05x20 - Astroturfing

[bunniefuu]

Welcome, welcome, welcome to
Last Week Tonight!

I´m John Oliver.

Thank you so much
for joining us.

Just on for a quick
recap of the week.

And we begin with:
Racists.

They´re the reasons that 911
now has to answer calls with

Is this a real emergency
or is there just a black person nearby?

Now, as we take this show,
right now tonight.

The Unite The Right 2 rallye
is winding down.

A massive dozens of white nationalists
apparently gathered in DC

where they were met by hundreds
of counter protesters

calling them all assholes.

And look, while that numerical discrepency
is hardening

let´s not get too reasured here.

Because this week also brought
a visceral reminder

of the problems that we´re facing.

One year after Charlottesville,
look at this numbers.


their president is a r*cist.

Every time I look at those numbers
it just stuns me.

Yeah, because it is stunning.

Because it is both shocking
that it´s 49%

and it is equally shocking
that it´s only 49%.

Because it´s not like
he´s been hiding it.

It has been his brand for decades now.

It´s like only 49% of people
thinking that Kermit is a frog.

It´s in his name.

Whether you like or hate
that about him

you have to admit,
he´s a f*cking frog.

Today´s demonstration is just
the culmination of a week

in wich America´s regular
dog wissel racism

became uncomfortably loud.

Perhaps there´s no better example of this

than FOX News host Laura Ingraham,

who caused a real stir with this.

In some parts of the country

it does seem like the america
that we know and love

doesn't exist anymore.

Massive demographic changes

have been foisted upon the american people,

and they're changes
that none of us ever voted for

and most of us don't like.

Much of this is related to both
illegal and, in some cases,

legal immigration that,
of course, progressives love.

She just came right out and said it,

in a scripted commentary,

straight down the camera,

knowing her mic was on.

No "economic anxiety", no
"some of them are good people".

Just "I don't want people who
don't look like this here."

You almost want to give her
credit for honesty there

and then deduct twice
as much credit

because she's just being honest
about how r*cist she is.

And while Ingraham
later tried to say

that her remarks had
nothing to do with race.

It is worth noting that no less
an authority than David Duke,

former Grand Wizard of the Klan,

called it "one of the most
important truthful monologues

in the history of
the mainstream media."

And when the former head of the klan

likes what you're doing,

that should give you real pause.

Let me put it this way,

if immediately after this taping,

Dr. Larry Nassar caught me
in the hallway and said,

"Hey, man, loved the show!",

I'd think long and hard about
what the f*ck I just said.

But, look, for now,

let's move on to Saudi Arabia,

the country that contains Mecca,

which is like the muslim mecca.

That country's crown prince,
Mohamad Bin Salman,

has been on a bit
of a PR blitz lately,

trying to sell himself
as a moderate reformer

and doing everything
women to drive,

to sitting down for a softball
interview with "60 minutes",

to hosting a WWE event in Jeddah.

But recently, it's been
harder for them

to hold on to their new
friendly image,

not just because of their ongoing
role in airstrikes in yemen,

but also because of a spat
they got into this week

with the last country you'd expect.

Saudi Arabia has suspended
diplomatic ties with Canada,

halting new trade and
investment dealings.

The saudis are responding
to Canada's call

for the kingdom to release
a jailed women's rights activist.

Yeah, it's true.

Saudi Arabia is fighting
with Canada.

And that is not a conflict
that you'd naturally expect.

It's like hearing Katy Perry
is in a celebrity feud

with Wallace Shawn.

I didn't even know that
they knew each other,

but, ok, I guess
if this is happening,

I'm team Wallace.

Now, in response,

in response, Saudi Arabia has,

among other things,

expelled the canadian ambassador
and cut trade ties,

and has indicated
that it will continue

until Canada apologizes,

which seemed pretty likely.

It is Canada.

But when he was asked about it,

their prime minister,
Justin Trudeau,

Ottawa 10 and New York 7,

instead of saying "sorry",
or "soh-rry",

he unexpectedly said this.

As the minister has said
and as we will repeat,

Canada will always speak
strongly and clearly

in private and in public

on questions of human rights.

sh*ts fired.

