Astroturf

• astroturf

See AstroTurf and astroturfing.

Astroturf (third-person singular simple present Astroturfs, present participle Astroturfing, simple past and past participle Astroturfed)

1. To cover with an artificial grass-like material.
   • 2002, Wendy Perriam, Tread Softly, page 17:

     But what was there left to Astroturf? The sitting-room? Hugh's bald patch?

   • 2006, Dick Wolfsie, Indiana Curiosities, 2nd, page 41:

     Is it just me, or is it hard to find anyone nowadays to Astroturf your car?

2. (politics, usually lowercase) To fabricate an impression of political support for an agenda.
   • 2009 December 1, James Hoggan; Richard Littlemore, Climate Cover-Up: The Crusade to Deny Global Warming, Greystone Books Ltd, →ISBN, page 197:

     We have been Astroturfed by some of the biggest players in the business. As you will read in the coming pages, a reasonable-sounding group called Americans for Balanced Energy Choices spent us$40 million during the last presidential […]

   • 2011 April 15, Andrew Breitbart, Righteous Indignation: Excuse Me While I Save the World, Grand Central Publishing, →ISBN:

     Even Maher reacted; his Achilles' heel is that even though he's a leftie, he exhibits clear contempt for the astroturfed audience he relies upon for his laughs. The awkwardness continued for a full, commercial-free half hour, […]

   • 2021 August 10, Kurt Andersen, Evil Geniuses: The Unmaking of America: A Recent History, Random House Trade Paperbacks, →ISBN, page 282:

     The opposition party in Washington and its Astroturfed Tea Partiers around the country could focus strictly on assigning blame for the disaster . At the direction of the field marshals of the rich right in Washington , the Tea Party was […]

• astroturfer
• astroturfing

Astroturf (comparative more Astroturf, superlative most Astroturf)

1. Of a group created by a larger organisation (especially a corporation or political party), but presenting itself as a grassroots organisation.
   • 2005 04, Richard Larsen, You, Sir, Are an Idiot: Newspaper Columns, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 125:

     Can we assure readers that astroturf letters will not appear as letters in The Star? Unfortunately, no. At least a dozen Web sites from which astroturf can be generated have been identified. Many more exist.

   • 2011 August 18, John S. Dryzek; Richard B. Norgaard; David Schlosberg, The Oxford Handbook of Climate Change and Society, OUP Oxford, →ISBN, page 154:

     The defining feature of astroturf groups is that they are generated by an industry, think tank, or front group, but disguised to appear as a spontaneous, popular 'grassroots' effort. They are created to lobby or campaign on behalf of […]

   • 2014 October 29, Hyunyi Cho; Torsten Reimer; Katherine A. McComas, The SAGE Handbook of Risk Communication, SAGE Publications, →ISBN:

     These astroturf organizations allow corporations to engage in public debates and government hearings under the guise of concerned citizens. A key purpose of astroturf activities is to defuse the efforts of social movement organizations […]

Astroturf (plural Astroturfs)

1. Alternative spelling of AstroTurf