to various events and gave speeches “on behalf” of the WTO. During a conference in Finland, men pushed for a return of slavery; then in a lecture in Austria, the men advocated for justice vouchers for countries that committed human rights violations but want to stop. One of their most effective deceptive lectures took place at the Certified Practicing Accountants of Australia in Sydney, Australia. At the lectures, Andy explained that the WTO was shutting down and rebranding itself as the Trade Regulation Organization. The new re-launch would focus on holding corporations responsible for all world citizens not just wealthy business owners. Following this lecture, the various listeners would approach Mike and Andy with suggestions for how the new Trade Regulation Organization could implement a new change.
Outcome: Following the conference when the Yes Men announce that the WTO would be shutting down, Mike and Andy release a fake press release. The press release became so popular that they received hundreds of congratulatory emails and a member of the Canadian parliament announces the news on the floor. When the Yes Men’s fake WTO is revealed to be a hoax the Canadian Parliament retracts its statement and hundreds of people email the men to tell them they are disappointed it was all a lie. The WTO headquarters in Geneva released a press statement saying acknowledging the Yes Men’s WTO as a hoax. Even after the Yes Men released one more statement confirming it was indeed a hoax and apologized for misleading the accountants in Sydney, the WTO became increasingly frustrated with the Yes Men. They demanded that they remove the deceptive materials from their website. On the legitimate WTO webpage, the organization posted a warning to visitors about the pranks. The Yes Men larger campaign is anti-globalization and exposing corporate crime. This Dilemma Action is a common tactic for the group. They followed the same pattern of spinning a corporate or government ideology into a spoof. Some examples of their other satirical campaigns include the George W. Bush fake campaign website (GWBush.com). The group’s founders Igor Vamos and Jacques Servin have been referred to as “the Jonathan Swift of the Jackass generation. In 2004, a documentary about the Yes Men was released. The film followed the activist’s various hoaxes including the WTO impersonation.