The Yes Men strike again! Today's "special edition" of the New York Post on climate change is a classic, with the headline blaring "WE'RE SCREWED." "It’s Coming! According to a high tech study commissioned by a concerned Mayor Bloomberg and generously funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, climate change caused by human-created greenhouse gases is threatening the health, livelihood, and security of New Yorkers—especially those who take the subway to work."
A hoax with a twist: "Everything in it is factual." You can find the online edition here or view a short video about it below.
UPDATE, NBC New York:
The Yes Men were proud of their work, and say they handed out nearly a million copies across the city today.
"This could be, and should be, a real New York Post," said Andy Bichlbaum of the Yes Men. "Climate change is the biggest threat civilization has ever faced, and it should be in the headlines of every paper, every day until we solve the problem."
"Although the 32-page New York Post is a fake, everything in it is 100% true, with all facts carefully checked by a team of editors and climate change experts," the group said in a statement.
Carefully checked facts? Wait, that doesn't sound like the Post at all!
Early this morning, nearly a million New Yorkers were stunned by the appearance of a "special edition" New York Post blaring headlines that their city could face deadly heat waves, extreme flooding, and other lethal effects of global warming within the next few decades. The most alarming thing about it: the news came from an official City report.
Distributed by over 2000 volunteers throughout New York City, the paper has been created by The Yes Men and a coalition of activists as a wake-up call to action on climate change. It appears one day before a UN summit where Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon will push 100 world leaders to make serious commitments to reduce carbon emissions in the lead-up to the Copenhagen climate conference in December. Ban has said that the world has "less than 10 years to halt (the) global rise in greenhouse gas emissions if we are to avoid catastrophic consequences for people and the planet," adding that Copenhagen is a "once-in-a-generation opportunity."
Although the 32-page New York Post is a fake, everything in it is 100% true, with all facts carefully checked by a team of editors and climate change experts.
"This could be, and should be, a real New York Post," said Andy Bichlbaum of the Yes Men. "Climate change is the biggest threat civilization has ever faced, and it should be in the headlines of every paper, every day until we solve the problem."
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The Yes Men Fix the World
See also the documentary The Yes Men Fix the World, releasing in early October. Becky Garrison has a decent write-up in the Sojo blog (excerpt below):
Lest anyone feel the Yes Men are simply playing a more sophisticated version of Jackass or Punk’d, their mischievous moves actually serve a higher purpose than your typical juvenile pranks. For example, this particular bit of political street theater proved to be far more effective at raising global awareness of the plight of those living in Bhopal than years of demonstrations, letter writing campaigns, and other campaigns targeted against Union Carbide.
In the documentary The Yes Men Fix the World, Andy and Mike give us a behind the scenes look at their operation. After setting up fake corporate websites representing internationally known corporations and governmental organizations, they sit back and wait for people to invite them to speak at conferences, make media appearances, and perform other functions under the mistaken assumption that these men are in fact real spokespersons.
Some have compared the Yes Men to Michael Moore, though I find they have more in common with Sasha Baron Cohen’s playful impersonations than Michael Moore’s obstinate outsider persona. While Moore’s attempt to make a citizen’s arrest of AIG may provide for some funny footage, watching corporate honchos actually begin to buy into the Yes Men’s inhuman and insane ideas elevates their satire to a Swiftian status.
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