People in the News
"Yes Men" pranksters call for citizen’s arrest of John Paulson
November 17, 2010
Lawrence Delevingne
A hoax website and media alert about "conflict
minerals” mined in the Congo for use in iPhones targets Paulson for his
stake in AngloGold Ashanti stock.
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| An image of the spoof site. |
Notorious corporate pranksters The Yes Men are calling for a citizen’s arrest of Paulson & Co. founder John Paulson.
In
an elaborate and slickly-executed spoof, a coalition of activists led
by The Yes Men put out a full website and media alert purporting to be
from Apple about “conflict free” iPhones. The campaign, designed to
skewer Apple for using conflict-fueling minerals from the Democratic
Republic of Congo in their products, calls for consumers to take action
through political and corporate pressure.
One idea in the “What you can do” website section
involves a certain well-known hedge fund manager. “You can also perform
a citizen's arrest against shareholders and officers of the mining
companies that have been implicated in pillaging the resources of the
Congo and fueling the conflict in the Congo over the past 14 years,”
reads the page. “Why not start with John Paulson, the majority
shareholder of AngloGold Ashanti, the mining company most responsible
for financially supporting rebel groups and furthering the Congo
conflict. His office is located in New York at 1251 6th Ave, Floor 50.”
The media alert contains a link to a Bloomberg Businessweek description
of Paulson & Co., which includes phone and fax numbers. A Paulson
spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment as to
whether the Paulson office had been visited or called as a result of the
campaign.
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the spoof. The Yes Men confirmed they were involved.
The
Yes Men have been behind recent campaigns spoofing Chevron, the U.S.
Chamber of Commerce, ExxonMobil, The World Trade Organization and others
for perceived failures on such issues as global warming and human
rights.
See the full fake site at http://apple-cf.com
