Is Google Sicko?

This one just makes my head hurt. Tylenol, anyone?

I’m not a huge Michael Moore fan, and don’t have any real desire to see his latest, Sicko, until it maybe pops up on home video – despite the fact that I believe in universal health care, as Moore appears to. But there’s a bit of a controversy that has emerged this past week in which Google employee Lauren Turner offered that health care providers advertise with the search engine firm in order to combat the bad stigma caused by the film.

Turner's blog entry, titled "Does negative press make you Sicko?," went on to suggest that health care companies invest in Google ads to combat the movie's criticisms of the industry.
In response, the blogosphere erupted with attacks on Google for pandering to the insurance industry. Turner answered with another entry on Google's blog, explaining that the original posting had been merely her opinion, not the official Google stance. "Some readers thought the opinion I expressed about the movie Sicko was actually Google's opinion," she wrote. "It's easy to understand why it might have seemed that way, because after all, this is a corporate blog. So that was my mistake--I understand why it caused some confusion."

Of course, this kind of publicity just plays into Moore’s favour. When will people learn? (Sigh.)

Here’s Ms. Turner’s rebuttal.

Moore (ha, ha) here at Boing Boing.

Also see this article in The Guardian’s Blog.

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Is Google Sicko?

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