Astroturfing: Snakes in the grass

-->

-->

Rebecca Marion
rm812416@ohio.edu

Image Source

I’ve heard of many clever things during my lifetime, but astroturfing has to be one of the cleverest names for something people have been doing for ages. According to Business Insider, astroturfing is when companies or individuals hide their motives behind grassroots movements.

The term was conceived in 1985 by the Texas Senator Lloyd Bentsen and described as a process which is used to sway the opinion of the people. It can be done by misinforming the masses while those behind the movement claim that they have no part in the deception.

The creation of the YouTube video entitled “Al Gore’s Penguin Army” is one such example of how astroturfing seeks to persuade the masses. In 2006, Al Gore released a documentary on global warming called “An Inconvenient Truth,” which sparked a conversation about how our actions have affected planet earth.

The YouTube video depicts Al Gore as the Penguin, a villain from the comic book series Batman, who blames global warming for a series of unrelated issues such as Chris Daughtry being voted off American Idol as well as the crisis in the Middle East. While the video was created by a 29-year-old from Beverly Hills, The Wallstreet Journal discovered that the video could be traced back to a public relations firm in business with Exxon Mobil called The DCI group.

A spokesman for Exxon Mobil group admitted to seeing the video but denied funding it. Regardless of where the funding came from, the objective of the video was to convince viewers that the documentary was reaching and unable to provide a good reason for the cause of global warming.

While the previous example mentioned how astroturfing can be used to gain momentum on political issues, an article written in the Columbia Journalism Review details how astroturfing can affect those closer to home.

According to the Columbia Journalism Review, the Restaurant Workers of America are an organization that advocates against paying a minimum wage to tipped workers while describing themselves as an employee advocacy organization. They are also quoted as saying that the well-documented cases of sexual harassment in the restaurant industry are exaggerated.

After working in several restaurants myself, I understand that a business needs to make money to survive, but I also understand that there is no business without employees.

If one thing can be taken from this, it’s that astroturfing is designed to help the public swallow a lie that benefits the few. We the people need to actively question the aims behind advertisements and seek the truth for ourselves now more than ever.