BC company forced to fork over $35K for dubious social media ads
A local company that was not transparent about promotional posts shared by social media influencers has been ordered to pay tens of thousands of dollars in a settlement to the British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC).
In 2017, Bearing Resources Ltd. (now known as Bearing Lithium Corp.) hired a marketing company for investor relations.
Work included advertisements through newswires, websites, and promotional posts from 19 social media influencers shared on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, investFeed and iHub.
“The advertorial was written to look and read like objective journalistic content, but did not disclose that it was issued on behalf of Bearing, nor did any of the social media posts make such disclosures,” a statement from BCSC reads.
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Those engaged in investor relations activities are required to clearly disclose when promotional materials are issued by them or on their behalf, according to the Securities Act.
The local company’s then-CEO, Jeremy Arthur William Poirier, admitted to his involvement in the company’s violation of the Securities Act.
Under the settlement, Bearing must pay $25,000 to the BCSC and Poirier must pay $10,000.