Now, I know that sounded pretty mild,

but remember, he's canadian.

So, that calculated non-apology

is canada's equivalent of
dousing a car with saudi oil

and setting it on fire,
like Angela Basset

in "Waiting to Exhale."

And after that non-apology,

things escalated in perhaps

the most inappropriate possible way.

Saudi Arabia's state media tweeted
this now-deleted graphic yesterday,

appearing to show
an Air Canada airliner

heading towards the Toronto skyline

with text saying

"sticking one's nose
where it doesn't belong."

Holy shit.

A plane flying toward
a building as a threat

is a bold move from Saudi Arabia.

And while they later
said it was only meant

to suggest Canada's
ambassador returning home,

here's a little test to figure out

if your meme might come off
as a little 9/11-y.

One, is there a tower?

Two, is there a plane flying
toward that tower?

And three, am I Saudi Arabia?

Because if the answer to all
three of those questions is yes,

the odds of people thinking of 9/11 are,

I'd say, around 15 out of 19.

Give or take.

Now, finally this week,

Lithuania.

Or as it's more commonly known,

"I don´t know, one
of the Polands maybe?"

Lithuania's capitol city is Vilnius,

and not many people
know much about it,

which is why it launched a daring
tourism campaign this week.

And I could tell you about it,
but I think it's probably better

that you just watch it for yourself.

That's real.

That is real.

The new tourism campaign
of Vilnius is

"Vilnius: The G-Spot of Europe."

And if you're thinking,

"why is Vilnius
the g-spot of Europe?"

which, admittedly sounds like
a riddle on a popsicle stick

you'd find in Roman
Polanski's freezer.

According to this actual
poster from the campaign,

it's because "nobody
knows where it is,

but when you find it, it's amazing."

And, look, that logic,

I've got to give it to them,

that logic is incredible.

But by that logic, it also means

Vilnius is the Waldo of Europe,

the Jeremy Piven's hairline of Europe,

and the I.D. Channel of Europe.

Did you know the I.D. Channel
has a show called

"Wives with Knives"?

And another one called

"Southern Fried Homicide"?

And another one called
"Bride Killa"?

That's "killa" with an "a."

All on I.D.

And I realize no one knows
where that channel is,

but when you find it, it's amazing.

It's basically the Vilnius
of basic cable.

Now, look, it's clearly a bold tone

for an official tourism campaign,

and some in the national government

were not exactly thrilled with it
for a very specific reason.

The government chancellor was
dissatisfied by the fact

the advertisement of this campaign

will be published on
International Orgasm Day,

as well as before the official
visit of the pope in Lithuania.

Okay, so first there.

First, don't worry about the Pope.

He should be very into
a g-spot campaign,

since his main thing is believing

in something no one can
scientifically prove exists.

And second, you did hear right,

International Orgasm Day

was actually on the 8th.

And that means you forgot to
call your mom again.

But don't worry, you can just
send her one of those

"Happy Belated Orgasm Day"
edible arrangements.

That's what they're for.
She'll love it.

Now, will this tourism ad
make people come,

literally or metaphorically?

Well, no and no, respectively.

But in a way, it's already worked,

because do you think

we were going to spend time
talking about lithuania tonight,

if they hadn't done this?

Of course not.

And that is why, if other cities
are smart here,

they will follow lithuania's lead

and come up with their own
adults-only tourism slogans.

Take a look.

Tokyo, the Prostate of the World.

It takes some effort to get to,
but it's worth it.

San Francisco, the Shower Sex of America.

Always a better idea in theory
and wet in exactly the wrong way.

Las Vegas.

It's like the anus, in that
it's objectively unattractive

and too many men refuse to shut up

about that one time they went there.

Oslo.

Europe's Clitoris.

It's not so much that
it's hard to find

as that people have no idea
what to do once they get there.

Boston.

The Semen of America.

It's white, gross, and weird.

The North Pole.

Earth's survix.

Once you hit it, you've
probably gone too far.

Venice.

It's like an old man's testicles.

Historic and sinking at an alarming rate.

Moving on.

So our main story tonight
concerns astroturfing,

which sounds like a new teen trend
of f*cking artificial grass

while eating cascade pods.

