The Commission for Protection of Competition (CPC) said on Monday that pictures of tennis players Tsvetana Pironkova and Grigor Dimitrov with the mark “belVita good morning!” on the brand’s Bulgaria Facebook page were promotional materials that implied the athletes endorsed the brand.
“Since the Commission found that tennis players are not promoters of the brand, in this case it is a misleading advertising regarding the manner of its presentation,” said CPC in a release.
It imposed a 236,431 lev ($132,462) fine on Mondelēz Bulgaria.
The company’s Facebook page was managed by web marketing firm Noway.
Noway was handed a lesser fine of 1516 lev ($849) for misleading advertising.