For many corporations and individuals, common sense dictates the practice of astroturfing (see 维基百科的定义 if you’re unfamiliar) is something to be avoided, since it’s unethical and chances are it will backfire. It’s also against the law thanks to new 联邦贸易委员会指南.

So if you’re the world’s largest public corporation 通过 revenue, and stockholders, journalists, bloggers and pretty much everyone under the sun is watching what you’re up to, astroturfing is a disaster waiting to happen – especially if you 被抓 doing something similar back in 2006.

但这并没有阻止沃尔玛在芝加哥建立一个虚假的社区团体来争取支持，该公司正计划在芝加哥市内开设第二家门店。

When the Chicagoist blog received a series of pro-Wal-Mart comments from unknown screen names in response to various posts, blogger 凯文·罗宾逊 decided to investigate. He discovered that, with the help of PR firm Serafin & Associates and the 芝加哥商会, Wal-Mart is behind the phony advocacy group, “我们的社区。 我们的选择,” which was linked to the blog comments.

沃尔玛及其合作伙伴完全有权向芝加哥人民为公司辩护。 公民也有，如果他们是合法的。 但是，建立一个虚假的社区组织，自称代表居民和他们的利益，无疑是一种狡猾的策略，任何公关公司或品牌都不应该使用这种策略。