That's right, the teens have
moved on from tide.

It's all about cascade now.

Astroturfing is the practice
of corporations or

political groups disguising themselves

as spontaneous, authentic
popular movements.

It's basically fake grassroots.

That's why they call it

"astroturfing."

It's a very funny, very clever name.

Now, you're probably familiar

with astroturfing as a concept

from seeing ads by groups with
generic, populist-sounding names like

"Americans against Food Taxes"

delivering weirdly specific
messages like these.

Washington is talking about
a new tax on juice drinks and soda.

They say it's only pennies.

Well, those pennies add up when
you're trying to feed a family.

Washington, if you're listening,

what doesn't seem like much to you

can be a lot to us.

Tell congress no taxes on
juice drinks and sodas.

Now, it won't surprise you to learn

that "Americans against Food Taxes"

was not started by regular americans

pooling their resources together

to take out a large ad buy

on national tv about their
number one problem priority:

a proposed soda tax.

No, it was a front group for
the food and beverage industry,

which makes much more sense.

Soda companies have a lot of money,

at least enough to convince Lebron James

to pretend he drinks Sprite.

Sprite: diabetes you can taste!

And while you might think,

"well yeah, that's obvious, I'd never

I'd never fall for astroturf
bullshit like that."

Don't be quite so sure,

because with dark money surging

in the wake of decisions like
citizens united,

astroturf techniques are now becoming

more sophisticated, effective
and dangerous,

and they are not going away.

So tonight, we thought
it might be useful

to take a look at some
of those techniques

to help us better spot
them in the future.

And let's just start
with the names themselves,

because sometimes,

groups are created with
deliberately misleading names.

For instance, the group
"Save Our Tips",

which purportedly speaks
for waitstaff,

is an anti-minimum wage
increase group

funded by restaurant owners.

The "National Wetlands Coalition"

worked on behalf of oil companies
and real estate developers.

And the "American Council
on Science and Health"

has been funded by,
among other things,

fracking interests,

soda companies,

e-cigarette companies,

and chemical manufacturers.

So it's pure straight-up
opposite world.

It's like if this show was called

"Funnytime Happy Hour
with chuckle-hunk John Oliver".

It's just demonstrably false.

We can't back that shit up.

And, look, it's not always easy

to spot exactly what
a group's motive is,

especially with an ad like this.

Tony here, and I'm mad!

What's with you people tossing money

at the humane society
of the United States?

These HSUS losers aren't
even affiliated

with your local pet shelter.

For more information, go to
humanewatch.org.

That is a very strange ad.

Because first of all,

if you're going to have a talking dog,

why would you make him
such a gruff assh*le?

"Hey, I'm Tony, and I'm mad!

The Humane Society
is a bunch of losers,

and if you disagree,
you can suck my dog d*ck!"

And second,

who would take out an attack ad
on the Humane Society?

A rival, even humaner Society?

"Puppy Mills Self-loading Dogs"?

It's impossible to say for sure.

All I can tell you is,

that ad is the work of Rick Berman,

a PR expert who's known
in the industry

as "Dr. Evil".

He is known for his defenses
of controversial products,

from secondhand smoke,

to trans fats, to payday loans.

He's also created nonprofit groups

that have fought regulation
of all those things.

In fact, it's one of those groups,

the Center for Consumer Freedom,

which was credited on that
Humane Society attack ad.

So, is the Center
for Consumer Freedom

a front group for Berman's
corporate clients?

Is it, at all, relevant that

Rick Berman has shown up
at events for the pork industry,

an industry which has been targeted

by the humane society in the past

for the use of gestation crates,

or, as Rick Berman
insists on calling them,

"maternity pens"?

I can't say.

I legally can´t say.

I want to.

I badly want to.

But I've been explicitly
told I can't.

You can probably guess, but I
can't say it out loud.

What I can say is

that berman rejects any accusation

that he runs front groups
for corporate clients,

saying "there is no front

because there is total transparency."

Which is a little odd,

considering we don't know who is
behind many of his campaigns.

And that message of transparency

does seem to significantly change

when he's behind closed doors,

because here is audio of Berman

pitching his services to
a group of oil executives.

