Watch Bell Pottinger Boast of Political Ties & Social Media Prowess on Secret Tape
South Africans have today been sharing a six-year-old secretly taped video that reveals Bell Pottinger boasting about its access to the heart of the British Government (then Prime Minister David Cameron and his foreign secretary William Hague) and how it uses “dark arts” to bury bad coverage and influence public opinion. Those ‘dark arts’ were […]
South Africans have today been sharing a six-year-old secretly taped video that reveals Bell Pottinger boasting about its access to the heart of the British Government (then Prime Minister David Cameron and his foreign secretary William Hague) and how it uses “dark arts” to bury bad coverage and influence public opinion.
Those ‘dark arts’ were allegedly used in South Africa during a social media campaign, on behalf of the Gupta Family, that included fake accounts and the hashtag “White Monopoly Capital”.
The campaign – which exploited racial tensions in South Africa – made Bell Pottinger become the country’s Enemy Number One.
One YouTube user wrote: “As a South African I find what Bell P did for a corrupt non-South African Indian family (The Gupta’s), tainting South African whites as “evil” and still owning the economy (white monopoly capital) with their PR campaign absolutely despicable.”
The video below was made in 2011, when Bell Pottinger executives were taped by reporters working undercover for the Bureau of Investigative Journalism – under the guise of working for the Uzbekistan government. Revelations included the PR firm boasting about their close political ties, and how they could influence Google search results (although search engine optimisation is not illegal!).
Thanks to a complaint from the DA, an unrelenting SA Twitter vs Bell Pottinger, and protesting expats in London; the British PR firm was investigated and has been expelled, with immediate effect, from UK PR regulatory body, the Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA).