Dear all

 intriguing - first time I've heard of a PR company doing fake grassroots 
 video. ABC got the name wrong- it's Al Gore's Penguin Army, see 
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZSqXUSwHRI
 It is clear looking at it that this is not an amateur item

 George

 http://articles.news.aol.com/news/_a/al-gore-youtube-spoof-not-so-
 amateurish/20060805132409990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001

 At first blush, "An Inconvenient Spoof" seemed like a scrappy
 little homemade film poking fun at Gore and his anti-global warming
 crusade.
 In the movie, Gore is seen boring an army of penguins with his
 lecture and blaming global warming for everything, including
 Lindsay Lohan's thinness.
 But when the Wall Street Journal tried to find the guy who posted
 this film — listed on YouTube as a 29-year-old — they found the
 movie didn't come from an amateur working out of his basement.
 The film actually came from a slick Republican public relations
 firm called DCI, which just happens to have oil giant Exxon as a
 client.

 Exxon denies knowing anything about the film, and DCI says, "We do
 not disclose the names of our clients, nor do we discuss the work
 we do on behalf of our clients."

 Distrust of Mainstream Media

 Media ethicists say that if DCI is behind "An Inconvenient Spoof,"
 they should fess up.
 "Without the disclosure, it's really ethically questionable," said
 Diane Farsetta, a senior researcher at the Center for Media and
 Democracy.
 Another question is why would this movie be done in a seemingly
 unprofessional way, to be shown alongside YouTube's mostly amateur
 videos, which feature lip-synching, odd performances and funny
 satires?
 "They want it to look like this came from someone who really
 believes this, who is really critical of Al Gore and global
 warming," Farsetta said.
 Ana Marie Cox, the Washington editor of Time.com, said Americans
 have come to distrust the mainstream media.

 "They're more likely to believe something that comes straight from
 the horse's mouth," Cox said.
 Public relations firms have long used computer technology to create
 bogus grassroots campaigns, which are called "Astroturf."
 Now these firms are being hired to push illusions on the Internet
 to create the false impression of real people blogging, e-mailing
 and making films.
 "People will become more savvy, and then the people who are making
 the fake videos will become more savvy about how to cover it up,"
 Cox said.
 So next time you're reading something on the Internet from a "real
 person" pushing a movie or defending an actor's alcohol-fueled rant
 — be wary. That real person might actually be a hired gun, selling
 you an idea through deception.
 8/05/06

 Copyright 2006 ABCNEWS.com