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For the artificial grass, see AstroTurf.

Astroturfing is a term for formal public relations campaigns in politics and advertising that seek to create the impression of being spontaneous, grassroots behavior. Hence the reference to AstroTurf (artificial grass) is a metaphor to indicate fake grassroots support.

The goal of such a campaign is to disguise the agenda of a client as an independent public reaction to some political entity—a politician, political group, product, service or event. Astroturfers attempt to orchestrate the actions of apparently diverse and geographically distributed individuals, by both overt ("outreach," "awareness," etc.) and covert (disinformation) means. Astroturfing may be undertaken by anything from an individual pushing their own personal agenda through to highly organised professional groups with financial backing from large corporations.

Word origin

The term, said to have been used first in this context by former U.S. Senator Lloyd Bentsen (Democrat-Texas), is wordplay based on "grassroots democracy" efforts, which are truly spontaneous undertakings largely sustained by private persons (not politicians, governments, corporations, or public relations firms). "AstroTurf" refers to the bright green artificial grass used in some sports stadiums, so "astroturfing" refers to artificial grassroots efforts.

Techniques

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A form of propaganda, astroturfing attempts to affect selectively the emotions of the public, whether trying to win a campaign, be the top music record seller, be the top book seller, or gain political support.

The most frequently identified cases of astroturfing are found in recent political history. The concept itself is older and was widely used by the Soviet Communists.

Astroturfing techniques usually consist of a few people discreetly posing as mass numbers of activists advocating a specific cause. Supporters or employees will manipulate the degree of interest through letters to the editor, e-mails, blog posts, crossposts, trackbacks, etc. They are instructed on what to say, how to say it, where to send it, and how to make it appear that their indignation, appreciation, joy or hate is entirely spontaneous and independent. This makes their campaign seem "real" rather than the product of an orchestrated campaign. Local newspapers are often victims of astroturfing when they publish letters identical to those received and printed by other newspapers.

It has become easier to structure an astroturfing campaign in the electronic era because the cost and effort to send an e-mail (especially a pre-written, sign-your-name-at-the-bottom e-mail) is so low. Companies may use a boiler room full of telephones and computers where hired activists locate people and groups that create enthusiasm for the specified cause. Also, the use of psychographics allows hired supporters to persuade their targeted audience. This correlates with the merge-purge technique that combines information about an individual from multiple databases. Companies can then turn hypothetical supporters into activists for the cause. This leads to misuse of the Internet, for one person is able to play the role of a whole group of like-minded people (see also Internet sockpuppet).

News consolidation services, such as Google News, as well as PR Watch and Sourcewatch, have made it easier to spot such campaigns through the search of specific key phrases that bring up results showing identical letters, articles, blogs, websites, etc.

Examples

Early examples

At the turn of the 20th century, it was common to have newspapers in major American cities sponsored by local political parties. Some were open about this practice, but many of these relationships were hidden. Other examples include political "clubs" which front for voter fraud and intimidation, letter-writing campaigns organized by local ward bosses, and some union-organized political activities.

In one case, documented in the book All the President's Men, the Committee to Re-Elect the President orchestrated several campaigns of "public support" for decisions made by President Nixon in the period preceding the 1972 election, including telegrams to the White House and an apparently independent advertisement placed in The New York Times.

Another case is that of Bolivian dictator General Luis Garcia Meza Tejada, who at the end of his promised one-year rule staged a televised rally and declared "Bueno, me quedo," or in English: "All right, I'll stay."

Manipulation of public opinion was also used in the Soviet Union. Political decisions were often preceded by massive campaigns of orchestrated 'letters from workers' (письма трудящихся, (pisma trudyashchikhsya)) which were quoted and published in newspapers and radio. In Stalin's era, massive "public demonstrations" were organized against "the enemies of the people"; those attending were often forced or intimidated into doing so.

Examples from the 1990s

In 1991 a memo from PR firm van Kloberg & Associates to Zairian ambassador Tatanene Tanata referring to the "Zaire Program 1991" was leaked. The memo outlines steps the firm was taking to improve the image of Mobutu Sese Seko's regime, including placing dozens of letters to the editor, op-ed pieces, and articles in the American press praising the Zairian government.

In 1998, Paul Reitsma, former member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, was accused of writing letters to newspapers under assumed names praising himself and attacking his political opponents. A Parksville newspaper had asked a former RCMP handwriting expert to compare a sample of Reitsma's handwriting to that of letters to the editor submitted by a "Warren Betanko", and then ran a story entitled "MLA Reitsma is a liar and we can prove it". For this, Reitsma was expelled from the caucus of the British Columbia Liberal Party and then compelled to resign his seat after it became obvious that an effort to recall him would succeed.

Recent examples

• In 2001, the Los Angeles Times accused Microsoft of astroturfing when hundreds of similar letters were sent to newspapers voicing disagreement with the United States Department of Justice and its antitrust suit against Microsoft. The letters, prepared by Americans for Technology Leadership, had in some cases been mailed from deceased citizens or nonexistent addresses. Similar allegations were leveled against the "Freedom to Innovate Network", originally portrayed as an independent grassroots organization but web-hosted by Microsoft.

• In March 2006, a supposed environmental group called the Save Our Species Alliance was exposed as a front group that was created by a timber lobbyist to weaken the Endangered Species Act. The campaign director for this group is Tim Wigley, the Executive Director of Pac/West Communications. Wigley was also the campaign director for Project Protect, another front group that spent $2.9 million to help pass President Bush's Healthy Forests legislation which has been criticized for its pro-industry bias. The Save Our Species Alliance web site portrays itself as a grassroots organization against the Endangered Species Act (the word "grassroots" is mentioned no less than five times on their "Take Action Now" page), but is criticized by environmentalists for being a front group for wealthy cattle and timber interests which consider Federal environmental legislation an impediment to profit.

