astroturf

astroturf: movimiento blanco (in Mexico)

A derogatory term used for a movement we don't believe is truly grassroots but consider to be actually a front - usually financed by "the boss", or some other rich dude.
urbandictionary.com has it as: A manufactured grassroots movement in which a small group fakes their numbers to gain attention.
Any ideas about how this gets said in other countries? Maybe just movimiento falso? The thing is, it's not entirely false, it usually has a few believers who aren't necessarily faking numbers so much as getting way more coverage than normal because of money and connections to media, the state, etc..