It doesn't work.
You can't force grassroots efforts where there is no passion.
Case in point: Energy Citizens (via the American Petroleum Institute), which is a group of over 60 energy companies that are staging protests all over the country in response to the Waxman-Markey climate change bill.
So what's the problem? Apparently, Energy Citizens is telling employees at energy companies that they are coming together for a day of free food and celebration. They put them on buses, ship them in, dress them in t-shirts ("I'm an Energy Citizen" and "I'll Pass on $4 Gas!"), handing them protest posters and trying to fill stadiums - even though the people holding the signs have do idea why they are there.
What have we said over and over again? PEOPLE first. TOOLS second. The above example is not only trying to force a grassroots effort to spring up out of thin air, but it's not a-typical of what we're seeing happen all around us - companies creating tools and trying to force them into the hands of innocent bystanders. These are empty-shell movements. They are hollow. You can dress them up in all the pretty clothes, but when it comes down to it, there's nothing inside. No depth. No drive. No soul.
The real beauty is that now these lame attempts get exposed a lot faster via the interwebs.
Will this be the end of fake movements? Not even a chance. But the sooner these kind of attempts are exposed, the faster the rest of the world will learn what to look for. And we'll all be smarter for it.
(We take our hats off to kindred spirit and kiwi Roger Dennis for the heads-up to the Fast Company article.)