It would be different to do Real advertising like the ecig companies with commercials on late night TV. If they could go on Real Housewives (Pauly's favorite show) with a Real product that product placement would be great for the share price. That type of advertising is not what is happening here.
What we see is a company paying someone to promote the share price. There is a large pool of historical data showing what happens to stock prices after a paid stock promotion. When you examine that data you will see that there is a statistically significant correlation to stocks going down following such an event.
Pump data: stockpromoters.com
Here is where we run into some disagreements. You say there is only 1 incentive to pay to promote stock? How about letting the world know about your product that is coming out in weeks. That line of your post just doesnt make sense.
Also, do you think SFIO would still do this, advertise to the world about their product by march, if it didnt exist?