
Forget those forged letters, and fake rallies. This week, we've been digging into it what may be the latest tool in the astroturf toolbox: incentivized online advertising.
That's when internet users are induced to take political action, on behalf of a lobbying group, through websites or online ads that offer rewards -- airline miles, free trips, even a gift card to Hooters. The problem with the tactic is clear: when members of Congress get an email from a voter on an issue of public concern, they assume it's an expression of authentic grassroots passion. If the sender was in fact incentivized by the chance to win a free plasma TV, that assumption doesn't bear out.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (6)Last week, we learned that Facebook users could win virtual currency for use in online games by sending an email to Congress opposing health-care reform.
In response, both the health insurers coalition thought to be behind the ads, and the P.R. firm hired by the coalition, claimed ignorance. A spokesman for the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBSA), which runs the coalition, Get Health Reform Right, told us yesterday that the coalition's contract explicitly forbids the use of such "incentivized ads," and said the ads that showed up on Facebook must be fakes. Pam Fielding, the president of 720 Strategies, which handled the campaign, said the same thing.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (2)Last week, we reported that Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina, the state's largest health insurer, was under investigation for a campaign of robocalls and mass-mailings urging residents to lobby U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan against the public option.
Now a local SEIU chapter has launched a site that keys off the news to push back on the insurer. The site blames BCBS's "monopoly" for "skyrocketing" health-care costs, and urges visitors to send a petition to Hagan telling her to "stand strong" and support the public option.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (7)We've been telling you about the campaign by Blue Cross Blue Shield to enlist its customers to lobby against health-care reform -- an effort now being probed by state authorities.
But a very similar effort by another Blue Cross licensee seems to have flown under the radar until now.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (5)BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina is being investigated by the state's attorney general for a recent mailer and spate of robo-calls in opposition to the public option, according to a company spokesman.
In October, TPMmuckraker reported that the insurance company had sent a mailer to millions of its customers asking them to urge the state's Democratic senator, Kay Hagan, (D-NC) to oppose a public option. The insurance company also deployed a related robocall.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (3)Earlier this week, we reported that Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina had recently sent out mailers that urged recipients to lobby Sen. Kay Hagan to oppose a public option, which it called "a slippery slope to single payer." (You can see the mailer here.)
The story was picked up by the Raleigh News & Observer, which added an additional key fact: Just before sending out the mailer, BCBS of North Carolina had informed its customers that their rates would rise by an average of 11 percent next year.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (5)Health insurers are using every tool at their disposal to pressure senators into opposing a public option.
The latest example: Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina has sent a mailer -- obtained by TPMmuckraker -- to voters in the state, warning that a public option will lead to "a single payer system," and urging recipients to send a postcard to Sen. Kay Hagan that asks her to "oppose government-run health insurance."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (2)
