Profits of evil
Always felt a bit uneasy around mega corporations? Maybe thats because you worry about them not treating their employees fairly, or not sticking to ethical guidelines, or funnelling all their profits through offshore accounts to avoid paying fair taxes or maybe its because movies and TV are constantly telling us that all large businesses are inherently evil.
Seriously, you cant throw a rock in any sci-fi universe without hitting an evil businessman, scheming to sell out his own family in order to hit his sales targets. This list pulls together all the most evil corporations from the big and small screens. To the general public, they might look like a friendly biomedical company, but we know better
GeneCo
As seen in: Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008).
The public face: A commercial medical organisation, GeneCo offers organ implants to patients in need and there are a lot of them about, since organ failure is at an all-time high.
The real horror: The bit that GeneCo dont advertise is that they have an aggressive repossession policy. Fall behind on your payments and the company will send out its Repo Men to take back that heart, liver, lung, eyeball, or whatever else you bought from them. By force. Argh.
Momcorp
As seen in: Futurama.
The public face: A friendly manufacturer of consumer goods, run by good old Mom (voiced by Tress MacNeille). Products include staplers, toasters, and killbots.
The real horror: Despite Moms cuddly exterior, shes a hard-hearted megalomaniac, and her company is dead set on crushing all opposition and creating weapons of war. Scary stuff.
The Pinehearst Company
As seen in: Heroes.
The public face: A biotech company working to create a better future for everyone by creating innovative medical products. They also run initiatives dedicated to studying energy usage and climate change. Nothing evil there, right?
The real horror: Pinehearsts Biotech Training Program is the scary bit the company is very interested in special humans with superpowers, and has been busy studying them by kidnapping them, tracking them, messing with their memories, or chopping them up for a closer look. Eek.
Soylent Corporation
As seen in: Soylent Green (1973).
The public face: In a world of scarcity and hunger, the Soylent Corporation is a shining light, a producer of revolutionary foods that keep a desperate population fed.
The real horror: The companys newest product, Soylent Green, is a kind of wafer made, according to the Soylent Corporation, from plankton. Except the oceans are too depleted for that, so the company has been looking for a more readily available source of protein. Yup, Soylent Green is people.
N.E.R.D. (Nucleic Exchange Research and Development)
As seen in: Splice (2009).
The public face: A medical company thats busy creating new kinds of hybrids and, you know, advancing science in all kinds of impressive ways.
The real horror: The public face isnt too far off the mark, but while revolutionary science is going on, some of NERDs projects are a bit unsavoury. And any biomedical company thats willing to buy a pregnant womans child right out of her womb has got to be a bit creepy.
Multi-National United (MNU)
As seen in: District 9 (2009).
The public face: One of the largest weapons manufacturing companies in the world, MNU is put in charge of protecting the world from dangerous alien species. At least, according to their propaganda theyre protecting us
The real horror: Behind closed doors, MNU is performing all sorts of horrible experiments on the poor old prawns (plus any humans who get too close). The name shouldve been a giveaway, really; never trust any company with such a bland, unassuming brand.
Buy N Large
As seen in: Wall-E (2008)
The public face: Originally a frozen yogurt manufacturer, Buy N Large expanded over the years until it had acquired literally every other business and organisation on Earth. Its primary concern? Ensuring humanitys right to spend, spend, spend.
The real horror: Buy N Large might not have had evil intentions, but the consequences of its monopolisation are dire: Earth becomes a rubbish-covered wasteland. Even after all of Buy N Larges shareholders are long dead, its presence endures as blaring adverts championing non-existent products. Capitalism at its finest?
Dante Laboratories
As seen in: Dead Heat (1988).
The public face: Just your average unassuming medical research company. Nothing to see here
The real horror: Deep in the depths of the Dante Laboratories building, some seriously weird experiments are going on. Dantes founder, Arthur P. Laudemilk (Vincent Price), has found a way to reanimate the dead, and is using the tech for in two creepy ways: to resurrect rich people who want to live forever, and to create mindless zombie slaves. Not sure which is worse, really.
Wolfram and Hart, Attorneys at Law
As seen in: Angel.
The public face: A cutthroat law firm operating out of Los Angeles.
The real horror: Most lawyers are evil, but the ones working for Wolfram and Hart are especially evil theyre literally soulless, having signed terrifyingly thorough contracts when they took the job. The firm is owned by a shadowy trio of demons known as the Wolf, the Ram, and the Hart and their client list is full of horrors.
