THE YES MEN AND ACTIVISM IN THE INFORMATION ... - Index of

een including 20% ‘post-consumer waste’ in many of its hamburgers.” 55 This statement further
enraged the students, who began to pelt Bonanno and Bichlbaum with their half-eaten
hamburgers. In the meantime, the Sidney conference had been canceled due to low enrollment, and
a special lecture given by Dr. Kinnithrung Sprat to the Certified Practicing Accountants
Association of Australia was scheduled in its place through email correspondence between
Bonanno and Bichlbaum and the conference organizers. The Yes Men decided to present a new
lecture instead of recycling the presentation given in Plattsburg. In Sidney, on May 21, 2002,
they announced the forthcoming disbanding of the World Trade Organization. Its “planned”
reformation as the Trade Regulation Organization was also announced, with over an hour’s worth
of statistics about the injustices and abuses of the WTO. Kinnithrung Sprat explained in his
presentation that the organization had realized the error of its ways and now wanted to see to the
welfare of people rather than businesses. The audience’s reaction was one of disbelief and hope.
In The Yes Men film, there was one audience member who expressed doubt that the new group
would be successful, but most were optimistic about the World Trade Organization’s admittance
that it had failed in its current state and its attempt to better the situation. The news of the
disbanding made international headlines, and Canadian Parliament Member John Duncan even
addressed concern about what it meant for Canada when he had the Parliament speaking floor.
Upon later realizing his mistake, he said it was a “brilliant master stroke.” 56 In part because of
55 The Yes Men, “WTO,” The Yes Men, http://www.theyesmen.org/hijinks/plattsburgh/index.shtml, accessed April
7, 2005.
56 The Yes Men, MGM, 2004.
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