[Monroe13]

In my experience this is standard practice in the PR industry and isn’t seen as a problem to solve or viewed as any sort of ethical dilemma.

In the industry these articles would be talked about as a “3rd party op-eds”, and the general practice of finding “3rd party advocates” is a key element of any issues advocacy campaign.

The practice doesn’t stop at op-eds. PR firms or in-house corporate communications teams cultivate a roster of business leaders, academics, politicians, etc that can be called upon to speak on panels at conferences, participate in media interviews, be featured in documentaries and show up in other creative ways.

In the PR world it’s a taken as a given that “your message is most powerful when it comes from a respected third party” so this practice is pervasive and impacts every conference you’ve ever attended, op-Ed pages on a daily basis, and many of the media stories you read.

As for solving it, I’m not aware of any groups dedicated to that cause. Raising awareness is one step — ham-fisted astroturfing made public is embarrassing for a company, but 3rd party advocacy is generally more subtle and not viewed as astroturfing by PR pros.