Sidewipe vs Brewer

Very amusing tos and fros between Sideswipe and my old colleague Cameron Brewer of the Newmarket Business Association.

Yesterday Sideswipe reported:

This guy makes attention-seeking Lisa Lewis look like a wallflower: Cameron Brewer – former press secretary to former Auckland mayor John Banks, current general manager of the Newmarket Business Association and frequent emailer to the Herald – yesterday sent this spam: “You’ve got your hands full today but here’s an interesting observation for you from Auckland’s number one shopping precinct. It would be fair to say Dame Te Ata’s burial has had a definite impact around Auckland today. Foot traffic numbers were down dramatically around midday Monday, and I suspect it was because people were at home watching Dame Te Ata’s burial. Those who took a spot of shopping around midday could be seen engrossed in the moving coverage on shop TVs in the likes of Noel Leeming. I know for a fact that plenty of our commercial offices had their staffroom televisions on, and plenty of desktops were tuning in and out of the live coverage streamed through the TVNZ website. One could feel it in the air that this day was somehow special. I suspect many New Zealanders will always remember where they were at in their lives the day Dame Te Ata was buried.”

Please remember this when he tries to run for mayor.

And today Sideswipe has Cameron’s response:

It’s not attention-seeking, it’s a public service, says publicity-seeker and Newmarket shops cheerleader Cameron Brewer. “My lawyer and I take deep offence at me being compared to streaker Lisa Lewis. In fact, we are considering taking a defamation case against Sideswipe. Apart from making Green MP Keith Locke walk down Broadway naked, hosting an Undie 500 running race and overseeing a Bendon brief sprint in Newmarket, I have never been involved in attention-seeking streaking activities. Further, while Sideswipe may describe my emails to the Herald as spam, my lawyer would strongly argue that they are valuable public service announcements. Yesterday’s swipe at my good reputation implied that I would use any opportunity to get Newmarket publicity. That is simply a misrepresentation. Given all the clutter and bias in today’s media, I see my role as head of the Newmarket Business Association as to simply get the truth out into the public arena.”

Anyway I think I have the perfect solution. Cameron should set up a Newmarket Business Association blog. WIth his sense of humour and flair for publicity, it will become a hit I am sure!