These Guys are Awesome!

Meet The Yes Men; a group of activists who practice what they call “identity correction” by posing as professional spokespersons and essentially create fake websites that look similar to the ones they want to spoof. I first learned of them after the release of their 2003 film where they posed as representatives of the WTO and McDonald's and gave a series of talks across the globe that reflected their views on how large corporations tend to act in ways that are, put bluntly, dehumanizing. If you have yet to see the film, I highly suggest you do because not only are they spreading awareness but they are doing it in a manner that is absolutely hilarious.

One of the best features of this “Yes Men Coalition” is that anyone can become a member. A few months ago I signed up to become part of the team and a couple weeks later, I learned that they were about to strike again. The Yes Men along with several other groups and organizations including the Anti-Advertising Agency, CODEPINK, United for Peace and Justice, Not An Alternative, May First/People Link, Improv Everywhere, Evil Twin, and Cultures of Resistance, all got together 6 months ago and began working on the elaborate newspaper hoax that occurred this morning.

It seems the newspaper prank has already received mixed reactions but in the end, the purpose of the prank all comes down to this. On November 4th we all made history by electing Barack Obama as our 44th President, and it cannot end here. It is up to us to make sure that those headlines come true.