Earlier this week, a Craigslist posting popped up that had that fresh stink of industry astroturf. The posting, listed for New York City, was from a mysterious company known only as “Ovation,” who was looking to hire “volunteers” to protest the construction of wind farms in Scotland and England. The protest is to take place in front of the British Consulate in Manhattan on January 30.
Here is the full Craigslist posting, which has since been removed:
Earn Quick and Easy $20 for an hour or less of work (Midtown East)
Our firm needs 100 volunteers to attend and participate in a rally in
front of the British Consulate/Embassy in Midtown Manhattan on the
East Side on Wednesday, January 30, 2013 at 12 noon. The event is
being held in order to protest wind turbines that are being built in
Scotland and England. Your participation will be to ONLY stand next to
or behind the speakers and elected officials/celebrities that will be
speaking at the rally.
It is a really simple job and easy money for anyone who is around
Manhattan at the time. We need all of our volunteers to RSVP for this
event. It is VERY important that you RSVP because we have had people
confirm spots and fill spots on the first day of the advertisement in
the past. If you have participated in one of our events in the past
(Ovation) please make a note of that in your RSVP email and we will
email EVERYONE back to confirm your attendance.
We look forward to hearing from you all and again, the money is quick,
the job is easy and we pay in CASH at the end of the event.
Looking forward to seeing you next Wednesday!
Compensation: $20 dollars cash
This is a part-time job.
Principals only. Recruiters, please don’t contact this job poster.
Please, no phone calls about this job!
Please do not contact job poster about other services, products or
commercial interests.
Posting ID: 3566741544 Posted: 2013-01-23, 4:55PM EST email to a friend
The big question that remains unanswered is “who is Ovation?” That’s a question that Grist and other outlets have so far been unable to confirm. As Grist points out, “Ovation” is a generic enough name to lead to countless businesses, organizations, and other websites in New York City, making it very difficult to pin down.
This is exactly the kind of phony, astroturf game plan that the dirty energy has employed on numerous occasions. The only thing different about the Craigslist ad is that it made no qualms about the dirty nature of what was going on. At least the Tea Party activists funded by the Koch brothers were under the impression that they were autonomous – Ovation threw that concept completely out the window.
The planned protest is set to take place in front of the British Consulate at noon on January 30th.
The job listing was also posted at JobHustler.com but with a strange date stamp of December 31st, 1969.
