"Awareness" is the intangible benefit claimed by people who want to feel like their tweets are achieving something (it's a little bit like claiming that chewing pizza counts as exercise). But dollars are real, and a tenth digit of dollars is so real it makes R. Kelly look imaginary. Though that's not hard.
Because the Yes Men's latest prank temporarily cost General Electric $1.2714* BILLION DOLLARS.
*When the fourth decimal place is still more money than most people in the world make in four years, you're damn right we include it.
In association with US Uncut, the Yes Men issued a fake press release stating that General Electric were refunding their $3.2 billion tax return to the government. In case you weren't aware, General Electric effectively pays no taxes. Despite being the world's second largest company, headquartered in Connecticut, and literally being wired into the US, creative and entirely legal tax shelters ensure that as far as the upkeep of the nation is concerned, their profits might as well be made on Mars. A Mars we're at war with.
The hoax fooled the Associated Press, which is about as high level as an official hoax can get without stone tablets being found on the top of mountains. The joke was quickly discovered, but in the brief window where the world believed that GE had a conscience, or sense of right, or even the barest glimpse of patriotism in a time of national crisis, its stock dropped 0.6%. Or as you might know it, 1.2714 Gigadollars.
(No, grammar doesn't say that unit should be capitalized, but the fact it's a Goddamn Billion Bucks Does.)
And now the link:
http://theyesmen.org/usuncut
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