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Ask The Yes Men

Posted by timothy on from the no-no-yes-yes-yes-no-yes dept.

Agit-prop? Absurdist pranksterism? Unsubtly subversive PowerPoint-based performance art? Yes, Yes, and Yes. Specifically, The Yes Men, whose brand of straight-faced media manipulation has raised eyebrows at staged events and on international news, have agreed to answer questions about their activities. These include social engineering of a certain peculiar variety ("Impersonating big-time criminals in order to publicly humiliate them"), and multi-media lampooning of major corporations and political bodies — and, sometimes, committing the results to film. (Their 2010 film The Yes Men Fix the World is CC-licensed; the torrent version includes a bonus short, the making of which is the subject of a lawsuit by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the target of a mock press conference it depicts.) So, please ask your questions of The Yes Men, bearing in mind (especially if you've never read them before) the Slashdot interview guidelines. (Major takeaway: for unrelated questions, please use separate posts.)

6 of 53 comments (clear)

  1. Do You Draw a Line at Who You Prank? by eldavojohn · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I don't know who your targets often are but one of your recent results from the Yes Lab and Black Flood was to fool people into thinking that The Hobbit was being filmed in the Tar Sands in Canada. This apparently raised awareness of the Tar Sands but also there were complaints that you were no longer limited to fooling corporations and that this prank tricked activists as well. So I must ask, is there a line that you won't cross on who you will prank and who you absolutely will not prank? Is anyone a potential target for these shenanigans? Is no one safe? Children? Impoverished people? Cancer patients? Related follow up, have you personally ever felt bad about someone or some group (perhaps an innocent bystander) that fell into being duped by your antics?

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    My work here is dung.
  2. Is this your day job? by MrEricSir · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Do you actually make a living at what you do? If so, how?

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    There's no -1 for "I don't get it."
  3. The means and the ends by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Are you very comfortable with the means (impersonating people, companies and organisations to tar their image) as something that the public debate really could use more of in general, or do you feel that they are mainly justified by the ends of fighting for good causes?

  4. Rival Culture Jammers by SteveFoerster · · Score: 4, Interesting

    What was it like getting busted by the Bureaucrash guys in front of the Cato Institute? Do you just hate those guys or is there any sort of camaraderie or at least friendly rivalry among culture jammers, even those with different ideological motivations?

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    Space game using normal deck of cards: http://BattleCards.org
    1. Re:Rival Culture Jammers by ohnocitizen · · Score: 3, Interesting

      How difficult is it going up against corporate funded right wing groups like Bureaucrash? Do you feel like OWS going up against Koch/Fox funded astroturf movements like the Tea Party? Do you view Bureaucrash as on your level, or akin to a right wing comedian attempting to do what Colbert does?

  5. Voteauction.com by Sebastopol · · Score: 3, Interesting

    You purchased the brilliant satire project "Voteauction.com" in 2000 for 1 euro. Any plans to resurrect large-scale web-based pranks like this? They seem to have more broad penetration than your videos, which go largely unnoticed save for the astute film-goer.

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    https://www.accountkiller.com/removal-requested