# 2208
Ohio's pandemic flu PSA campaign has been the focus of some criticism over this past week as complaints of `fear mongering' have been voiced.
Newspapers refer to the campaign as `ominous' and `chilling', and editorials have been critical of the tone, while the Ohio Department of Health calls them `edgy'.
State Behind ominous flu pandemic ads
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - The Ohio Department of Health is trying to get your attention with its chilling radio and television ads warning what a severe flu outbreak would look like.
The TV public service announcement uses an empty football stadium, a classroom with no students and a graveyard to illustrate past pandemics. An ominous voice warns: "It will happen again."
Health Department spokesman Bret Atkins allows that the ads are "certainly edgy."
State officials aren't saying the threat of widespread flu has become more serious. But they're concerned about dwindling federal grant money to keep Ohio prepared for a pandemic.
So, the state wants residents to keep a supply of food and water and take other steps on their own to be ready for a public health emergency.
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Watch on Youtube.com
To see this 30 second PSA click Here.
This ad will hopefully get people's attention, but when viewed next to Utah's Pandemic PSA from last year, it is almost mild in comparison.
Click HERE to watch.
After nearly 3 years of gentler warnings, there has been little movement on the part of the public towards preparedness. The information is out there, but most people remain blissfully ignorant (by choice) about the threat of a pandemic.
It is like the old joke about an old prospector telling a tenderfoot how to talk to a mule. He says all you have to do is whisper quietly in the mule's ear. The Easterner nods his head in approval.
The Prospector then goes up to the mule, and whacks him over the head with a 2x4.
The Easterner screams, "What did you do that for? You said you'd whisper to it!"
The old prospector winks and says, "Well, first you gotta get its attention".
These ads are the 2x4. They are designed to get your attention.
Frankly, I believe we need more of these types of ads, and I applaud these health departments for being willing to talk explicitly about the pandemic threat.
If these PSAs convince people to learn about the threat of pandemic flu, and what they can do to prepare, then I have to believe they are worth any discomfiture they might produce.
The Ohio Health Department is reporting a tripling of visits to their pandemic flu website this week, so obviously the ads are having some effect.
Anyone who finds themselves overly disturbed by their content should remember that a real pandemic will be a million times harder to endure.
Particularly if the public isn't adequately informed or prepared.
