Weird online ads a troubling trend

Bogus posts show how easy it is to feed false information into the void created by decline of news

- ALEX BOYD

An increasing number of fake ads, like these featuring the Trudeaus, Canadian television chef Mary Berg and comedian Howie Mandel, have been circulating on Facebook and X. The posts — which borrow the name recognition of news companies and celebrities — illustrate how polluted the digital landscape can be.

If you’ve been idling away your life on social media recently, you could be forgiven for thinking that something had turned rotten among the ranks of affable Canadian celebrities.

Most recently, it’s been Mary Berg, the redheaded insurance broker turned celebrity chef from Pickering who has appeared in a spate of social media posts with a red “Breaking News” banner.

The posts trumpet the “global scandal” provoked by her “on-air remarks” before declaring her career “over.”

But if not Berg, it was Torontoborn Howie Mandel seemingly mired in a “world-class” scandal, according to ubiquitous posts showing the “America’s Got Talent” judge and Boston Pizza pitchman looking surprised.

Then, there were the posts showing news anchor Lisa LaFlamme purportedly doing interviews about a new obesity cure, or Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, finally telling the “truth” about her divorce.

The thing is, despite the CTV logo and the familiar blue branding used in many of the posts, none of them were real news stories.

And none of these featured celebrities seems to have done anything remotely scandal-worthy.