John Mackey, co-founder and chief executive of organic sensation Whole Foods Market, apparently thinks he looks cute. Or at least he used to. Then again, maybe he never did. According to a new posting on Whole Foods’ website, the views Mr Mackey reportedly expressed during several years as an anonymous blogger “sometimes represent what I actually believed and sometimes they didn’t”.

Had his views been confined to his alleged good looks, Mr Mackey’s online messages might merit merely a few laughs. Unfortunately, he also seems to have opined on the apparently strong likelihood of his company’s stock soaring, as well as the weaknesses of rival Wild Oats Markets, which Whole Foods now wants to acquire. Mr Mackey, correctly, says that his postings were personal and typed under a pseudonym (“rahodeb”, an anagram of his wife’s name, Deborah). From a legal standpoint, therefore, this anonymity, along with the web’s inherent untrustworthiness as a source, means no one can claim to have been misled.