The Yes Men Fix the World Page #3

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YEAH, REALLY.

I THINK I USED TO

DO IT THIS WAY.

ALL RIGHT.

WE'RE OFF.

OH GOD.

OH GOD.

WHEN WE ACQUIRED

UNION CARBIDE THREE YEARS AGO,

WE KNEW WHA WE WERE GETTING INTO.

TODAY WE ARE PREPARED

TO DO THE OBVIOUS.

LET'S SEE.

DON'T SHOW TOO MUCH

WHEN WE GET THERE, I THINK.

- HI. BONJOUR.

- BONJOUR, MONSIEUR.

You're watching BBC World,

our main headlines.

The world's worst

industrial accident

is being remembered

in India today.

It's 20 years

since deadly gas leaked

from the Union Carbide

chemical plant

in the city

of Bhopal.

At least 18,000 deaths

are attributed to the leak,

and many

local people say

that the contamination

has never been properly

cleared up.

YEAH, SHOULD I TYPICALLY

JUST LOOK...

- YEAH.

- ...RIGHT INTO

THE CAMERA? OKAY.

The factory

still exists here

and that's been

a real problem

for the people

living here locally.

The site--

I've been to it,

and it's full

of toxic waste.

People who are living

in these houses,

they've all got

a story to tell

about that day

20 years ago.

Many of them lost members

of their family,

and they say they are

continuing to suffer

because of the tragedy.

And they're saying

somebody needs

to answer for this.

Legally, what they're saying

is they want to pursue

the company to try

and clean up the site.

But whether the company

will accept liability

seems doubtful.

Well, joining us live

from Paris now is

Jude Finisterra.

He's a spokesman

for Dow Chemicals,

which took over

Union Carbide.

Good morning to you.

A day of commemoration

in Bhopal.

Do you now accept

responsibility

for what happened?

Steve, yes,

today is a great day

for all of us at Dow

and, I think,

for millions of people

around the world

as well.

It's 20 years

since the disaster

and today I'm very

very happy to announce

that for the first time

Dow is accepting

full responsibility

for the Bhopal catastrophe.

We have

a $12 billion plan

to finally,

at long last,

fully compensate

the victims,

including the 120,000

who may need medical care

for their entire lives,

AND TO FULLY AND SWIFTLY

REMEDIATE:

THE BHOPAL PLANT SITE.

Now when we acquired

Union Carbide three years ago

we knew what

we were getting,

and it's worth

$12 billion.

$12 billion.

We have resolved

to liquidate Union Carbide--

this nightmare for the world

and this headache for Dow--

and use the $12 billion

TO ADEQUATELY COMPENSATE

THE VICTIMS.

Jude, that's good news

that you have finally

accepted responsibility--

some people

would say too late.

It's three years,

almost four years on.

When we acquired

Union Carbide

we did settle

their liabilities

in the United States

immediately.

And we are now--

three years later--

prepared to do

the same in India.

We should have

done it three years ago.

We are doing it now.

I WOULD ALSO:

LIKE TO SAY THAT THIS

IS NO SMALL MATTER.

THIS IS THE FIRST TIME

IN HISTORY:

that a publicly-owned company

of anything

near the size of Dow

has performed

an action

which is significantly

against its bottom line,

simply because

it's the right thing to do.

Our shareholders may

take a bit of a hit, Steve,

but I think that

if they're anything like me,

they will be ecstatic

to be part

of such

a historic occasion

of doing right

by those that we've wronged.

Just to reiterate

what Jude Finisterra,

the spokesman

for Dow Chemicals,

has just said:

he says Dow Chemicals

now fully accept

responsibility

for the events in Bhopal.

- GREAT. THAT'S IT?

- WELL DONE.

GREAT.

NOW THEY WANTED...

- NOW YOU DO--

- ...RADIO.

I CAN TELL YOU:

ONE THING:

WE'RE NOT GOING

OUT OF BUSINESS.

WE WILL CONTINUE

TO MAKE PROFIT;

WE WILL SIMPLY MAKE

SLIGHTLY LESS PROFI THAN NORMAL.

BUT WE ARE DOING

THE RIGHT THING.