People always ask me
one question all the time.

They say, "how do I know
that I won't be found out

as a supporter of what
you're doing?"

We run all of their stuff through
nonprofit organizations

that are insulated from having
to disclose donors.

There is total anonymity.

See?

Transparency.

But, look, he is right.

There is total anonymity.

And just as a general rule,

if the most common question
you get asked is,

"How do I know no one will find out

I'm doing business with you?",
that's not a great sign.

It's the same privacy guarantee

that Hardee's gives
all of its customers.

"Don't worry,

none of your friends,
family, or coworkers

will ever find out you´ve
been doing this.

Now go and enjoy your Monster Thickburger

before the horse meat gets cold."

But astroturfing is more,

way more than just funneling money

through nonprofit front groups.

Groups can also recruit
questionable experts

to lend their arguments credibility.

There are multiple examples of this,

but my favorite concerns
a group called

"Citizens for Fire Safety."

A few years back,

health officials in California
wanted to remove

a requirement that furniture

contain chemical flame retardants,

as they had been linked to cancer.

But Citizens for Fire Safety

produced a burn surgeon,

Dr. David Heimbach,

who argued for keeping

all of those flame
retardant requirements

by telling them a pretty
memorable story.

A seven-week-old baby
was in a crib,

laying on a fire-retardant mattress

on a non-fire retardant pillow.

Mom put a candle in the crib,

the candle fell over,

the baby sustained a 50% burn.

The entire upper half of her
body was burned.

Now, this is a tiny little person,

no bigger than my italian
greyhound at home.

She ultimately died

after about three weeks of pain
and misery in the hospital.

Now, that sounds horrifying,

but there are some weird things
about what he just said.

First, I don't know why he felt
the need to compare

the size of a baby
to his italian greyhound.

Everyone knows what size a baby is.

Nobody's never seen a baby.

So, wait, it's like a person,

but smaller?

Tell me more.

Does it use stilts?

How does it board a bus?

What I'm picturing is something
about the size of five hamsters

taped together

or a very small lawnmower.

Am I around the right ballpark here?"

But second,

if part of you there was wondering,

"Hold on, who puts a candle

in their baby's crib?",

you're not alone.

Journalists with the Chicago Tribune

wondered the exact same thing,

and they soon discovered
that two years earlier,

Heimbach had testified before
a different California panel

telling a weirdly similar story.

I will tell you about a child
I took care of in April.

Mom had a candle

sitting beside the bed,

left the room for seven minutes.

For reasons we don't know,

the candle turned over.

The child sustained an 80% burn.

Okay, so now this is starting
to sound a little suspicious.

How many people are putting lit candles

in and around their babies' cribs?

"Oh, I just put little Ethan to bed.

I put plenty of lit candles in
his crib as a nightlight,

and I balanced several sharp knives

and open cans of paint thinner
right on the crib walls

so he has something to look at."

But, look, Heimbach wasn't done.

Because just a year later,

he was testifying before
the State Legislature in Alaska,

and guess what?

A six-week-old baby that I
took care of earlier this year.

Mother went away.

There was a candle on the bureau.

Somehow the dog knocked
the candle onto the crib

and the little girl sustained a 75%
very devastating burn.

Wait, so now there's a dog
involved all of a sudden?

What kind of dog would
do such a thing?

Wait a second.

I know exactly what kind of dog.

A gruff, needlessly italian dog
like Tony.

Bad dog!

Bad dog!

Now, as if sensing that
lawmakers there

were questioning his motives,

the very next sentence
that Heimbach said,

completely unprompted, was this.

I am not in the pocket of anybody

that makes a specific
flame retardant.

Now, to be fair,

he's actually right about that.

He was not in the pocket of someone

that made a specific flame retardant.

He was, however,

in the pocket of Citizens
for Fire Safety,

who'd paid him $240,000 for his help,

and who, it turned out,

only had three members.

Which were the three largest makers
of flame retardants in the world.

So I call it:

"Liar, liar, pants chemically incapable
of catching on fire."

And one more thing:

when a reporter called

the medical examiner's office,

they had no record of any burn victim

matching Heimbach's
description whatsoever.

