The Yes Men Fix The World, the second film from the culture-jamming activist duo, will be the marquee feature in the Shared Film Festival at the Open Video Conference. After the screening, we’ll sit down for a panel including The Yes Men and their defense counsel, EFF’s Corynne McSherry.
The Yes Men raise awareness about social issues by tactically intervening in the mass media. Posing as executives of giant corporations, they lie their way into big conferences and TV appearances to expose—with surreal humor—the dark underbelly of multinational business. “It takes some nerve, not to mention diabolical intelligence… to pull off [these] pranks,” the New York Times wrote in its review of the film.
The film chronicles, among other episodes, the time Yes Man Andy Bichlbaum appeared on BBC World as a faux Dow Chemical spokesman to apologize for the Bhopal chemical disaster. After tricking a BBC producer into granting an interview, Bichlbaum read a lengthy “official statement” on live broadcast, offering reparations for the 120,000 affected victims. By the time the hoax was uncovered, Dow’s market cap had taken a $2 billion dollar hit.
Because it is such a hot potato, The Yes Men have a hard time securing traditional distribution deals for the movie. Though it’s earned heaps of awards and critical accolades, it also chronicles costly and elaborate pranks against Haliburton, WTO, Dow Chemical, and others—giving most distributors heartburn for the potential liability risks.
As a result, The Yes Men decided to freely distribute the film using P2P systems like BitTorrent. They’ve reached a massive audience, cost-free, and have even received tens of thousands of dollars in donations from fans and supporters.
The P2P edition of the film features special scenes of The Yes Men’s prank at the National Press Club, which resulted in a lawsuit being filed against them by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Ethan Zuckerman is a senior researcher at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University. His research focuses on the distribution of attention in mainstream and new media, the use of technology for international development, and the use of new media technologies by activists.