It always takes two though. One being malicious and one not noticing it or choosing to ignore it. The result is sadly the same.

The consumers were stupid but “Brawno, it’s got what plants crave” was malicious. A drink company actively destroying what little agriculture the planet had left just to sell their drinks.

They also weren’t willfully ignorant. There was a problem, and they put the smartest person they could find in charge of fixing it.