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<p><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>This
was just too priceless not to share…If you haven’t heard of or seen
the Yes Men, ya gotta! I love when theatre and environmentalism converge. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Happy
Earth Day everyone!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Susan
K<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>April 19,
2010<br>
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>DOW
THROWS A DISMAL PARTY, FEW ATTEND</span></b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><br>
Underattended "Run for Water" plagued by death, zombies, and dozens
of "Dow spokesmen"; truth seems to run free <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Video: Yes
Men video <a href="http://www.theyesmen.org/dowliveearth#video" target="_blank">coming
soon here</a>; <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sL0w9id9hUA"
target="_blank">other video here</a><br>
Stills: Yes Men pictures <a href="http://www.theyesmen.org/dowliveearth#stills"
target="_blank">coming soon here</a>; numerous <a
href="http://bhopal.shutterfly.com/968" target="_blank">others here</a><br>
Contact: Whitney Black (803)466-3786; <a href="mailto:press@theyesmen.org"
target="_blank">press@theyesmen.org</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Brooklyn, NY
-- Bucolic Prospect park in Brooklyn, NY played host to a bizarre spectacle on
Sunday, as a dramatically under-attended <a
href="http://www.dow.com/runforwater/index.htm" target="_blank">Dow-sponsored
"Run for Water"</a> was infiltrated and turned upside down by
hundreds of furious <a href="http://bhopal.shutterfly.com/968#972"
target="_blank">activists</a>, including a hundred dressed as Dow spokespeople.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>New Yorkers
who came to the park expecting a light run followed by a free concert found
themselves unwitting extras in a <a
href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sL0w9id9hUA" target="_blank">macabre and
chaotic scene</a> as runners <a href="http://bhopal.shutterfly.com/968#967"
target="_blank">keeled over dead</a>, Dow-branded <a
href="http://bhopal.shutterfly.com/968#955" target="_blank">grim reapers</a> <a
href="http://bhopal.shutterfly.com/968#969" target="_blank">chased</a>
participants, and a <a href="http://www.babelgum.com/yesmen" target="_blank">hundred
fake Dow representatives</a> harangued other protesters and and handed out <a
href="http://wompedy.com/the_yes_men/dow/dow_brochure_final_v2.1.pdf"
target="_blank">literature</a> that explained Dow's greenwashing program in frank
detail. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>The actions
called attention to Dow's toxic <a href="http://www.thetruthaboutdow.org/"
target="_blank">legacy</a> in places like India (the <a
href="http://bhopal.net/catastrophe.html" target="_blank">Bhopal Catastrophe</a>),
Vietnam (<a href="http://www.vn-agentorange.org/" target="_blank">Agent Orange</a>)
and Midland Michigan (<a href="http://www.trwnews.net/" target="_blank">Dioxin
Contamination</a>), and to the absurdity of a company with serious water issues
all over the world sponsoring the <a
href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/gore-takes-cash-for-water-campaign-from-chemical-firm-1947723.html"
target="_blank">Live Earth Run For Water</a>. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>After race <a
href="http://www.hackneygazette.co.uk/content/hackney/gazette/news/story.aspx?brand=HKYGOnline&category=news&tBrand=northlondon24&tCategory=newshkyg&itemid=WeED13%20Apr%202010%2017%3A23%3A53%3A917"
target="_blank">cancellations</a> in London, Milan, Berlin, and Sweden, on-site
Dow brand managers were in damage-control mode. But their job was made harder
by the hundred fake "Dow" spokespeople who loudly but clumsily
proclaimed Dow's position ("Our race! Our earth!" and "Run for
water! Run for your life!"), spoke with many runners, screamed at the
other protesters, passed out beautifully-produced <a
href="http://wompedy.com/the_yes_men/dow/dow_brochure_final_v2.1.pdf"
target="_blank">literature</a>, and all in all looked a whole lot better than
the real Dow reps, who seemed eager to make themselves scarce. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>"I
don't know what's going on here," said Tracey Von Sloop, a Queens woman
who attended the race. "All I know is these people are both crazy, and Dow
is f*ing sick. I'm outta here." <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>The event
was the latest blow to Dow's greenwashing efforts, the most visible element of
which is the <a href="http://www.dow.com/hu/" target="_blank">"Human
Element"</a> multi-media advertising campaign, one of the most expensive,
and successful, marketing efforts in recent history. It even won an <a
href="http://news.dow.com/dow_news/awards/2008/reputation/20080612a.htm"
target="_blank">"Effie Award"</a> for the most effective corporate
advertising campaign in North America. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>"Effective,"
perhaps -- but also completely misleading. To name <a
href="http://www.bhopal.net/worldmap/" target="_blank">just a few</a> examples
of Dow's water-related issues: Dow refuses to clean up the <a
href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/01/bhopal-chemical-studies-toxic-levels"
target="_blank">groundwater in Bhopal, India</a>, site of the largest industrial
disaster in human history, committed by Dow's fully-owned subsidiary, Union
Carbide. As a result, children continue to be born there with debilitating
birth defects. Dow has also dumped hundreds of millions of pounds of toxic
chemical byproducts into <a
href="http://bhopal.net/petition/application/views/plaquemine_more.html"
target="_blank">wetlands of Louisiana</a>, and has even <a
href="http://bhopal.net/petition/application/views/midland_more.html"
target="_blank">poisoned its own backyard</a>, leaving record levels of dioxins
downriver from its global headquarters in Midland, Michigan. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>"We
thought it must be a joke when we first heard that Dow Chemical Company was
sponsoring a run for clean water," said Yes Woman Whitney Black.
"Sadly, it was not. One of the world's worst polluters trying to greenwash
its image instead of taking responsibility for drinking water and ecosystems it
has poisoned around the world? What an awfully unfunny way to start off Earth
Week. We decided the event needed a little comic relief." <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Irony was
piled on irony throughout the race, which Dow <a
href="http://www.dow.com/runforwater/index.htm" target="_blank">absurdly
claimed</a> was going to be "the largest solutions-based initiative aimed
at solving the global water crisis in history. At one point, organizers were <a
href="http://www.babelgum.com/yesmen" target="_blank">caught on tape</a>
dramatically <a href="http://www.theyesmen.org/dowliveearth#cups"
target="_blank">throwing</a> out excess water left over because of an embarrassingly
low turnout. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Groups
organizing the action included the <a href="http://www.chej.org/"
target="_blank">Center for Health, Environment and Justice</a>, the <a
href="http://www.icjb.org/" target="_blank">International Campaign for Justice
in Bhopal</a>, New York Whale and Dolphin Action League, the <a
href="http://www.vn-agentorange.org/" target="_blank">Vietnam Agent Orange
Relief and Responsibility Campaign</a>, the <a
href="http://wetlands-preserve.org/" target="_blank">Wetlands Activism
Collective</a>, Global Justice for Animals and the Environment, <a
href="http://69.72.169.139/news.lasso" target="_blank">Kids For A Better Future</a>,
<a href="http://www.theyesmen.org/" target="_blank">The Yes Men</a>, and
hundreds of assorted volunteers, activists and mischief makers. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
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