Drifting through Cityscapes Drifting through Cityscapes MTL final copy | Page 20

The Yes Men are a culture jamming activist duo and net-
work of supporters created by Jacques Servin and Igor
Vamos. Through various actions, the Yes Men primarily
aim to raise awareness about problematic social and po-
litical issues. To date, the duo have produced three films:
The Yes Men (2003), The Yes Men Fix the World (2009) and
The Yes Men Are Revolting (2014). In these films, they im-
personate entities that they dislike, a practice that they
call “identity correction”. The Yes Men often deploy a sa-
tirical approach: they pose as a powerful entity (typically
a corporate or government representative or executive)
and make ridiculous and shocking comments that cari-
cature the ideological position of the organisation or per-
son. Furthermore, they acknowledge the idea that many
corporate or government entities manipulate their ideol-
ogy using spin; in response, the Yes Men use this power of
spin to their own advantage, and use media outlets to
disseminate their personal interpretation of the situation.
A sense of humor and shock value is usually employed to
make these issues more palatable to the general public
and to call greater media attention to stories of interest.
Some of these outrageous ideas include the prospect of
selling one’s vote or a proposition that the poor should
consume recycled human waste. On most occasions, lit-
tle to no shock or outrage is publicly evoked in response
to their prank. On occasion, the Yes Men’s phony spokes-
person will make announcements that represent fictitious
scenarios for the anti-globalization movement or oppo-
nents of corporate crime. This has often resulted in false
news reports, such as those covering the demise of the
World Trade Organization, or Dow Chemical paying com-
pensation to the victims of the Bhopal disaster.
Yes Men (Dow Chemical)