PSA: That viral story about the 'racist' garden gnome was a total setup

I saw a local news clip last week about a family in Springfield getting hate for a gnome in their yard, but a friend who lives there said the whole thing was pushed by a PR firm for a home security company. They paid the family to plant the story to get people talking about 'neighborhood watch'. I changed how I check these stories by looking for the original source before I get mad, anyone else notice how often these things are fake?

3 comments

3 Comments

henryt1816d ago

Which PR firm was it, do you know?

shanec6116d ago

I saw someone mention it was probably one of the big firms in DC.

harris.andrew16d ago

I remember reading a post from @shanec61 that pointed toward Edelman, which makes sense given their size. The rumor was they handled the crisis communications after that big policy announcement back in March. A couple smaller outlets picked up the story but it never got major confirmation.