Published:
04/05/2005 11:18:00 | | Bankers
attending IBC Informa's annual International Payments Conference in
London last week fell foul of a hoax presentation from anti-corporate
activists the Yesmen, posing as representatives from Dow Chemicals. At
the conference, 'Dow representative' Erastus Hamm unveiled Acceptable
Risk, the Acceptable Risk Calculator, and the Acceptable Risk mascot -
a life-sized golden skeleton named Gilda - to an audience of about 70
banking professionals. Many of the bankers in attendance
excitedly signed up for licenses for the Calculator, which was
presented as a tool to help businesses scientifically determine the
point where casualties start to cut into profit, while suggesting the
best regions on earth to locate dangerous ventures. Others posed for
pictures with Gilda, the skeleton. During the speech, Hamm
told the bankers how Acceptable Risk would have applied to some famous
"skeletons in the closet" of big business, such as IBM's WWII sale of
technology to the Nazis for use in identifying Jews and Dow's
production of napalm and Agent Orange for use in Vietnam. In
previous escapades, the Yesmen have successfully posed as
representatives of the World Trade Organisation. They also got airtime
on BBC World at the end of last year, again falsely representing Dow. An
IBC Informa spokesman says the company is "not in a position to
comment" on the activist infiltration. The full text of the speech, and
photos from the conference, can be viewed at www.dowethics.com/risk | |
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