Ok, so everyone in the office thinks I have swine flu. But this led to an interesting discussion over breakfast this morning about the swine flu brand.
I mean, we've had avian flu - which sounds a little bit more bearable, nicer, even more treatable. But swine flu - it just sounds a little bit dirty, sweaty and generally more unbearable.
Who decided on swine flu as the brand name in the first place. As a sub-brand of influenza (flu in the common vernacular), I get that monolithic naming protocol. But swine? Did they sit down and have a brainstorm about it? Did it go something like this...?
'Well, we could call it pig flu?'
'No, people don't want to be told directly that there's flu from pigs doing the rounds.'
'How about pork flu?'
'No, people will think it's from pork and will stop eating it.'
'How about porcine flu?'
'No, people don't get what that means'
And finally, they decided upon swine - an understandable collective term, but with such virulent and unpleasant associations.
Then we got thinking about other types of animal flu - Would donkey flu be ass flu? Surely not. And is it time that Myxomatosis had a rebrand - rabbit flu sounds quite good
like the post we could go on for ever with different names. Swine flu? what a joke to call it this what is the world coming too.
I guess they felt 'Pig in a poke Flu' is a bit too long.
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Louise Kennedy
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Member since: 03 Jun 2008
Last login: 06 Nov 2009
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