Astroturfing

Defined
A public relations campaign that makes a group or cause appear as if it has authentic "grass roots" support, when in fact the support is artificial or non-existent. The term refers to a brand name for artificial grass -- Astroturf.

Example
Rep. John Larson's (D-Conn.)'s spokesperson once said of high volumes of e-mail reaching his office, "a lot of it was from mass e-mails from some organization using technology to mask a grassroots campaign and it impaired our ability to communicate with constituents," (Hotline On Call, 'Signed, Sealed, And Encrypted,' June 13, 2006) a definition that sums up a common congressional issue with astroturfing. ()

HISTORY
The term was first used by Rep. Lloyd Bentsen (R-Texas) to describe a fake grassroots campaign.

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