The Yes Men Fix the World / We’ve all heard the story of the fish that got away, and if you hear the tale enough times, you may notice how the lie seems to get bigger every time, which begs a question: When does the lie become implausible? The easiest answer is that it depends on your audience.

The Yes Men are experts at finding an audience willing to swallow the big lie–reporters and bureaucrats. Setting up fake mirror Web sites of companies and corporations that members Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonanno don’t like, they then wait for invitations to speak at conferences or to reporters as liaisons. Once in the spotlight, Bichlbaum and Bonanno delight in seeing how far they can push the lie before somebody cries foul. The irony is that it rarely happens, even when they demonstrate a Halliburton “survivaball,” encasing its wearer in an inflatable suit resembling a cockroach.

The goal of the Yes Men is to shine a spotlight on corporations who will do anything for a buck–big surprise there, so it’s no wonder that most of the attendees simply nod thoughtfully at a PowerPoint presentation showing how companies can strive to turn their closeted skeletons golden. That’s part of the problem with their documentaries, with 2003’s eponymous film debut and its follow up, The Yes Men Fix the World. When those duped don’t even realize (or care) that the joke is on them, aren’t the results less funny?

That answer, for the most part, is yes, and thankfully, with their newest release, Bichlbaum and Bonanno (reportedly not their real names but because their livelihood is to trick the press, we’ll just take this at face value) have expanded their audience to help make their points. Out of the numerous stunts showcased, the highlight is when the BBC contacted their fake site for Dow Chemical, asking for comments on the 20th anniversary of the 1984 Bhopal disaster at a Union Carbide pesticide plant in India (Dow Chemical bought Union Carbide in 2001). On international television, posing as a Dow spokesman, Bichlbaum announced that their company was finally accepting full responsibility and was orchestrating a $12 billion relief fund for the victims. Minutes after the announcement, Dow stock plummeted. The hoax was soon debunked by Dow itself, and business went on as usual, which meant no restitution was coming.

What’s most fascinating about the result of these merry pranksters is neither the set up (which we as an audience are more privy to this time around) nor the punchline, but rather the reactions from the press. By highlighting the relative ease of appearing on international television, Bichlbaum and Bonanno have brought about a much more interesting point than their screed against greed. The news organizations that unwittingly invite and publicize the duo are supposed to be our Fourth Estate, guarding the public against deceit from those in power, and yet with nothing more than a fake Web site, some cheap suits and an amateurish PowerPoint presentation, they are led by the nose. When the Yes Men are exposed as frauds, instead of admitting their own culpability, the media attempt to kill the messenger, asking the pair if their stunt doesn’t bring false hope to those in Bhopal, or later, the still-stranded citizens of the Ninth Ward in New Orleans. Bichlbaum and Bonanno respond with interviews of those affected, who all praise the stunt for spotlighting a tragedy that has gone unreported for far too long. Of course, given the Yes Men’s nature, can they really be believed?

As an anti-capitalist manifesto, The Yes Men Fix the World is far too naive to be taken seriously.Showing a number of free-market-Milton-Friedman aficionados giving soundbites that were likely taken out of context to show the callousness of the system but not offering an alternative? That’s as absurd as the people they dupe responding that the Yes Men hate freedom. But the sheer audacity of the stunts involved are great fun to watch, and who knows? Perhaps insight will come later.