Dr. Bonnie Henry
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February 12, 2022 - 1:00 PM
A barrage of fake, one-star reviews brought down the rating of Clos du Soleil on Google and TripAdvisor, but after it was reported yesterday, the Keremeos winery’s ratings have quickly increased.
Dr. Bonnie Henry, the province’s Public Health Officer, has a minority stake in a group that owns Clos du Soleil.
Members of Okanagan Friends That Convoy – who are advocating for fewer COVID restrictions – were encouraging supporters to get Dr. Henry’s attention by leaving negative online reviews for her winery.
Whether it was supporters of that group or other people, the idea was embraced by dozens who managed to lower the ratings of Clos du Soleil in just a few hours.
After our story yesterday about how the reputation of Dr. Henry’s winery was being targeted, numerous five-star reviews began to pour in, however the extra attention may have also attracted more one-star ratings as well.
READ MORE: Dr. Bonnie Henry is one of the owners of a Similkameen winery
Yesterday the rating was brought down as low as 2.3 stars out of five on Google, and today it is 3.3 – a 20% increase.
“It's sad and disheartening to hear that people are trying to negatively impact your business by their politically-motivated reviews,” one commenter wrote after giving a five-star review this morning, Feb. 12.
“I don't know what makes people so hateful, however it's backfiring.”
In a one-star from this morning, “penticton guy” encouraged others to avoid Clos du Soleil “if you want to support a free Canada.”
There’s a similar battle happening to the winery on TripAdvisor, where a mix of recent one-star and five-star reviewers are manipulating the rating.
In a response from yesterday, Dr. Henry said she hasn’t even been involved with any activities at the winery since 2018.
"I find it deeply concerning that some individuals are choosing to direct their frustrations about the pandemic and my role as Provincial Health Officer at the passionate and committed people who live and work at Clos du Soleil,” she said in an email.
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