So one of them did
the next logical thing.

I thought the best thing to do
was just to call him at home.

I said, "those kids you talked about,

did they all die in your hospital?"

And he said, "it wasn't factual,

it was anecdotal."

And I said, "but that's not
what you testified."

And he said, "well,
I wasn't under oath."

Okay, okay.

First of all, you're generally expected

to tell the truth

even when you're not under oath.

And second of all,

anecdotes aren't the same as lies.

"I saw Keri Russell
walking out of a bakery."

That's an anecdote.

It's not a good anecdote,

but it is an anecdote.

"I saw Keri Russell riding
a dragon out of a bakery."

That is a lie.

Although, admittedly,

it would be
a way better story.

And, look,
the real problem there is,

Heimbach's lies worked.

That flame-retardant bill in California

initially failed,

thanks in part to his testimony.

And the final and perhaps

most controversial tool
in astroturfing

relates to something
that our current president

actually loves to complain about.

I'll tell you what,

you take a look outside,

these are paid protesters, folks.

The protestors are paid a lot
of money by the DNC.

It turned out that
the protesters we used to have

were bought for $1,500 a piece.

We have a protester.

By the way, were you paid
$1,500 to be a thug?

Now, I can't work it
quite out there.

Is trump angry there

or is he excited that he
stumbled on a job opportunity

that Don Jr. and Eric
would actually be qualify for?

But while Trump's specific
accusations were nonsense,

paid demonstrators do exist,

which Trump should
frankly know himself,

because his campaign
reportedly hired actors

who were paid $50 to cheer for him

at his campaign announcement.

But paid demonstrators are one of the most

infuriating tools of astroturfing.

Just look at what happened
last year in New Orleans.

A company called Entergy

needed city council approval

for a controversial power plant,

which it got not long
after a public meeting,

where, by sheer chance,

a bunch of huge power plant fans
in orange shirts turned up.

Now, it later emerged
that a PR firm

working for Entergy

hired a company called

"Crowds on Demand",

which recruited actors
to support the plant.

They did this with a facebook ad,

which offered, and I quote,
"60-200 dollarydoos

to help with a gig for three hours."

Which in itself, like there,
is a red flag.

"Dollarydoos" sounds like slang for

money that you'd find in
a Mark Twain novel called

"Even for the 1800s, there are
way too many n-words in this."

Now, Crowds on Demand

even provided talking
points such as

"Folks, this is 2017",

"We had a boil water advisory
here last month",

and "I'm tired of feeling

like I live in
a third world country."

And it seems like
some of the people there

took those notes
and ran with them.

I'm tired of feeling like we're
living in a third world country.

This is the United States of America.

It's 2017 going on 2018...

And we have to worry

about these frequent
water boil advisories.

And so on and so forth.

I have to be concerned
that a grandmother,

or a son, or a pet

could possibly drink or take
in some brain-eating amoeba.

Yeah.

I'll give him credit
for that last bit.

The brain-eating amoeba bit
was all his own.

He was just riffing hard
at that point.

Now, that man insists that

he believed everything he said

and that he wasn't paid by
Crowds on Demand.

Although you should know
that another person there,

who does admit to being paid,

said he received instructions
that read,

"A few things to keep in mind:

One, tell nobody you're being paid.

Two, tell nobody you're being paid.

Three, media will be present.
Do not talk to them.

Four, tell nobody you're being paid.

and Five, if somebody approaches you,

don't tell them you're being paid."

Which are, and this is true,
word-for-word,

the vows in a traditional
scientology wedding.

Now, they're beautiful vows,
and you should go.

Now, if you're wondering
who's behind Crowds on Demand,

let me introduce you to their CEO,

Adam Swart,

the answer to the question,

"What if a lukewarm bottle
of smirnoff ice was a person?"

Now, he is,
he's pretty unrepentant

about what his firm does.

Have you ever provided
protestors for an event?

Of course.

Demonstrators?

Of course.

Do you see anything wrong with that?

Personally, no.

Do you ever feel like
you're tricking people

though into getting behind something
that they may have not gotten behind

if they didn't see
all this activity there?

We don't trick people.
We engage them.

Yeah.

