I hear ya and it is effective to an extent for brand recognition but trust me, I have done social media for a long time and for businesses........PEOPLE ARE TO LAZY TO SHARE YOUR CONTENT, unless it's a picture of a naked woman, then every pervert in the world shares it.
At some point you have to give your shareholders what they want and they want a real PR!
That's not pump n dump, it's standard business practice. If Google sign a BILLION dollar contract would they release it via PR or make a Facebook post out of it? lol............