海角大神

How do you hijack corporate culture, demoralize employees and derail multi-million dollar marketing campaigns? All too easily, it turns out.

Fueled by the internet and the public鈥檚 growing distain for corporate greed, is a trend on the rise. Today鈥檚 hacktivists use increasingly clever tactics in order to elevate public debate about the way corporations do business. In more cases than not, they succeed.

鈥淲hat we do鈥攁nd what you can do too鈥攊s impersonate captains of industry, infiltrate corporate events, give absurd and revealing presentations, and then escape to tell the story in the press, hopefully to the great embarrassment of the target,鈥� say the a group of hacktivists that recently punked the likes of Chevron, Exxon Mobil, Halliburton, Dow, The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the United Nations, among others. 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 have to be a James Bond for this. But what you might need is a fake email address and a business card.鈥�

Armed with little other than a fake business card, letterhead and a masterfully worded , the Yes Men made a big point 2009 after a U.S. Chamber of Commerce 鈥渞epresentative鈥� during a National Press Club event that the Chamber would be changing its position on climate change policy.

鈥淲e believe that climate legislation currently being considered by the U.S. Senate is a great start towards a bill that will spur American innovation, create jobs, and give us all a good chance of survival,鈥� the forged news release said. 鈥淲e at the Chamber have tried to keep climate science from interfering with business. But without a stable climate, there will be no business.鈥�

The hoax circulated virally on and , calling public attention to the growing number of corporations 鈥� including Nike, Apple, Exelon, PNM Resources, PG&E, PSEG and Levi Strauss & Co 鈥� that had distanced themselves from the Chamber as a result of its conservative stance on climate change. But rather than publicly confront deeper issues and heed to the demands of its forward-thinking members, the Chamber filed a against Yes Men and insisted that all videos of the hoax event be suppressed.

Perhaps Chevron will decide go the same way. Just last week the Yes Men targeted the company鈥檚 glossy new ad campaign with a of their own. Whereas Chevron鈥檚 campaign asks rhetorical questions like: 鈥淪hould oil companies support the communities they work in?鈥� and 鈥淒o oil companies need to get real?鈥� Yes Men鈥檚 questions dig deeper and call attention to the company鈥檚 controversial past.

鈥淐hevron鈥檚 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鈥檚 operations in Ecuador, Nigeria, Burma and throughout the world,鈥� says Ginger Cassady, a campaigner at Rainforest Action Network, which collaborated with the Yes Men on the Chevron campaign. 鈥淭hey must think we鈥檙e stupid.鈥�

Judging from Chevron鈥檚 own about the hoax, Cassady might be right. 鈥淭here are some who are not interested in engaging in a constructive dialogue, and instead have resorted to rhetoric and stunts,鈥� the company says, in full-blown denial of its own use of rhetoric and, yes, stunts.

Federal courts are now beginning to regarding Chevron鈥檚 persistent efforts to manipulate the U.S. legal system for its own gain. In an apparent effort to derail a potential multi-billion dollar environmental lawsuit against it, Chevron has filed discovery lawsuits against 23 people in the United States, including several lawyers associated with the ongoing Ecuador case. Chevron is also of submitting inaccurate and misleading translations to U.S. federal courts.

Wrong Answer

Legal antics aside, it is all too commonplace for corporations to respond to hacktivists in a gruff and humorless manner. But very often, such responses backfire. That鈥檚 because hacktivists are a persistent bunch. They are a professional and tactical force that leverages real data, overtakes live airwaves and mobilizes the masses. Corporate dissidence just furthers their resolve.

In response to Chevron鈥檚 issued statement, the Yes Men recently stepped up their campaign with a of their own and a plea to followers to post additional spoof print, web and TV ads online. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been working,鈥� the group says. 鈥� and all you get is our spoof. Fifty million spent to keep our eyes off Chevron鈥檚 dirt鈥� and it all just went down the drain!鈥�

Lost advertising revenues are hard enough to recuperate. But what about lost corporate reputation? Some of the hardest hit companies of late leverage wholesome values, providing an easy target for hacktivists on a mission to elevate standards.

For instance, last month Hershey released its first . Less than 24-hours later, labor rights groups Global Exchange, Green America, the International Labor Rights Forum and Oasis USA launched a (convincingly titled 鈥淩aising the Bar: The Real Corporate Social Responsibility Report for the Hershey Company鈥�) and accompanying .

鈥淚n the United States, Hershey conjures up innocent childhood pleasures and enjoyable snacks,鈥� the counter report says. 鈥淗owever, halfway across the globe, there is a dark side to Hershey. In West Africa, where Hershey sources much of its cocoa, the scene is one of child labor, traf铿乧king, and forced labor.鈥�

According to Global Exchange, despite the fact that Hershey is a brand that both targets and supports youth through its marketing and , the company seems unwilling or unable to adequately address the countless children harmed by its supply chain practices. Whereas competitors including Cadbury and 狈别蝉迟濒茅 have at least made tentative steps toward labor reform, Hershey .

鈥淢aybe Hershey is unaware of how this story has played out before and that some kind of reform is inevitable,鈥� says fair trade chocolate company Equal Exchange鈥檚 Rodney North. 鈥淥r perhaps they are cynically stalling and trying to put off real reforms for as long as possible.鈥�

Hershey鈥檚 real motive for stalled progress is anyone鈥檚 guess. The company has done little if anything to publicly acknowledge labor problems, let alone address the burgeoning online crusade against it.

鈥淗ershey has not responded to any part of our campaign,鈥� says Global Exchange鈥檚 Adrienne Fitch-Frankel. 鈥淲e haven鈥檛 gotten a response to our repeated requests for meetings either, which is disappointing since this is a company that鈥檚 using child labor and child slavery. Their silence is really quite disturbing.鈥�

Hershey might not be talking, but hacktivists, , , , , and even are. Collectively, these stakeholders tell a convincing story.

You can run. But you can鈥檛 hide.

------------------------------

海角大神 has assembled a diverse group of the best economy-related bloggers out there. Our guest bloggers are not employed or directed by the Monitor and the views expressed are the bloggers' own, as is responsibility for the content of their blogs. To contact us about a blogger, click here. To add or view a comment on a guest blog, please go to the blogger's own site by clicking on the link above.