FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 19, 2010
Massive Chevron Ad Campaign Derailed, Media Slapstick Follows
News outlets, citizens duped by web of deceit - but whose?
A day-long comedy of errors began Monday morning when the Yes Men, supported by Rainforest Action Network and Amazon Watch, pre-empted Chevron's enormous new “We Agree” ad campaign with a satirical version of their own. The activists' version highlights Chevron's environmental and social abuses - the same abuses they say Chevron is attempting to “greenwash.”
“Chevron's super-expensive fake street art is a cynical attempt to gloss over the human rights abuses and environmental degradation that is the legacy of Chevron's operations in Ecuador, Nigeria, Burma and throughout the world,” said Ginger Cassady, a campaigner at Rainforest Action Network. “They must think we're stupid.”
“They say we're 'interrupting the dialogue,'” said Andy Bichlbaum of the Yes Men, referring to Chevron's terse condemnation. “What dialogue? Chevron's ad campaign is an insulting, confusing monologue - with many tens of millions of dollars behind it.”
The activists' pre-emptive campaign began early Monday with a press release from a spoof Chevron domain, which launched the fake “We Agree” campaign hours before the real Chevron could launch its ads. The fake “We Agree” site featured four “improved” advertisements, complete with downloadable PDF files to be used in on-the-street postering.
Nine hours later, after producing its own “We Agree” press release, the real Chevron decried the hoax in a predictably curt and humorless manner. Mere moments later, the counter-campaign issued a much better denial on Chevron's behalf, laying out Chevron's principal arguments in its Ecuador case. “We have binding agreements with the Ecuadorian Government exempting us from any liabilities whatsoever, granted in exchange for a $40 million cleanup of some wells by Texaco in the 1990s,” the spoof press release crowed, absurdly yet accurately.
Throughout the day, a sort of slow vaudeville unfolded on the web, as a number of outlets, from industry mouthpieces to the AFP and even a watchdog group, produced accidental mash-ups of “real” and fake information.
First, Fast Company fell for the hoax (archived article here), then related their duping with humor. An outlet called “Environmental Leader,” quoted indiscriminately from both real and fake press releases, before quietly removing the fake parts a few hours later (original article archived here).
Shortly after that, Energy Digital, an online source providing “news and information for Energy Executives” (capitalization theirs), quoted extensively (archive here) from the fake release to describe Chevron's campaign, then mentioned that the campaign had “already been spoofed.” They didn't realize they'd just fallen for that very same spoof.
Even the AFP found itself duped (original article archived here), and described with glee the hoax “that appeared to have fooled some news outlets,” before going on to quote “the real firm” at length. (The “real firm” wasn't.)
Nor were industry watchdog groups immune. “Oil Watchdog” dissected the hoax minutely and accurately, before citing Advertising Age as one of the outlets duped. That whole article, however, was a fake.
“If you really want to snooker the media, it's pretty hard for them to resist,” said Mike Bonanno of the Yes Men. “We cobbled together some fake releases with string and thumbtacks and chewing gum, and we fooled the most respectable outlets.”
“Chevron is doing what we did, a million times over, with a ginormous budget - and it never reveals its subterfuge,” said Bichlbaum. “No wonder the media's full of lies.”
“Yesterday's spoof was a comedy of errors, but what's happening in Ecuador is no joke,” said Mitch Anderson, a campaigner at Amazon Watch. “While Chevron spends tens of millions every year to greenwash their image and fool the media, Ecuadorians continue to die from their toxic legacy."
Yesterday's hoax is just the beginning for the activists. “Stay tuned,” said RAN's Cassady. “There's a lot more to come in the days ahead. We're going to keep Chevron scrambling.”
Contacts:
Ginger Cassady, Rainforest Action Network, ginger@ran.org, (415) 640-7155
Han Shan, Amazon Watch, han@amazonwatch.org, (917) 418-4133
Andy Bichlbaum, The Yes Men, press@theyesmen.org
###
The Yes Men work to expose corporate crimes, mainly through humor.
