Blog Post 6: Discussion of Yes Men Spoofing Chevron's Ad campaign

 Basics:
For this blog post we were supposed to discuss a short article on Ted Fellow's Blog titled: Chevron Spoofed in a Fantastic Hoax by the Brilliant Yes Men. For me, this article didn't say much at all, except for the fact that there is a group called the Yes Men who spoofed an ad campaign created by the company, Chevron.
I needed more information on this article, so I decided to look-up who the Yes Men are. On their website, I not only found out who they are, but I also saw a blog post about their hoax on the Chevron ad campaign. Apparently, this group of people impersonate large companies in order to humiliate them. They say they target companies who put their profits ahead of anything else. In this case, they are targeting Chevron who has spent $50 million dollars in a 'green' campaign. The Yes Men believe this campaign to be a diversion to the public and media, and that Chevron is really just hiding their 'dirt'. To respond to this, the Yes Men created a spoof -with the help of environmental groups and protesters- to mock the campaign, and create their own. According to the Yes Men blog, all news reports are focusing on Yes Men's fake website and articles, thinking they are really Chevron's. What this means: The Yes Men have successfully created a comedic hoax on a big corporation.
The funny thing is, on Yes Men's blog, it asks for anyone interested in creating mashups, image swaps, collages, remixes of tv productions and web articles, or even rewrites, to submit their work. They are calling on the public to help them mock Chevron; and they are awarding prizes. Just when you thought they couldn't make it any more of a joke.
My reactions:
In all honesty, I think that the Yes Men are a brilliant group of people. This may be an attack on Chevron, but the Yes Men make it so comedic and hysterical that you just can't help but laughing. It is ridiculous, for one, that the Yes Men managed to remix their ad campaign and spend no where near $50 million dollars like Chevron did. That in itself sends out a message; that Chevron could be spending a lot less on campaigning, and more on actually acting towards their campaign for 'greener' energy. I like how protesting has turned into a creative and funny matter through the use of remixing. I think everyone can begin to appreciate this form of protest. They may be mocking companies, but at least they are not violent. I find this form of protest to get across its meaning a lot easier than if it were to be done in a march. The remixed works draw my attention, and the spoof itself is quite funny. I can't help but take the side of Yes Men in this hoax campaign. They are artists.