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Book Reviews
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The Yes Men:
The True Story of the End of the World Trade Organization
by Andy Bichlbaum, Mike Bonanno and Bob Spunkmeyher
(The Disinformation Company; 192 pages; $14.95; 2004)
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The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was the forerunner of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Starting with the domain name, www.gatt.org , Andy Bichlbaum, Mike Bonanno and Bob Spunkmeyher have been able to do what many of us can only dream of doing. Speak truth to power. By designing their web page to look like that of the WTO, several organizations have mistaken them for the REAL WTO. They have been invited to speak at various conferences and they always say “yes.”
So what do these merry pranksters say to the assembled mass of corporate humanity once they get the chance? That is the story of this book.
Using the lingo of economists and businessmen, they weave their version of the truth into an otherwise sterile environment. In one of their first stunts, they decry the inefficiency of the traditional voting paradigm in which corporation A must divert resources to a PR agency that then develops a campaign, paying TV stations to deliver their message to the consumer (i.e. voter) so they can get their man elected. They suggest that a far more efficient method would be for the corporation to simply pay a single entity, VoteAuction.com, that would permit voters to voluntarily auction their votes to the highest bidder [HopeDance Media has been showing a film about this particular prank throughout the county and beyond. It is called “This Horribly Stupid Stunt.”]
Now you might think, as they did, that this would be met with howls of protest. You’d be as wrong as they were. Amazingly, the audience applauded politely and off to lunch they went.
Not to be dissuaded, however, Andy, Mike and Bob continued to attend conferences composed of the people who are running the world and continued to increase the audaciousness of their presentations. But try as they might, they could not get a reaction of disgust, horror or even laughter from their audience. Even when they pushed the envelope to include a giant golden phallus, the audience just SAT there!
The bulk of this book describes this progression, from thinly veiled satire to undisguised parody all the while receiving polite applause from the (apparently brain dead) power elite. It is an astonishing tale.
In the end they decided the only thing left for them to do was to announce the end of the World Trade Organization.
And, once again, the reaction of their audience surprised them, and me. Just when I thought I had this group figured out, they do the most unexpected thing. And, while the book is an entertaining ride throughout, it is worth reading just to see what this unexpected reaction was. It will surprise you and affect you. In the end, this book is not just a comedy, but speaks deeply about human nature.
Mark Phillips is a local media critic and activist. He can be reached at mrppy-at-fix.net.
[If you haven’t seen the new film THE YES MEN, you can either read the book or see an earlier segment of their film called, This Horribly Stupid Stunt available through HopeDance.]
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