I swear to Eris this has nothing to do with that other thread.
http://blogs.nature.com/news/2012/06/advertising-masked-as-science.html
Very interesting tho, as it exposes how the structure of a system can lead to claiming to work towards one goal while driven by other motivations (please do't make me repeat the first line of this post).
Wait, people would manipulate data to sell products?
But to be honest, I am a tiny bit surprised about the after-the-fact manipulation.
I was expecting this to be something on the how advertisers are using science to frame their ads in a way that better circumvents the consumer's will.
The whole process is deeply fucked. Add to that the fact that despite the BAWWWWing of pharmaceutical companies about the costs of developing new drugs, most of the cost of drug development is borne by universities and pharmaceutical companies spend two and a half times more advertising them than they do developing them.
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/johann-hari-the-hidden-truth-behind-drug-company-profits-1767257.html
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2004/09/truth-about-drug-companies