Yeah, but you engage them

by tricking them, don't you?

Both of those things can be true
at the same time.

It's like someone saying,
"I'm not masturbating

in the middle of this pinkberry,

I'm just engaging
the police department."

You're actually doing both,

and one doesn't make
the other okay.

Now, of course,

Swart's whole ruse is

predicated on people
holding their nerve

and not giving the game
away in real time.

But amazingly, that has happened.

"In the small town of Camarillo...

I think the city needs a shake-up.

"... citizens aren't shy
about expressing their opinions."

"But one chilly wednesday
night in December...

Prince Jordan Tyson?

"... city officials say
this man stood out."

This case is clearly common sense.

"Because for three minutes,

he told the city council what
he later admits was a lie."

I'm just a concerned citizen

coming up here and speaking to you.

"But he's not."

"He's a self-described struggling
actor from Beverly Hills

who goes by the name of
Prince Jordan Tyson."

Okay, no.

I don't believe it.

I do not believe it.

Does anything about this face,

this face, say "struggling actor

from Beverly Hills" to you?

I'm sorry. This story just
doesn't check out.

But incredibly, it's true.

Because while the notorious P.J.T.

initially claimed to be from the area,

he soon had a crisis of confidence,

culminating in this.

"Forty minutes later,

Tyson came back to the podium..."

Prince is back.

"For one of the strangest moments

the city council has ever seen."

I don't agree with
the reason I'm here,

and I was paid to be here.

How much were you paid?

Hundred bucks.

How much?

$100.

You f*cking idiot, Prince!

You just broke Crowds
on Demand rules 1, 2, 4, and 5!

Now you won't get
those hundred dollarydoos,

which could have gone toward
changing your name

to literally anything else

or getting a haircut that
doesn't make you look like

an al dente Owen Wilson.

Look, when you add
all of this together

fake groups hiring fake experts

and fake crowds which
manage to effect

real-world change,
it gets pretty dispiriting,

and it can do real damage

that goes beyond the narrow issues

that each group is trying to influence.

The very existence of companies
like Crowds on Demand,

means that something authentic
can now be tainted.

In fact, conspiracy boards

now regularly and wrongly

cite Crowds on Demand
as providing everything

from paid protestors
for Charlottesville

to crisis actors for
the Las Vegas sh**ting.

And that is hugely dangerous,

because the consequence of this

cannot be that everyone assumes

that anyone who doesn't agree
with them is astroturf.

While skepticism is healthy,

cynicism, real cynicism, is toxic,

and because this problem
isn't going away,

it is now even more
incumbent on us

to use our judgment diligently.

If the Ray Liotta of dogs
is telling us

the Humane Society is terrible,

it's probably worth us
all asking, why?

Why?

Who might have trained him?

And what do they stand to gain?

And unfortunately, until
we find out a way

to force astroturf groups

to be more transparent
and accountable,

that's about all we
can do right now.

Astroturfing is a serious threat
to our public discourse,

and it is critical that we're
all more aware of its dangers.

And since astroturfers have left
all their tools lying around,

at the very least, we might as well

use them to fight candle fire
with candle fire

and deliver a heartfelt message.

We are all americans.

Real people.

Definitely not actors.

We're just a coalition
of concerned doctors,

mothers, teachers, and kidnappers,

and we think you deserve
the truth about astroturfers.

Here are the facts.

Astroturfers are responsible for

every shark attack
in american history.

Wonder where all
the bees have gone?

Astroturfers shot them in the face.

And according to the Bipartisan Institute

of Factual Science Studies,

every single astroturfer
has k*lled at least one puppy

with their bare hands.

Or maybe not.

We're not under oath.

The point is, astroturfers
set this baby on fire.

That's not a dog.

That's a real baby, no bigger
than an italian greyhound.

Her name is Eleanor,
and she likes four things:

her binkie, her baba, corporate
and political transparency,

and not being on fire.

And right now, Eleanor is 0 for 4.

And if you're not careful,

one day an astroturfer
is going to come your house

and light your baby on fire.

Stop astroturfing.

Paid for by Citizens
for Fresher Orange Juice.

That's our show.

Thanks so much for watching.
See you next week.

Good night!