The Dirty Politics defamation case ended dramatically last week with an apology no one expected.
The case exposed details about how a lobbyist paid a blogger to post damaging messages attacking public health advocates.
But crucial information about the involvement of the powerful international tobacco lobby was never revealed.
Within hours of the case opening at High Court in Auckland, the PR man and lobbyist Carrick Graham settled with an apology and payment for his part in spreading defamatory statements about three public health experts; Doug Sellman of Alcohol Action; health professor Boyd Swinburn; and former director of the Māori Smokefree Coalition, Shane Bradbrook.
This post will involve an interesting segway.
First of all sugar is evil. It is fine in small amounts but the corporates have worked out that it helps sell their products. They have spent a few decades working out the optimal amount of sugar in what they make.
Dear reader the optimal amount is not the amount that is best for you, it is the amount that will make their product most attractive to you before it descends into too sweet territory. Sales not health are the goal.
And corporations are not interested in long term effects. They are only interested in the here and now, what will sell their product and improve their bottom line. The repercussions are for society to take care of.
Implausible deniability in Whale Oil case msn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from msn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.