Astroturfs

1. cover (a sports field or other area) with a layer of Astroturf.

   the garden has been astroturfed for ease of maintenance

   astroturfed tennis courts

2. disguise (an orchestrated marketing or public relations campaign) in such a way as to present it as having arisen from unsolicited public comments.

   there's a suspicion that he astroturfed the campaign behind the scenes

   they alleged that the petition could have been astroturfed

1960s: from astrodome (sense 1) (where it was first used) + turf; Astroturf (sense 2 of the noun) arose from the idea that such a campaign is an artificial version of a grassroots campaign (see grassroots).