Astroturfing

Astroturfing, also known as greenturfing, is a disguising technique used by large organizations to support any arguments or claims in their favor. Astroturfing is usually a public relations, political, and advertising tactic carefully planned by an organization for manipulative purposes, but disguised as a spontaneous grassroots campaign. By giving the appearance of grassroots campaigns, an organization's astroturfing efforts attempt to influence public policy and manipulate public opinion. In fact, astroturfing is the fabrication of a grassroots campaign. The term originated from Astro-Turf, which is a brand of artificial grass carpeting designed to look like natural grass. The term was coined by U.S. senator Lloyd Bentsen in a public statement in 1985.

Astroturfing is distinguished from legitimate grassroots campaigns by its deceptive nature. First, one difference from legitimate grassroots campaigns is that finance is not an issue for astroturfing practice because it is often sponsored by deep pocket organizations. Second, it is driven by the vested interests of organizations and hired public relations, marketing, law, or political consulting firms, whereas grassroots campaigns are driven by the will of individuals or communities. Third, since astroturfing is a fabricated grassroots campaign, there is no strong expectation of public participation or empowerment in the practice. Lastly, unlike real grassroots campaigns, astroturfing uses front groups to mask the sponsoring organizations’ true interests and identities. By using front groups, astroturfing organizations try to make fabricated grassroots campaigns appear as independent movements in the public eye.

Because of its deceptive nature, serious ethical concerns underline the practice. Although this practice is prohibited by the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) code of ethics, it is not an uncommon practice of corporations, politicians, or public relations firms. Examples include American Chemical Society, American Forest & Paper Association, Burson-Marstellar, Philip Morris, Procter & Gamble, the Chemical Manufacturers Association, and Union Carbide. For instance, in 1993 Burson-Marstellar, a public relations firm, created the astroturf group the National Smokers Alliance (NSA) to influence federal nonsmoking regulation on behalf of the tobacco industry, specifically Philip Morris. The NSA was originally promoted as an organization made up of individuals and businesses (particularly restaurants) that were against impending laws that would ban smoking in certain public places. Backed by Philip Morris and several smaller tobacco players and with millions of dollars and the help of the aforementioned public relations firm, the NSA ran aggressive campaigns to recruit people to beef up their membership numbers. The NSA, which claimed to be an independent grassroots group, was eventually ousted as a sham when the financial backing of the tobacco industry and strategic direction of a public relations firm were revealed.

Advanced technology and new electronic media certainly accelerate the process of creating Astro-turf campaigns. Internet and social media can be used to organize astroturfing campaigns while successfully disguising them as grassroots campaigns. Thus, more emphasis on ethical guidelines for public relations practice is required in this ever-changing environment.