I think it’s great that Google has a bunch of blogs now; they’ve always been weak at informal communication. But sometimes a blog post can hit a sour note, like this health advertising blog post, which uses Sicko as an opening to sell more ads to healthcare companies.

Does negative press make you Sicko?

... Moore’s film portrays the industry as money and marketing driven, and fails to show healthcare’s interest in patient well-being and care. Sound familiar? Of course. The healthcare industry is no stranger to negative press. ...

Many of our clients face these issues; companies come to us hoping we can help them better manage their reputations through “Get the Facts” or issue management campaigns. Your brand or corporate site may already have these informational assets, but can users easily find them?

We can place text ads, video ads, and rich media ads in paid search results or in relevant websites within our ever-expanding content network. Whatever the problem, Google can act as a platform for educating the public and promoting your message.

I’ll be charitable and assume the person who posted this blog entry hasn’t actually seen the film. Because if she had, she’d realize that you want to stay very, very far away from this story.

In a funny way I think Google is to be applauded for mistakes like this. It suggests that there’s some openness in letting employees do things on their own. The company does not speak with one voice. And that’s good, even if some of the chorus is shilling for evil.