RAN's Change Chevron campaign is uniting communities, investors, religious leaders, celebrities, students, policy makers and Chevron employees to transform the oil giant. For more information about the campaign, visit www.ChangeChevron.org.
Since 2002, Amazon Watch's Clean Up Ecuador Campaign has supported the demands of indigenous and farming communities affected by the operations of Texaco (now Chevron) in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Learn more at http://chevrontoxico.com
http://chevrontoxico.com
http://chevrontoxico.com that is.
it was indeed curious that the return path of "Chevron Corp." lead to some "exhank" at panix.com - not to mention the odd domain "chevron-corp.com." just amazing how gullible some of those so-called journalists out there are. makes you wonder...
Next Monday at THE THING@WHITE SLAB PALACE: THE YES MEN FIX THE WORLD
here the original email from:
From: Chevron Corp.
Reply-to: pressoffice@chevron-corp.com
Subject: STATEMENT: Chevron Deplores Subterfuge, Investigates Options
Message-id: <20101018165708.C003C8FDE0@panix3.panix.com>
Date: 10/18/2010 12:57:08 PM
Chevron has added a news release to its Investor Relations website.
Title: Chevron Deplores Subterfuge, Investigates Options
Date(s): 18 October. 2010
For a complete listing of our news releases, please click here
Chevron Deplores Subterfuge, Investigates Options
SAN RAMON, Calif., Oct. 18, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Earlier today, a group of environmentalists cyber-posing as Chevron officials illegally spoofed Chevron's just-launched “We Agree” advertising campaign, confusing reporters (link). While such a campaign does exist, its official URL is Chevron.com/weagree. The advertisements released earlier today, at Chevron-weagree.com, were an elaborate subterfuge and must not be mistaken as real.
“Chevron does not take this attack lightly,” said Hewitt Pate, General Counsel for Chevron. “We invest extremely heavily in our campaigns, and we take them extremely seriously. Such actions can never be tolerated.” Though the exact cost of “We Agree” must remain confidential, Chevron routinely spends $90 million per year on US advertising alone.
Pate also noted that the environmentalists have made libellous allegations regarding Chevron's record and obligations in Ecuador and beyond. “Despite what some will say, we are not obliged to abide by decisions that Ecuadorian judges make or do not make. This is because we have binding agreements with the Ecuadorian Government exempting us from any liabilities whatsoever, granted in exchange for a $40 million cleanup of some wells by Texaco in the 1990s.”
“We have always upheld the best values of every country to which we are attached,” added Pate.
“This hoax is part of an ongoing effort to blame Chevron for 18 billion gallons of toxic waste dumped in the Amazon during drilling operations,” said Rhonda Zygocki, Chevron vice president of Policy, Government and Public Affairs. “This blame game continues despite Chevron's long-standing agreement with the Ecuadorian government which very obviously puts the issue behind us.”
For further information please visit Chevron's official press page. For more information about Chevron please visit www.Chevron.com.
Cautionary Statement Relevant to Forward-Looking Information for the Purpose of "Safe Harbor" Provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Some of the items discussed in this news release are forward-looking statements about Chevron. Words such as "anticipates," "expects," "intends," "plans," "targets," "projects," "believes," "seeks," "schedules," "estimates," "budgets" and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. The statements are based upon management's current expectations, estimates and projections; are not guarantees of future performance; and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond the company's control and are difficult to predict. Among the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include the ability of the company to divest nonstrategic assets and realign business units according to plan; the length of time required to complete all activities related to the sale; changes in prices of, demand for and supply of crude oil, natural gas and petroleum products; actions of competitors; potential disruptio n or interruption of the company's operating activities due to war, accidents, political events, civil unrest or severe weather; government-mandated sales, divestitures, recapitalizations and changes in fiscal terms or restrictions on scope of company operations; and general economic and political conditions.You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this news release. Unless legally required, Chevron undertakes no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
SOURCE: Chevron Corporation
If you are unable to click on the links above, please copy and paste the URL below into a web browser
http://chevron-press.com/breaking