Swine Flu - Deadly Disease or Brilliant Branding?
Oct 6th, 2009 |
Reading the Charlotte Observer this morning, I was struck by the fervor around the H1N1 flu, better know as the swine flu. I know nothing about the science or medical nature of the virus, but I was struck by it’s branding. There is no logo for swine flu, but the name itself is a brilliant piece of naming. Sure, there was a bird flu before, but how deadly can a bird disease be?
Swine flu, on the other hand, just sounds so… well… dirty. Pigs are reputed to be very dirty creatures, so their flu must be nasty. Some portion of the panic around it must be connected to it’s name.
depressionboy said:
| H1N1 or Swine Flu is a bit scary but it a good thing to note that this virus is not that very deadly
pmcrae said:
That underlines my point. The hype about it has out stretched the medical aspects of it. I think the name has had an impact on that.