Get it right, call it H1N1!
To all of the media folks out there, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, I and everyone related to the swine industry would prefer you call this virus H1N1 NOT swine flu. Come on folks, help out the swine industry. Unfortunately we have some very impressionable, uneducated consumers that are not purchasing nor consuming pork products.
The facts are in the science. You CAN’T, let me repeat, you CAN’T contract the H1N1 flu virus from eating pork products. Get the facts here: http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/
Vilsack spoke to reporters last week in a teleconference and said “H1N1 is the proper name for the virus and improperly calling it “swine flu” has caused “undue and undeserved harm” to U.S. agriculture, especially its pork producers.”
Keep this situation in mind, the next time you are naming a product, a program, a service, heck your next child! We have an internal joke here at LF “does the name pass the ‘stripper’ test?” If you named a product “Passion” what does that say? Seriously, the name of something can cause tremendous damage and success. Ask yourselves these questions:
1. Does the name suggest something?
2. Does it restrict future product or service names?
3. Is the name descriptive or unique?
4. Is it memorable, limiting or available?
Or ask for some outside help!
Author: Bellana Putz
www.lessingflynn.com
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Keep on them Claire! Thanks for the feedback.
Totally agree. I’ve been doing my part and calling CNN on it on Twitter every time they say Swine Flu. The only thing I can figure out on why they might still be using it is that their viewers might only know H1N1 by the moniker “swine flu” and it would be confusing to change. But they could also EDUCATE their viewers and then make the switch.