Yes Lab Projects

self-deport-org

Patriots for Self-Deportation

Active dates: October 2011–January 2012

In October 2011, a group of activists decided to take the logic of anti-immigration activists to its logical extreme. They reasoned that if "anchor babies" are such a big issue, we should all look carefully to determine whether any one of our ancestors entered the country illegally, and if they did, we should self-deport to our illegal ancestor's country of origin.

Thus was born www.SelfDeport.org, a how-to guide for moral-minded American citizens who have realized that the moral standard they apply to today's undocumented immigrants should apply to those who came here long ago. The site helps answer questions like:

  • How can I know if ancestors of mine came here legally?
  • If I suspect that an ancestor should never have received citizenship, am I morally obliged to do something about it?
  • What support is available if I decide to self-deport?
  • If several of my ancestors came over illegally, how do I decide which country of origin to return to?
  • Then, on January 4, 2012, Republican candidate Mitt Romney used the absurd concept of "self-deportation" himself. The next day, the activists launched their site, which quickly became a social-media sensation.

Selected press:

Tea Party ‘patriots’ urge Americans to deport themselves, National Post (Canada)
Americans for Patriotic Self-Deportation, Slate
Site mocks Romney on 'self-deport' comment, UPI

phonestory

Phone Story

Reveal date: September 12, 2011
Status: Complete
Partners: Molleindustria

Force children to mine precious metals, save suicidal workers from jumping to their deaths so they can labor another day, or find the cheapest way to dispose of mountains of e-waste—all while keeping productivity up so you can toss shiny trinkets to adoring consumers! All this and more from the first anti-iPhone iPhone app.

phonestory

Phone Story

Reveal date: September 12, 2011
Status: Complete
Partners: Molleindustria

Force children to mine precious metals, save suicidal workers from jumping to their deaths so they can labor another day, or find the cheapest way to dispose of mountains of e-waste—all while keeping productivity up so you can toss shiny trinkets to adoring consumers! All this and more from the first anti-iPhone iPhone app.

notice-fracking-thumb

The Water is Safe to Drink

Reveal date: April 30, 2011
Status: Active
Partners: Food and Water Watch

Official-looking Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) stickers, with chilling assurance that the tap water is "most likely safe," appeared above public faucets throughout New York. The goal was to alert New Yorkers to the alarming prospect that their drinking water could soon be contaminated by hydraulic fracturing.

Peter-Jackson-Video

The Alberta Tar Sands is ... Mordor?

Reveal date: April 15, 2011
Status: Complete
Partners: Greenpeace Canada

The Alberta Tar Sands as a low budget filming location for Peter Jackson's Mordor scenes in The Hobbit? That was the buzz generated by a sophisticated social-media campaign unleashed by Canadian activists in partnership with the Yes Lab. The ruse put the spotlight on the environmental devastation caused by the Tar Sands at a time when Canada's government is rushing headlong towards disaster by massively expanding the site.

brochure-thumb

Coal for the Rich

Reveal date: April 14, 2011
Status: Complete
Partners: Citizens United Against Loop Coal (CUALC), Greenpeace Chicago

Students from Columbia College in Chicago came together with Greenpeace and The Yes Lab to create the illusion that a new Coal Plant was planned in Chicago — but that instead of going in a poor neighborhood like the two coal plants that already exist, this one would be built in a rich one.

usuncut

GE Returns Billions to Public Coffers... Not

Reveal date: April 13, 2011
Status: Complete
Partners: US Uncut

With local, State and Federal governments slashing critical education, health and public safety services nationwide due to dramatic budget cutbacks, GE brought good things to life by offering to return the entirety of its $3.2 billion 2010 tax refund to the Treasury. Even more touching, GE committed to conducting a nationwide survey to gauge popular opinion on which of the recently-enacted budget cuts people would like to see reversed, now possible thanks to GE's generosity. This unprecedented—and completely fictitious—corporate move, was a joint project of US Uncut and the Yes Lab, and caused GE's stock to drop $3.5 billion after it was reported in USA Today.

See more projects at yeslab.org