What companies rarely realize, however, is that astroturfing is a myth, one which I’ve never heard of working to do anything except unravel companies’ reputations (see: Sony, Wal-Mart, and many, many more). Astroturfing is a concept that’s easily sold to gullible businesses (like Motorola) who are desperate for new, out-of-the-box ways to “engage with consumers” (i.e. get people to buy their products). But the truth is this: quality will always out. The internet itself has done more to ensure people are well informed than any single consumer advocacy group, and any idea that might spread virally is inherently too worthy and kinetic to funnel from a small, clumsy, group of phony commenter-consumer-bloggers.

Someone should let the folks over at DEI Worldwide, Inc., know this though, as they’re the ones behind Motorola’s assault. The IPs associated with the comments (and numerous others) came from 64.60.150.178, an address belonging to DEI, a marketing company which specializes in “engaging consumers online,” and which counts among its clients — you guessed it — Motorola.

Now, are you ready for the real kicker in all this? Remember how I mentioned Wal-Mart, which was astroturfed by PR mega-firm Edelman back in 2006? At the time, the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) issued a release, stating:

“the lack of disclosure… is a violation of WOMMA’s Code of Ethics, which requires honesty and full disclosure in all marketer-sponsored communications. … Such transgressions… are of grave concern to WOMMA, which has led the fight for high ethical standards in word of mouth marketing and social media. Our Ethics Code sets clear guidelines for disclosure by marketers.”

That’s certainly an interesting position, considering the fact that DEI Worldwide’s CEO, David Reis, is a power-player in the marketing world and one of the co-founders of WOMMA. I’ll let that sink in for a minute.

Surely in the spirit of honesty and full disclosure, Reis appears to have posted his personal contact information online, should you have any misgivings about companies misleading consumers in their marketing efforts. (Reis also claims to be a black belt, so if you spot me with a black eye, you know who did it!)

P.S. -Extra bonus: Veronica, Jonathan, Merlin, and myself will all be on TWiT this week with Leo, so watch out for it.

[Video by Joystiq]

Update: Keith’s manager, of course, says Keith was only kidding around. Right, ok, totally plausible, just like that wardrobe malfunction that one time, right?

• The news is good, good, good, good, good. This is seriously great news, and I can’t even say how glad I am to hear that EMI is offering music DRM-free.
• EMI went to Apple first, since Jobs was likely to be a receptive audience after Apple’s European troubles and his editorial on DRM. No surprise there.
• Apple was all too happy to come up with a solution to distribute the music free of DRM. Jobs personally endorsed this by presenting at EMI’s media event. They intend to make the majority of music on iTunes DRM free. That’s awesome.
• So why, then, are smaller labels that also distribute on, say, eMusic still not allowed to sell music DRM-free? They’ve wanted this for years. Indies have to take a back seat to majors when it comes to choice of selling with or without DRM?
• And if DRM is such a caustic user experience, why doesn’t Jobs fight to sell Disney-owned music DRM-free? And for that matter, Disney-owned TV shows and movies?
• And if it’s about the best user experience possible, why not sell in MP3, which plays in all devices? And why not sell in lower bitrates for people who want to extend battery life and space?

Look, I’m not saying this isn’t a good thing. It’s a great thing. But these companies — Apple especially — have an agenda, and are wrapping a very good intention with a lot of BS that people should be skeptical about. I’m not discouraging this move, I’m discouraging the say-one-thing-do-another actions of the players behind it.

Disclaimers: I sometimes use iTunes to buy media. I have and use a Mac as my primary laptop. I listen to music on EMI, and like it. I (obviously) loathe DRM. That add any context?

[Image taken from Cam R.'s awesome Engadget Halloween costume]

Technologic – Daft Punk

Buy it, use it, break it, fix it,
Trash it, change it, mail- upgrade it,
Charge it, point it, zoom it, press it,
Snap it, work it, quick- erase it,
Write it, cut it, paste it, save it,
Load it, check it, quick- rewrite it,
Plug it, play it, burn it, rip it,
Drag it, drop it, zip- unzip it,
Lock it, fill it, curl it, find it,
View it, coat it, jam- unlock it,
Surf it, scroll it, pose it, click it,
Cross it, crack it, twitch- update it,
Name it, rate it, tune it, print it,
Scan it, send it, fax- rename it,
Touch it, bring it, pay it, watch it,
Turn it, leave it, start- format it.

Buy it, use it, break it, fix it,
Trash it, change it, mail- upgrade it,
Charge it, point it, zoom it, press it,
Snap it, work it, quick- erase it,
Write it, cut it, paste it, save it,
Load it, check it, quick- rewrite it,
Plug it, play it, burn it, rip it,
Drag it, drop it, zip- unzip it,
Lock it, fill it, curl it, find it,
View it, coat it, jam- unlock it,
Surf it, scroll it, pose it, click it,
Cross it, crack it, twitch- update it,
Name it, rate it, tune it, print it,
Scan it, send it, fax- rename it,
Touch it, bring it, pay it, watch it,
Turn it, leave it, stop- format it.

technologic. (x4)

Buy it, use it, break it, fix it,
Trash it, change it, mail- upgrade it,
Charge it, point it, zoom it, press it,
Snap it, work it, quick- erase it,
Write it, cut it, paste it, save it,
Load it, check it, quick- rewrite it,
Plug it, play it, burn it, rip it,
Drag it, drop it, zip- unzip it,
Lock it, fill it, curl it, find it,
View it, coat it, jam- unlock it,

Name it, rate it, tune it, print it,
Scan it, send it, fax- rename it,
Touch it, bring it, pay it, watch it,
Turn it, leave it, stop- format it.
Buy it, use it, break it, fix it,
Trash it, change it, mail- upgrade it,
Charge it, point it, zoom it, press it,
Snap it, work it, quick- erase it,
Write it, cut it, paste it, save it,
Load it, check it, quick- rewrite it,
Plug it, play it, burn it, rip it,
Touch it, bring it, pay it, watch it,
Turn it, leave it, start- format it.

touch it, scroll it, pose it, click it,
Cross it, crack it, twitch- update it,

Lock it, fill it, curl it, find it,
View it, coat it, jam- unlock it,
Buy it, use it, break it, fix it,
Trash it, change it, mail- upgrade it,
Charge it, point it, zoom it, press it,
Snap it, work it, quick- erase it,
Write it, cut it, paste it, save it,
Load it, check it, quick- rewrite it,
Plug it, play it, burn it, rip it,
Drag it, drop it, zip- unzip it,
Lock it, fill it, curl it, find it,
View it, coat it, jam- unlock it,
Surf it, scroll it, pose it, click it,
Cross it, crack it, twitch- update it,
Name it, rate it, tune it, print it,
Scan it, send it, fax- rename it,
Touch it, bring it, pay it, watch it,
Turn it, leave it, stop- format it.
Buy it, use it, break it, fix it,
Trash it, change it, mail- upgrade it,
Charge it, point it, zoom it, press it,
Snap it, work it, quick- erase it,
Write it, cut it, paste it, save it,
Load it, check it, quick- rewrite it,
Plug it, play it, burn it, rip it,
Surf it, scroll it, pose it, click it,
Cross it, crack it, twitch- update it,
Name it, rate it, tune it, print it,
Scan it, send it, fax- rename it,
Touch it, bring it, pay it, watch it,
Turn it, leave it, stop- format it.
Buy it, use it, break it, fix it,
Trash it, change it, mail- upgrade it,
Charge it, point it, zoom it, press it,
Snap it, work it, quick- erase it,
Write it, cut it, paste it, save it,
Load it, check it, quick- rewrite it,
Plug it, play it, burn it, rip it,
Surf it, scroll it, pose it, click it,
Cross it, crack it, twitch- update it,
Name it, rate it, tune it, print it,
Scan it, send it, fax- rename it,
Buy it, use it, break it, fix it,
Trash it, change it, mail- upgrade it,
Charge it, point it, zoom it, press it,
Snap it, work it, quick- erase it,
Write it, cut it, paste it, save it,
Load it, check it, quick- rewrite it,
Plug it, play it, burn it, rip it,
Drag it, drop it, zip- unzip it,
Lock it, fill it, curl it, find it,
View it, coat it, jam- unlock it,
Surf it, scroll it, pose it, click it,
Cross it, crack it, twitch- update it,
Name it, rate it, tune it, print it,
Scan it, send it, fax- rename it,
Touch it, bring it, pay it, watch it,
Turn it, leave it, stop- format it.