yessir

June 14, 2007 9:53 PM

vivoleum ExxonMobil has hit upon a novel and renewable source of fuel "Attendees paid 50 dollars a head to hear a speech from the National Petroleum Council, a group that also advises the White House on oil and gas matters. It was rumoured a new joint energy policy from the Canadian and American governments was coming."
posted by nihlton (27 comments total)

hmm... I only get 7 Google hits on this "vivoleum".
posted by rolypolyman at 9:55 PM on June 14, 2007

Yes?
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 10:00 PM on June 14, 2007

Yeah, I think that guy is one of the Yes Men...
posted by contraption at 10:02 PM on June 14, 2007

oops, just read the title. yep.
posted by contraption at 10:03 PM on June 14, 2007

[Mirrored] Vivolium factory (.mov)--Vivoleum in outer space (.mov)
posted by acro at 10:13 PM on June 14, 2007

Man, that's cheap. Have you heard how much money it costs to listen to Al Gore talk about global warming?
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 10:14 PM on June 14, 2007

I've always thought that liposuction clinics should have a small refinery and a gas pump, so their clients can top up their SUVs with their own produce on their way out.
posted by George_Spiggott at 10:16 PM on June 14, 2007

Refined from tender Irish babies, perhaps? Or the chronically unemployed?
posted by pax digita at 10:26 PM on June 14, 2007 [1 favorite]

I've always thought that liposuction clinics should have a small refinery and a gas pump, so their clients can top up their SUVs with their own produce on their way out.

Sir, I believe that you may invented a viable perpetual motion machine!
posted by mattoxic at 10:26 PM on June 14, 2007

The policemen, determining that no major infractions had been committed, permitted the Yes Men to leave.

Oh, Canada.
posted by nanojath at 10:37 PM on June 14, 2007

It blows my mind that the Yes Men manage to get into these things. I bet some poor chump gets fired every time.
posted by nanojath at 10:38 PM on June 14, 2007

♺

tribute to reggie
posted by acro at 11:12 PM on June 14, 2007

poor reggie!!! here is a link to Reggie MFin Watts!

I've met reggie, and he rocks.
posted by penguinofdoom at 11:27 PM on June 14, 2007

The Yes Men
posted by MythMaker at 1:22 AM on June 15, 2007

Man, that's cheap. Have you heard how much money it costs to listen to Al Gore talk about global warming?

Just your taxes, if you live near a library.
posted by Pope Guilty at 3:03 AM on June 15, 2007

acro's links are dead. man these guys have balls, and I love 'em for it.
posted by malaprohibita at 3:44 AM on June 15, 2007

Actually it's kind of surprising they got thrown off the stage. In the movie, for instance, they were usually just greeted with the dumb, bored stares of conventioneers. Nobody seemed to get it.
posted by fungible at 5:15 AM on June 15, 2007

On the one hand this is a pretty good prank at the expense of an ethically bankrupt industry. So, good.

On the other I have a real problem with the idea that they basically led and defrauded so many people. It's a crappy thing to do, just to make a point.
posted by oddman at 5:28 AM on June 15, 2007

Before I clicked on the link I thought "I bet this is the Yes Men again." These guys have less notes than Philip Glass.
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 6:23 AM on June 15, 2007

Ha Ha
posted by caddis at 7:19 AM on June 15, 2007

I've met reggie, and he rocks.
posted by penguinofdoom at 2:27 AM

!
posted by acro at 10:41 AM on June 15, 2007

In my opinion, this post could have stood to be a bit more up-front about the point.

When I first saw it, I had no idea it was a Modest Proposal-style prank at the gas conference. There is nothing in the post's text to tip me off that something extraordinary was happening here, instead of it being just a Pepsi-Blue-ish report of some new fuel scheme.

Unlike the audience of the conference, I'm just scooting by on the way to other web destinations. So I skipped this post without a moment's thought, and only came back to it when the word "vivoleum" came up, more clearly explained, on BoingBoing later on. Metafilter posts, IMHO, should be a bit clearer about the real subject of the posts.
posted by JHarris at 12:43 PM on June 15, 2007

This was an awesome prank, and it took me about one minute of skimming both links to realize what the deal was.

And who gives a flying fuck if they are decieving oil executives? So far, oil executives haven't responded very well to my 'no blood for oil' bumper sticker. Perhaps some other form of communication is called for.
posted by serazin at 12:53 PM on June 15, 2007

Guerrilla Theater is roughly as effective as your bumper sticker.
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 1:10 PM on June 15, 2007

Canadian equipment manufacturers are not global oil companies. Wacky hijinks at the marginal business conferences are not speaking truth to the heart of power. Narcissistic jerkoffs are not activists.
posted by Ictus at 1:50 PM on June 15, 2007

Ictus, which is more effective, posting on metafilter or doing what the Yes Men did? Neither is revolutionary (I'd have to be a moron to think that this was equivalent to actually smashing the machinery or removing the power brokers), but I do think this prank has more impact than the wanking most of us do instead of taking any action. But maybe you're organizing oil workers in Nigeria or something and I don't know it?
posted by serazin at 5:49 PM on June 15, 2007

These guys have less notes than Philip Glass.

Yes, but like Glass, It's all in how you combine them.
posted by eclectist at 9:43 PM on June 15, 2007