This may be one of the more absurd cases of professional misconduct I have ever seen in the public relations industry.

Apparently fueled by incompetence, 5WPR, “the nation's fastest growing public relations firm three consecutive years,” (according to their Website), is being accused of ignoring the number one rule in social media — participation must be authentic.

In a story that first broke on July 9, 2008, the powerhouse PR firm appears to have been busted for blatantly impersonating people (including a prominent rabbi) online on behalf of its client, Agriprocessors.

Take a few minutes to read the following posts, but here are excerpts from Gawker.com that provide a snapshot of the situation:

• After being hired for its Internet PR expertise, 5WPR attempts to plant fake comments from both supporters and (most deviously) critics of the kosher slaughterhouse on various websites.
  
• This scheme unravels because the company doesn't bother to leave its office or mask its IP address when posting.
• PR firm blames an unnamed, unpaid "intern" for the fraud. Says this "intern" has been fired.
• This story starts to unravel because, as blog Failed Messiah notes, the first two impersonation posts appeared in February, "well before any summer interns were working at 5W."
  

Scheme To Blame Intern For PR Fraud Unravels — Gawker.com (July 11, 2008)

5W faces accusation for blog misconduct — PR Week (July 10, 2008)

5WPR Scares Holy Man With Sock Puppet, Blames Intern — Gawker.com (July 10, 2008)
 
Flacks for Agriprocessors Admit Online Impersonation of Meat Company’s Critics — Jewish Daily Forward (July 10, 2008)

5WPR Flacks Get So Freaking Busted Impersonating People Online — Gawker.com (July 9, 2008)

5W PR Illegally Impersonates Hechsher Tzedek Founder Rabbi Morris Allen — FailedMessiah.com (July 9, 2008)