I took a well-spent hour last night to watch something I've been meaning to take a look at for awhile--the Yes Men documentary. Conceived, produced and directed by the Yes Men themselves--naturally--the film chronicles the major initiatives the team have pulled on companies from Exxon to Halliburton to Dow Chemical. It's enjoyable in parts, especially when they experiendce the wonder of just how easy it is to dupe and infilitrate the corporate vortex.
But I find it overwhelmingly disappointing. They've done a lot over the years, but haven't been able to maximise the impact of their efforts or achieve lasting change. Even the Chevron spoof campaign from last month, probably their most sophisticated and potentially impactful effort yet, hasn't garnered nearly a fraction of the attention it deserves.
The deranged and greenwash-filled landscape of corporate blah we're facing right now, especially when it comes to the increasingly distorted global debate over the future of energy, needs groups like the Yes Men. Really, really badly.
I salute the general direction of the Chevron spoof--an initiative which mirrored the exact channels and target audiences of the real Chevron campaign, and which began to leverage a global network of like-minded 'armchair activists' to keep it going. There needs to be more connectivity with this network--I think the sky's the limit for people who will be able to relate to and support these kinds of efforts. And I'd like to see the Yes Men take on more on energy and sustainability.
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