Did Nestle go beyond neutrality in seeking to distance itself from the Danes? If (and I would stress the ‘if’) this report from a reader in the Middle East is accurate, it did, at least by implication.

“I am an American living and working in the Persian Gulf, and I can confirm the TIME report that Nestle ran ads in newspapers pointing out that it is a Swiss, not a Danish company…The Nestle ad had two bullet points. The second was the announcement that it is a Swiss company. The first was a statement to the effect that Nestle’s corporate policy prohibits the insult or disparagement of any religion. In my opinion, it’s one thing to clarify your business and the source of your product. But I think it was tacky, to say the least, to attempt to claim a moral high ground with that first bullet point.”

Indeed it would be, except ‘tacky’ is not the word I would use.