Saturday, June 9, 2012

Yes Men, Greenpeace team up to play joke on Shell Oil (+VIDEO)

Although there are several reports that suggest Shell Oil is suing "unknown activist" for their part in Thursday's viral video highlighting a PR mishap, it's all part of an elaborate joke. And the joke's on Shell.

A press release sent to media outlets across the nation on Thursday is yet another fake circulated by the group behind the Shell video.

Salon.com's Brooke Jarvis reports:

(Although) Shell does plan to begin exploratory oil drilling in the Arctic this summer ? the first company to do so, ever, thanks to the access provided by newly ice-free Arctic summers-- it did not plan the party, or even know it was happening. It did not create the website ArcticReady.com, complete with a kids? section, to promote its Arctic drilling plans. It didn?t create or approve a series of tongue-in-cheek advertisements that cavalierly celebrate drilling. And, once reporters confirmed that the event was faked, the company did not release the angry press release that threatened legal action from Shell against the activists and any publications that reported the story.

She adds:

All that was the work of activists associated with the Yes Labs and Greenpeace, who began collaborating on the project late last winter. It represented a major tactical shift for both groups. The Yes Men have crashed other corporate conferences and events but have never hosted an entirely fake one.

Gwaker.com posted a "behind the scenes" video on their website this morning. It can be viewed below.

As of Friday, several major media outlets have fallen for the prank.

No word yet on what Yes Labs has planned for the future, but we do know Greenpeace will have submarines in arctic waters this summer.

Stay tuned for future installments of activist antics.

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