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29 Aug 2009

StockPhoto F***Up...

Posted by: Ed Gillespie

StockPhoto F***Up...

This rather brilliant piece from the gurus at Grist was forwarded to me by Chris Rose today. It seems the notion of astroturfing is increasingly replacing greenwash as the modus operandi of dubious lobbying, in this case for those denizens of responsible environmental behaviour the US coal industry (they cut off mountain tops don't you know and release the worst corporate virals ever). The 'FACES' (the snappy acronym for the Federation for American Coal & Energy Security) campaign is an 'an alliance of people from all walks of life who are joining forces to educate lawmakers and the general public about the importance of coal and coal mining to our local and national economies and to our nation’s energy security'. Which would be fine, except for the fact that the 'faces of coal', those people from 'all walks of life' are actually all stock photos!

This rather insidious practice of astroturfing isn't new but is becoming increasingly blatant. It's also no accident that the FACES website somehow fails to even mention the slightly tricky topic of climate change. But the best satirical laugh to be had out of this sorry state of anti-democratic affairs is from the 'strategic public affairs' company Adfero, who are behind the FACES site. Genuine practitioners of the dark arts of communications, their website boasts 'much of our work is confidential' and if you fancy a giggle check out their Mission& Values. My favourite bit is this: "[We are committed to] communicating truthfully, clearly and candidly in close collaboration with our clients [and] benefiting society through acts of community service, financial giving and socially responsible business practices". Ethical PR? My codlings...

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