History Main / AstroTurf

* A supposed amateur Website/YouTube video spoofing ''Film/AnInconvenientTruth'' was found to have been sponsored by the DCI Group, which at the time did PR for General Motors and [=ExxonMobil=].

* 2008 US presidential candidate UsefulNotes/RonPaul's (primarily Internet-based) campaign was accused of using astroturf tactics. At the very least, it is almost certain that some of his more vocal supporters and workers, who tended to flock to any mention of his name on forums, blogs, or Website/YouTube comments, seemed to utilize the tactics of spammers or weren't averse to the use of [[http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2007/10/ron-paul-camp-gets-over-enthusiastic-with-spam.ars spambots.]]

** Film companies and producers are infamous for doing this on the web. For instance, ever see a comment on a movie trailer on Website/YouTube that was highly in favor of the movie, even though everyone else was bashing it? That's probably Astroturfing. This happens on tons of various film websites.

* For a while there were people posting comments on blogs and Website/YouTube singing the praises of some NBC programs, primarily game and reality shows. The big cover-blowing giveaway was the way these "fans" appeared to have an ObsessivelyOrganized obsession with mentioning the shows' time slots in multiple time zones at least once per paragraph. One such account on [=YouTube=] even wrote like a teenage girl, then suddenly switched into perfect professional grammar to respond to a user asking about how to audition for the show. Supposedly, at least one blog's admin also saw a user register using an @nbc.com e-mail address to post such comments. (Note that this may not have actually been orchestrated by all of NBC -- when they fired producer Craig Plestis, these alleged fans turned to singing ''his'' praises. Combined with the fact that he produced all the shows that were being promoted by those user accounts, plus he had been caught editing his own Wikipedia page for ShamelessSelfPromotion, he might have been the sole person responsible.)

* Several [[ForumSpeak flogs]] within 2008 to 2010 have appeared for açaí berry supplements, making proud flowery proclamations of grand weight loss using their pills, and linking through sites like Website/{{Yahoo}}! Answers. They're very easy to see through after skimming for just a few seconds, but they're still written as if they're just personal blog entries.

* Temu, the American subsidiary of Chinese e-commerce retailer Pinduoduo, has engaged in an aggressive Web ad campaign, and a sideline to it is the appearance of a bunch of almost-identically worded [[Website/{{Twitter}} tweets]], generally along the lines of "There's been a lot of Temu ads lately. I'm curious about[=/=]I've learned more about this app", all from users who've only been on Twitter for a matter of weeks.

** According to WebVideo/SourceFed, over half of his Website/{{Twitter}} followers are {{sock puppet}}s.

* In December 2006, Sony attempted a so-called "viral" marketing campaign for the UsefulNotes/PlayStationPortable by faking blogs, user-created videos, and even graffiti concerning the theme "All I Want For Christmas is a PSP" -- and were caught at it within days. While, to their credit, they fessed up to it almost immediately and even poked a little fun at their failure, the backlash lasted quite some time.

* Trope inversion by [[Creator/ElectronicArts EA Games]]: they hired an advertising firm to position protesters outside E3 2009 calling for their product, ''Videogame/DantesInferno'', to be banned. Then they owned up to it, creating even more publicity for their product (which, being about sin after all, is probably quite appropriate). It's an inversion because they likely never intended to have the protest itself drum up support; they've been doing similar sin-based viral marketing campaigns for this game and this was just part of the theme.

* Music/FrankSinatra shot to fame after a number of concerts and radio appearances were disrupted by hundreds of squealing, screaming, hysterical bobbysoxers. Newsreels of the pandemonium were shown in theaters all over the US and became so well-known that they were parodied by Warner Brothers cartoonists (most notably in ''WesternAnimation/Long-Haired Hare''). Only after Sinatra's death was it revealed that the screaming bobbysoxers were actresses hired by Sinatra's publicist. He went from being a band singer of middling fame to a superstar almost overnight.

* Music/FrankSinatra shot to fame after a number of concerts and radio appearances were disrupted by hundreds of squealing, screaming, hysterical bobbysoxers. Newsreels of the pandemonium were shown in theaters all over the US and became so well-known that they were parodied by Warner Brothers cartoonists (most notably in "Long-Haired Hare"). Only after Sinatra's death was it revealed that the screaming bobbysoxers were actresses hired by Sinatra's publicist. He went from being a band singer of middling fame to a superstar almost overnight.

