the yes men. a new breed of corporate saboteur.

There have always been pranksters willing to call out corporations and publicly humiliate CEOs. But this new breed of corporate saboteurs represent a new challenge because of the rise of social media. In a recent blog post on Harvard Business Review, Leslie Gaines-Ross writes about a specific (or not very specific) group of individuals called The Yes Men.

The Yes Men describe themselves as a "genderless, loose-knit association of some 300 impostors worldwide" who carry out pranks to "publicly humiliate" corporations and CEOs "who put profits ahead of everything else." In one recent outing, The Yes Men created a fake corporate website — plus bogus press releases, ads, and corporate statements — to parody Chevron's new "We Agree" advertising campaign. That campaign has the oil giant showcasing its responsiveness to environmental concerns.

Leslie then goes on to speak to how corporations, in this case Chevron, can be ready for such attacks. Where things can get tricky is when these people impersonate corporations on such sites as Twitter. Although most of the time it is clear these accounts are parodies (see @BPGlobalPR), it can still be damaging and embarrassing.  Knowing your a target and being prepared are half the battle.