Yes Men Strike Oil

[angela bischoff]

   Text of speech, photos, video: http://www.vivoleum.com/event/
   GO-EXPO statement:
http://newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/June2007/14/c5086.html
   Press conference before this event, Friday, Calgary:
http://arusha.org/event/7214
   Contact: mailto:fuel at theyesmen.org
   More links at end of release.


YES MEN STRIKE OIL

By Brandon Keim, June 14, 2007 | 11:21:07 P

Activist trickster collective the Yes Men used the Gas and
Oil Exposition 2007 in Calgary, Alberta to stage their
latest theatre of corporate absurdity, with Exxon/Mobil and
the Natural Petroleum Council playing the fools.

The prank, intended as a critique of the fossil fuel
industry's influence on energy policy, caused confusion and
consternation on the final day of the Exposition, one of the
industry's largest gatherings.

The NPC, which is led by former Exxon-Mobil CEO Lee Raymond,
advises the White House on gas and oil issues. They were
expected to  announce the findings of a Raymond-chaired
study, commissioned by the Department of Energy, on joint
US-Canadian energy policy.

Instead, attendees of the day's $45.00 keynote luncheon were
addressed by the Yes Men's Andy Bichlbaum, who identified
himself as an NPC representative named Shepard Wolff.

After noting that current energy policies will likely lead
to "huge global calamities" and disrupt oil supplies, Wolff
told the audience "that in the worst case scenario, the oil
industry could "keep fuel flowing" by transforming the
billions of people who die into oil," said a Yes Men press
release.


Yes Man Mike Bonnano, posing as an Exxon representative
named Florian Osenberg, added that "With more fossil fuels
comes a greater chance of disaster, but that means more
feedstock for Vivoleum. Fuel will continue to flow for those
of us left."

The impostors led growingly suspicious attendees in lighting
Vivoleum candles made, they said, from a former Exxon
janitor who died from cleaning a toxic spill. When shown a
mock video of the janitor professing his desire to be turned
in death into candles, a conference organizer pulled Bonanno
and Bichlbaum from the stage.

As security guards led Bonanno from the room, Bichlbaum told
reporters that "Without oil we could no longer produce or
transport food, and most of humanity would starve. That
would be a tragedy, but at least all those bodies could be
turned into fuel for the rest of us."

Noting that "150,000 people already die from climate-change
related effects every year," he added, "That's only going to
go up - maybe way, way up. Will it all go to waste? That
would be cruel."

The Exposition's organizers later issued a press release
verifying that "the "environmental and corporate ethics
activists" were not representatives of their respected
organizations. According to Calgary's CTV news, the
organizers "were approached by what they thought was a
reputable company offering speakers from the Petroleum
Council." Only after the debacle did they contact the
Council and learn of their mistake.

Members of the Yes Men have previously posed as spokespeople
for McDonald's, the World Trade Organization, Dow Chemical
and the US Department of Housing and Urban Development.

--
About the NPC and ExxonMobil: http://ga3.org/campaign/lee_raymond/explanation
   About the Alberta oil sands:
http://www.sierraclub.ca/prairie/tarnation.htm
   About liquid coal: http://www.sierraclub.org/coal/liquidcoal/


-----------------------------------------------------------

Yes Men coming to Edmonton, June 18
------------

From: "Edm. Small Press Assn. (ESPA)" <contact at edmontonsmallpress.org>

The ESPA is giddy with pleasure to announce a special LIVE *in person*
appearance of the "The Yes Men"!

DATE:       Mon., June 18, 2007
TIME:       7:00pm (doors open 6:30pm, show starts 7pm)
LOCATION:   Cosmopolitan Music Society
            8426 Gateway Blvd. (103 St.)
Admission:  $15 at the door (sorry, no advance tix)
            * Seating is extremely limited.
General Info: 434-9236 / contact at edmontonsmallpress.org

The Yes Men are globe-trotting theatre activists, famous for swapping
Barbie/GI Joe voiceboxes and mocking the WTO on global television. The Yes
Men have gained worldwide notoriety for impersonating and lampooning the
World Trade Organization, the Bush Administration, and other governing
bodies. They appear on television, at trade conferences and in other fora
around the world. They are honest people hoaxing big time criminals in order
to publicly humiliate them.

On their first-ever visit to Edmonton, The Yes Men will give a jaw-dropping
two hour performance telling true stories that are stranger than fiction,
and show hot-off-the-press video clips from their latest stunts.

Who Are the Yes Men?
********************

The story began in 1999, just before the big protests in Seattle. Mike
Bonanno (the BLO mastermind who switched the voice boxes of Barbie and G.I.
Joe dolls and returned them to store shelves), and Andy Bichlbaum, (who made
a splash by programming smooching, speedo-clad men into 80,000 copies of an
action video game) set up a parody of the WTO website at the domain
GATT.org. Some people mistook it for the real thing and invited them to
speak on CNBC, at conferences, schools, and other forums as the WTO. Andy
and Mike donned thrift store suits and set out to shock unwitting audiences
with darkly comic satire that highlights the worst aspects of global free
trade. Since then the Yes Men have impersonated some of the world's most
powerful criminals - including Halliburton and DOW - in order to correct
their identities.

The shocking satires they delivered to audiences of so-called "experts"
while representing WTO policy is the subject of the Yes Men's live
presentation. The Yes Men will explain the bizarre circumstances by which
their website was confused for the WTO's and how this confusion resulted in
invitations to speak as the WTO. The storytelling will be enhanced by
multimedia - including previously unreleased footage from their recent
exploits as well their classic pranks.

Woven into the story will be a history lesson - an explanation of how the
first world, through organizations like the WTO, continues to exploit the
third world, maintaining a modern version of the colonial relationships upon
which our current economies are based.

See more about the Yes Men at: http://www.theyesmen.org

Presented by the Edmonton Small Press Association (ESPA) and sponsored in
part by the Alberta Public Interest Research Group (http://www.apirg.org)
and On Spec Magazine (http://www.onspec.ca). ESPA thanks the City of
Edmonton, Edmonton Arts Council & the Alberta Foundation for the Arts for
operational funding.

- 30 -

MEDIA INQUIRIES: Liz Cole at 215-888-1756 or <liz at eviltwinbooking.com>

* For hi res images, go to http://www.theyesmen.org/hires
The folder marked "Tampere" has the most iconic, recognizable stills of Mike
and Andy.

Edmonton Small Press Association (ESPA)
P.O. Box 75086 RPO
Edmonton, AB T6E 6K1 Canada
(780) 434-9236
http://www.edmontonsmallpress.org







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