[=AstroTurf=]® is a brand name of artificial grass used for sports fields, invented by Monsanto in 1966 and named after the UsefulNotes/{{Houston}} Astrodome, an indoors stadium used by the [[UsefulNotes/MajorLeagueBaseball Astros]] (and later joined by the [[UsefulNotes/NationalFootballLeague Oilers]]) where it was first installed after an experiment with natural grass failed. During the rise of the internet, it got borrowed to describe a campaign which appeared to originate from and be driven by public demand, but was carefully staged and managed by interested parties ("artificial grass roots"). The idea of generating an appearance of public support is much older, of course: it appears in [[JustForFun/TheZerothLawOfTropeExamples Shakespeare]]'s ''Theatre/JuliusCaesar'', and probably dates back to ancient times.

[=AstroTurf=]® is a brand name for artificial grass used for sports fields, invented by Monsanto in 1966 and named for the UsefulNotes/{{Houston}} Astrodome, the stadium where it was first installed. During the rise of the internet, it got borrowed to describe a campaign which appeared to originate from and be driven by public demand, but was carefully staged and managed by interested parties ("artificial grass roots"). The idea of generating an appearance of public support is much older, of course: it appears in [[JustForFun/TheZerothLawOfTropeExamples Shakespeare]]'s ''Theatre/JuliusCaesar'', and probably dates back to ancient times.

On the internet, the term is sometimes used as a synonym for a FalseFlagOperation, usually the kind where someone pretends to be a radical member of the other side to discredit them.

* In the lead-up to ''ComicBook/CivilWar'', before he became firmly pro-registration, ComicBook/IronMan hired his old foe the Titanium Man to attack Washington, D.C., and monologue in public about how the likes of him are just waiting for the Superhuman Registration Act to bring down superheroes.

* Any winner of ''Britain's Got Talent'', ''X-Factor'', ''Pop Idol'' etc, are beneficiaries of this tactic, what with the multi-million-pound promotions that the artists get, swamping the smaller publicity machines of independent record labels (and even sometimes manufactured pop bands if there's a Christmas No.1 at stake).
* Organisers of awards ceremonies will often hire 'seat-fillers' to make sure the event looks as well-attended as possible. If an attendee leaves their seat to go to the bathroom or whatever someone (usually young and good-looking) will slide into their seat to make sure no gaps in the 'celebrity' audience are apparent if the cameras pan over to them.
* This is the concept of a "plant," or an up-and-coming artist who appears to be unsigned but is secretly signed to a major label and has the resources of a major-label artist. While it ''does'' happen, accusations of this are flung at up-and-coming independent artists all the time (particularly in hip-hop and sometimes pop), and "plant," for the most part, has become synonymous with "rising independent artist I don't like whose success I take issue with".
* A voluntary rather than paid case of this: Billboard's Social 50 ranks artists based on how much attention they earn online. At a certain point, certain fandoms decided to make sure their idols remained ranked high by campaigning for fans to create posts on social media about them, view\play their music, and read their Wikipedia articles at least once a day. Bots to do this activity automatically might also be created.
* Kpop fans have been criticized for constantly tweeting videos of their favorite musicians dancing, usually doing this to hashtags that are largely irrelevant. This has attracted hate from many users, especially when these fans tweet these videos on serious topics like protests and mass shootings. In the Kpop fandom itself, some have noticed that a few of these accounts only made the one post or are bots made to spam hashtags, indicating that at least some of it is Astroturfing from the other side.

* Urban radio stations have been accused of this, as have MusicVideo networks.

* The comment sections on articles at [=ProFootballTalk.com=] shows that the NFL wasn't above this tactic back during its 2011 labor dispute.
* More than one pro athlete under investigation for domestic violence has been the beneficiary of numerous posts on message boards, Reddit, etc. all claiming that he's innocent and that the wife is 'a (fill in the insult) looking for a payday'. In at least one instance these messages were traced to a group of IP addresses registered to the athlete's agent.

* This is the concept of a "plant," or an up-and-coming artist who appears to be unsigned but is secretly signed to a major label and has the resources of a major-label artist. While it ''does'' happen, accusations of this are flung at up-and-coming independent artists all the time (particularly in hip-hop), and "plant," for the most part, has become synonymous with "rising independent artist I don't like whose success I take issue with".