South Africa, Oct. 10 -- In strategy sessions and pitches, I don't recall anyone asking: "Are we adding to the alcohol problem in South Africa?" Our job was to sell, not solve.

Alcohol is an addictive substance; that is indisputable. The World Health Organisation (WHO) says there's no safe level of consumption. But where campaigns were made, the focus was on making alcohol feel aspirational.

We'd do immersions in taverns and shebeens. We'd ask men drinking at noon what they liked about their drink. They'd say: "It's got the most alcohol," or "It makes me feel strong". We weren't there to understand why they were drinking at midday, or if they had a job. We were there for insights.

No one I worked with deliberately obscured harm. But no...