“Yes Men” Pranks Chamber of Commerce Over Climate Policy

Posted by Kristy Kershaw on October 20, 2009 at 1:43 pm

One of the "Yes Men" answers questions--still in character--after the fake press conference. (image: youtube.com)

In the latest example of love lost with the US Chamber of Commerce, Sam Stein of the Huffington Post reported Monday on an elaborate hoax by The Yes Men, a group of political performance artists, directed at the COC’s much-maligned stance on climate change. The Yes Men issued a fake press release and then staged a fake news conference in which they announced the Chamber of Commerce was ready to throw its weight behind the Kerry-Boxer climate bill (see video below).

Early on in the press conference, hosted at the National Press Club, actual COC representative Eric Wohlschlegel interrupted the event and declared it a hoax, but not before Reuters ran with the story.

The stunt comes on the heels of a video released by the SEIU earlier this month, in which they encouraged more companies to “break up” with the COC over their opposition to the climate bill currently in the Senate. Apple, Nike, Exelon and others have already left the Chamber over the contentious matter.

Completely unamused by the hoax, the Chamber released a statement on their website Monday, stating “Public relations hoaxes undermine the genuine effort to find solutions on the challenge of climate change.”

As opposition mounts to the Chamber’s position on climate change legislation—not just opposition from groups like the SEIU or The Yes Men, but also from its own members—it will be interesting to see how the Chamber responds, since climate policy will remain a huge issue at least until December’s Copenhagen summit, and possibly beyond.

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