Anyone familiar with the term astroturfing? It’s what happens when a company or organization tries to create a grassroots movement — using fake grass. That is, they scheme to give their cause the appearance of a popular movement, when they’re actually out for themselves. Sound like anyone we know? We’ve been analyzing Microsoft’s efforts one by one, but when you zoom up for the aerial view, the pattern is pretty darn clear. Microsoft is on an astroturfing tear:

Look at the Laptop Hunters campaign — featuring real people searching for the perfect laptop. Oh. They’re actors.

Look at the Windows 7 launch parties — using you to enlist your friends and relatives into the revolution.

Look at the Microsoft Stores hype — promoting concert ticket giveaways to help build that frenzied crowd on opening day.

Look at the new Windows 7 campaign — portraying the new OS as a product “built by the people.”

One little problem: you can’t start a grassroots movement for a company that owns 95% of the market.

Microsoft knows that people don’t like them, so their solution is to, uh … show people liking them. There’s logic to this, but only to the terminally unimaginative.

In stark contrast to Microsoft’s astroturfing, Apple uses real customers in their ads only rarely — yet they’ve created super-passionate advocates. They don’t use other happy customers as a lure, they simply present their products in a variety of interesting ways. They strike a chord with current and new customers alike.

Great advertisers have always understood that authenticity is what connects with customers. When Nike celebrates the spirit of the athlete, it’s authentic. When Mini-Cooper talks about the fun of driving, it’s authentic. When Microsoft shows off a rising tide of happy enthusiasts — we can’t help but smell the fresh plastic.

[A big thanks to my writer friend Andrew Tonkin in LA for inspiring this topic. Check him out.]