by SARAH ROWLAND

Every oil baron, textile tycoon and mining exec knows that the biggest drag on daily corporate avarice is the lazy working habits of third-world slave labour. In order to help combat this hurdle to globalization, Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonanno have designed the management leisure jumpsuit, complete with a satellite surveillance system built into a strap-on phallic appendage. Through an electric shock device system sewn right into the buttocks of the pants, rightwing go-getters can punish sweatshop slackers without ever leaving the comfort of their spacesuit.

Sound ludicrous?

Not to a room full of WTO backers, all of whom failed to realize they were being pranked by the two apparent representatives in favour of an "involuntary imported workforce" system. Cue PowerPoint presentation depicting cotton pickers being whipped. Bichlbaum modeled the farcical gold spandex leisure suit as he spoke of the financial benefits of child labour and was met with an amiable silence. They had the same effect, or lack thereof, at a Salzburg international trade convention about a year earlier. That's why the masterful hoaxing duo decided to start filming their elaborate practical jokes for their hilarious and disturbing documentary The Yes Men. It all started in 1999 when they created a satirical WTO Web site that looked so realistic they started getting invitations to speak on the organization's behalf.

"Usually I'm thinking something like, ‘Oh shit,'" says Bonanno about watching his partner up on the podium, expounding on the virtues of selling presidential votes to the highest bidder. He and Bichlbaum were in Cleveland, Ohio, for the Cheney/Edwards showdown. "But actually, maintaining composure isn't that big of problem because it's kind of strange and frightening to be up there. Occasionally, if he comes up with something improvisational, it's hard for me to keep a straight face. But most of the time, I'm sort of worried and freaked out, looking for signs and trying to read these stone expressions for some kind of reaction."

Unbelievably, it was only when they took their act to a New York University that they managed to incite an outrageous response with the incredulous students. This was the payoff they wanted all along, so Bichlbaum and Bonanno have put their WTO gags on hold in lieu of some new targets. Using their advanced skills at infiltrating the enemy and befriending its allies, the Yes Men are now illuminating the unethical practices of the Republican Party by canvassing for them.

"So we go out there and say, ‘We're cutting down the trees and it's great because somebody's making money in the short term,'" says Bonanno, adding that their new footage may or may not result in The Yes Men Two. "Or we say, ‘Yes, we're allowing coal plants to send out more emissions into the atmosphere, but the 64 deaths a day that will result are worth it because we're all making more money.'"

The Yes Men say they are determined to make a dent in the upcoming U.S. election by swaying undecided voters. Says Bichlbaum: "All we have to do is take one of Bush's points and make it absolutely ridiculous in their minds and then the whole thing will collapse and they'll all be Kerry supporters. That's the theory. It hasn't happened yet, but we'll see."

The Yes Men opens Friday, Oct. 8

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