• In April 2006, bloggers revealed seasoned Washington insider and former Clinton administration press secretary Mike McCurry to be accepting money from phone companies to produce an "Astroturf" campaign called "Hands Off the Internet." While portraying itself as a populist effort to rally congressional opposition to network neutrality, the group is almost entirely funded by phone giant AT&T. McCurry's attempts to justify his work and explain AT&T's position to bloggers backfired. A McCurry post on the Huffington Post blog was attacked by hundreds of bloggers rallying vast online support for network neutrality and its proponents at the SavetheInternet.com Coalition -- a grassroots campaign with more than 1.5 million supporters.

• In May 2006, SanDisk launched a site called iDon't, appearing to be a blog started by individuals opposed to Apple's domination of the portable music player market. It was actually an advertisement mechanism for their own device, the Sansa e200. The website now redirects to the company's own lilmosta.com domain.

• In August 2006, a science journalist for the Wall Street Journal revealed that a YouTube video - "Al Gore's Penguin Army" - which was claimed to be an amateur work in fact came from the computers of DCI Group, a Washington, D.C.-based PR firm whose acknowledged leaders all have ties to the Republican Party and whose client list includes ExxonMobil and General Motors. (See Al Gore's Penguin Army video controversy.) This hoax was discovered when journalist Antonio Ragalado noticed that the YouTube video was the first sponsored listing when he performed a Google search for Al Gore. The fact that someone was actually paying to have the alleged amateur film promoted was in itself suspicious.

• Since the spring of 2006, American Airlines has received frequent accusations of astroturfing due to its acknowledged support (including some financial backing) of Stop and Think, a Dallas-based organization that has advocated the retention of the federal Wright Amendment ban on most long haul commercial passenger airline service at Dallas Love Field. Many opponents of the Wright Amendment believe that American, the dominant passenger airline at nearby Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, has an overly cozy relationship with the management of DFW Airport and/or uses highly aggressive competitive tactics against other airlines that serve DFW, and that for airline competition in North Texas to increase substantively, the federal government must repeal the Wright Amendment and let Love Field be an alternative to DFW for airlines flying long haul routes to and from North Texas. Therefore, these critics think that the Wright Amendment unduly limits the competition that American faces in the North Texas commercial aviation market and that American is using Stop and Think to try to manipulate the public into backing the law -- and, by extension, the airline's commercial interests -- under a pretense of broad-based community support.

• In July 2006, an article by Vladimir Socor, a veteran analyst of east European affairs for the Jamestown Foundation, claimed that a report on Transdniestria issued by the International Council for Democratic Institutions and State Sovereignty, "State Sovereignty of Pridnestrovie (PMR) under international law", was a Russian-sponsored attempt at disinformation. A spokesperson for the organization, Megan Stephenson, has denied these charges. Shortly afterwards The Economist published two articles highlighting the ICDISS's lack of a physical presence and its disinclination to provide independent verification of its activities and previous existence. The Economist also reported that prominent academics cited as sources in the ICDISS report on Transdniestria disclaimed any connection with the organization. The Economist noted the Misplaced Pages entry for ICDISS created as part of the apparent disinformation exercise.

• In December 2006, the "All I want for Xmas is a PSP" marketing campaign by Zipatoni and Sony sparked outrage from the gaming community when it was discovered that the fake blog was in fact assembled by a marketing team. (See PlayStation Portable#Controversial advertising campaigns)

Fictional examples

• Government astroturfing, as well as other sneaky tricks including an eleven-day war waged to distract from a sex scandal, are depicted in the film Wag the Dog.

• The satirical newspaper The Onion had an opinion piece entitled "I'd Love This Product Even If I Weren't A Stealth Marketer," which is written by a young employee of Pepsi-Cola who is paid to astroturf.

• In the Christopher Buckley novel, Thank You For Smoking, Nick Naylor mentions several astroturf groups, including a "Smokers' Rights" group made up of Hispanic smokers which was called "Fumamos."

See also

• Harry and Louise
• False flag
• Front organization
• Spin (public relations)
• Sock puppeteering – a form of personal astroturfing common in Internet communities
• Working Families for Wal-Mart
• Viral marketing

References

• Anderson, Walter T. "Astroturf - The Big Business of Fake Grassroots Politics." Jinn 5 January 1996.
• Astroturf. 17 Oct. 2004. Sourcewatch. 6 Nov. 2005.
• Miller, Laura. "Powers Behinds the Throne." Center for Media and Democracy 21 February 2005.
• National Youth Advocacy Assembly. Teens from Across the Country Rally in Washington DC to call on the Beer Institute to Honor its Marketing Code and Stop Targeting Teens. National Youth Advocacy Assembly press release, 27 January 2003.
• Odegard, Peter H. Pressure Politics: The Story of the Anti-Saloon League. NY: Columbia University Press, 1928.
• Rampton, Sheldon and Stauber, John. "Keeping America Safe from Democracy." Center for Media and Democracy 30 October 2004.
• Shin, Annys. "FTC Moves to Unmask Word-of-Mouth Marketing." Washington Post 12 December 2006.
• "Playing on astroturf," The National Journal, April 19, 1986 - 'the "grass roots is AstroTurf in many cases, artificial turf," says Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, D-Texas.' - quoted in
• DISPATCHES: Undercover with New Labour, "The Dirty Tricks Election". Channel Four (Hardcash Productions) first broadcast 25th May 2005.

• Articles lacking sources from August 2006
• Astroturf groups
• Political terms
• Public relations
• Propaganda
• Political corruption