"Swine Flu" Causes Public Relations Crisis for Pork Industry



The Swine Flu has given pork a bad wrap and consequently hurt the U.S. pork industry. The United States pork industry produces over $21 billion in personal income while adding $34.5 billion to the U.S. gross national product.

The National Producers Council noted that the pork industry supplies nearly 35,000 direct full-time jobs which producers 500,000 additional jobs.

Clearly, the pork industry not only produces a LOT of pork, it also creates a substantial amount of jobs. So why isn't the industry backing themselves up enough when they are accused for being the cause for the swine flu? The truth, (which most people are unaware of right now) is that the U.S. Center for Disease Control has reported that pork products are safe to consume. To get straight to the point, consuming pork products is not going to give you the swine flu! The CDC has reported the following on its official website:

"Swine influenza viruses are not transmitted by food. You cannot get swine influenza from eating pork or pork products. Eating properly handled and cooked pork and pork products is safe."

So why doesn't anyone know this? Moreover, why hasn't this CDC report been vigorously publicized in the news, radio, etc ? The National Pig Association (NPA) has refused to release a public statement announcing that pork products are safe. The general manager of NPA, Barney Kay, believes that the NPA does not feel that it is necessarily to make the announcement saying, "Releasing a statement will only make the story run longer."

We are constantly getting updates on the latest death count and case locations but are not accurately informed of the origin of the flu. Consequently, the pork industry is getting hit hard with the crisis. The industry needs to respond more aggressively, by investing in public relations to assist in crisis management to control long-term losses (both monetary and reputation-wise).

Here are some PR crisis management tactics the pork industry should consider:
- The Government must be openly (and constantly) communicating the fact that pork products are safe to eat and that they are monitoring the situation around the clock. This will become a new focal point and bury some of the false reports and speculation.
- Create advertisements, pamphlets, fact sheets, press releases, and other documents by qualified individuals (doctors, experts, the Government) communicating to the public that pork products are safe to consume
- Have opinion leaders, media outlets, politicians, supermarkets, and celebrities further spread the message that pork products are safe and eating them will not cause swine flu.
- Use Public Service Announcements, commercials, etc to release the facts about pork and the swine flu.

According to PR Week:
20% of articles mentioned the word ‘pandemic’
13% of articles mentioned the word ‘deadly’
3% of articles mentioned the word ‘panic’
53% of articles were negative in tone
0.02% of articles were positive in tone

One positive step in the right direction has been renaming the swine flu the H1N1 Influenza as to cut the connection between the pandemic and the pork industry. Until they find out the cause for H1N1 Influenza I will be stocking up on hand sanitizer and staying away from anyone with cold or flu like symptoms.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

If FDA Says Cheerios is a Drug then I must be an Addict

Image
The FDA is going after General Mills for claiming that Cheerios is "clinically proven to lower cholesterol" without getting approved as a new drug. In a letter to General Mills, the FDA says that the labeling on the Cheerios boxes is "in serious violation" of federal rules and that Cheerios, " may not be legally marketed with the above claims in the United States without an approved new drug application." The letter further states, "Based on claims made on your product’s label, we have determined that your Cheerios® Toasted Whole Grain Oat Cereal is promoted for conditions that cause it to be a drug because the product is intended for use in the prevention, mitigation, and treatment of disease." The Cheerios box states the following : "Did you know that in just 6 weeks Cheerios can reduce bad cholesterol by an average of 4 percent? Cheerios is the only leading cold cereal clinically proven to lower cholesterol. A clinical study showed that ...
Read more

Vogue: Huge Hollywood Stars Without a Cover

Image
Kim Kardashian and Kanye West are on the cover of the April issue of Vogue. Their photo on the largest U.S fashion magazine created quite a stir on social media when the cover photo was released over the weekend.  Many Vogue readers were upset at the choice of West and Kardashian on the cover and I began researching high profile celebrities that have never been on the cover. There have been many actresses, singers and models that you won’t believe haven’t made the cut! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Amy Adams: This gorgeous lady has had an amazing year in movie roles.  She gave a performance of a lifetime in American Hustle, where she wore some beautiful low-cut gowns for her character, Sydney Prosser.  We would love to see her on a cover! 2. Miranda Kerr: It’s hard to believe this famous model has never graced a cover, but it is true.  She has been many magazines for her belove...
Read more

America So Hot Right Now America

Image
Most will know the title of this post is Reminiscent of our beloved Mugatu 's immortal words, "Hansel... So Hot right now... Hansel." Barack and Michelle Obama have been welcomed everywhere they've been so far in this European tour. The Public Relations face lift for America that most expected to get when they elected Obama is happening right before our eyes. America 's allie's citizens seem relieved that it looks like the US wants to cooperate with the rest of the world, after 8 long years of destructive and stupid Cowboy talk. Technological advances in telecommunications and travel have made the world a much smaller place. It is essential, now more than ever that the world figures out how to work together proper. That is what Barack Obama seems to be reflecting to us at home and the rest of the world. How much easier will it be to have Russia and China as actual allies instead of Frenemies. They might handle North Korea instead of us and the Russians migh...
Read more