WE'RE COMPARING HERE

THE VALUE OF MONEY

TO THE VALUE:

OF HUMAN LIFE,

AND THERE IS:

NO COMPARISON.

EXACTLY. I MEAN,

HOW OFTEN DOES DOW

GET TO-- YOU KNOW.

I WOULDN'T WANT TO BE

A DOW SPOKESPERSON

OTHERWISE.

GOOD.

OH MY GOD.

OH MY GOD.

I'M GONNA HAVE A SERIOUS

NERVOUS BREAKDOWN NOW.

"DOW ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY

FOR BHOPAL-- SPOKESMAN."

- WHERE'S THAT?

- IN REUTERS.

"CONGRATULATIONS.

YOUR APPEARANCE--

EVERYONE HERE:

AT B.B.C. CHEERED."

IT'S OVER AN HOUR

AND IT'S STILL HEADLINE NEWS.

HELLO, THIS IS JUDE.

WHO HAS SAID THAT?

PERHAPS THEY'RE NO IN COMMUNICATION

WITH THE DOW--

WITH THE DOW LEADERSHIP.

HELLO?

YES, THIS IS

JUDE FINISTERRA.

SURE.

RIGHT.

SURE.

RIGHT.

LET ME JUST--

YES, COULD I ASK YOU

TO EITHER--

TO HOLD FOR A MOMENT?

OKAY, THANK YOU.

WELL, I WOULDN'T SAY

IT'S A HOAX.

IT'S AN HONES REPRESENTATION

OF WHAT DOW:

SHOULD BE DOING.

Maria Ashanin:

This morning a false statement

was carried by BBC World

regarding responsibility

for the Bhopal tragedy.

The individual who made

this statement

identified himself

as a Dow spokesperson

named Jude Finisterra.

Dow confirms

that there was

no basis whatsoever

for this report.

Well, earlier today

we carried an interview

with someone purporting

to be from Dow Chemical,

a company which

subsequently bought

the plant from Union Carbide.

This interview

was inaccurate

and part

of an elaborate deception.

TAKE A LOOK:

AT THIS NOW--

LOOK AT THIS.

THIS IS THE TOP:

OF GOOGLE NEWS.

"DOW SAID ON FRIDAY

THERE WAS NO BASIS WHATSOEVER

IN A B.B.C. WORLD REPORT SAYING

THEY HAD ACCEPTED RESPONSIBILITY

FOR INDIA'S

BHOPAL DISASTER."

THAT'S A FUNNY SENTENCE.

The hoax was

an elaborate one

involving

a fake website.

Down Chemical

was quick to issue

a series of statements

denying all knowledge

of Jude Finisterra.

Also tonight, backtracking

because of this man...

WE'RE GOING BACK

TO THE B.B.C. TELEVISION

STUDIO RIGHT NOW

THAT WE WERE:

AT THIS MORNING:

BECAUSE THEY WAN TO TALK TO US.

OKAY, WHAT DO

THEY WANT TO KNOW?

WELL, LET'S GO SEE.

- YEAH.

- HI.

- HI. SORRY.

IT DIDN'T OCCUR

TO US AT ALL.

WE GOT CONTACTED

BY YOU GUYS.

- YEAH, I DID HEAR THAT.

HAS IT GONE BACK UP?

- I'M SURE IT HAS.

Well, the prank

which briefly

knocked 3% off

Dow shares comes

20 years to the day

after the chemical leak

from the Union Carbide

plant in Bhopal.

Today's unlikely

corporate humiliation

of a US chemical giant

was all about

reminding the world

that Bhopal remains

an unhealed sore.

Well, earlier I spoke

to Andy Bichlbaum

and I asked him what he did

when he got an email

from the BBC asking him

for an interview.

Essentially, Dow has been

promulgating a hoax

by which they've

convinced people

that they can't do

anything about Bhopal,

that they cannot accept

responsibility.

And we wanted to prove that

that was not accurate.

Nevertheless,

a pretty cruel

trick to play

on the people

of Bhopal.

- Well, we--

- Did you think about

the people of Bhopal

when you decided

to peddle this stunt?

Yes. Yes, we did.

Well, that surely is

the tragedy of today.

You spring upon them

the hoax that they--

they actually

suddenly believe

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