In recent years, the great American tradition of parody and satire has taken a new turn. Rather than create a work whose parodic purpose is immediately obvious (like the “L.L. Beam Sex Catalogue,”1 or a Wacky Packages sticker for “Crust Toothpaste”), political and social activists are creating works that masquerade as actual communications from the target entities.
Contemporary computer technology and the Internet make it easy for pranksters and political activists to create a hoax website with the intention of misleading visitors into believing, at least initially, that it has been created by a particular company or organization. In 2009, a duo known as the “Yes Men” set up a fake website and issued press releases in the name of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.2 Last year, the same group was involved in a spoof website called “Coal Cares,” purportedly maintained by America’s largest coal company and including a “news release” quoting the company CEO. “Impersonator” Twitter accounts have become so common that Twitter has a separate abuse procedure for dealing with them.3 Some of these hoaxes are immediately recognizable as such, but others are not.
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