Clueless And Cluelesser

Last week, 800 people worldwide caught a cold and you'd have thought the freaking bubonic plague was sweeping the planet.

The brilliant and sensible readers of TAC, however, called bullshit on the lurid coverage of swine flu right at the beginning of all the hysteria.

This week look for the media to start covering their asses. There will be three major lines of nonsense:

1. "Now is not the time to get complacent." Scare-mongering lite: "Swine flu is still spreading and everyone still needs to take precautions." Bleccch.

2. "Did the press go too far?" The inevitable navel-gazing analysis featuring the usual parade of lame-o's from Some Bullshit Institute for Responsible Journalism.

3. "What Can We Learn From This?" Every "expert" with a stupid opinion will be required to express it. Including marketers who thought the communication industry hysteria over the "crisis" was a good thing.

Epicenter of Hysteria
Traveling through airports last week, it seemed pretty clear that SF leads the league in deranged health maniacs, with many smug-young-things in surgical masks. In LA airports the only people with masks were coming off flights from SF.

Is There Anything Stupider Looking...
...than a guy with a surgical mask and a Bluetooth earpiece?

By The Way...
...the answer to #2 above: Yes, the bozos in the press went way too far, just like they always do.

I'm Still Waiting...
...for the Twitter angle. There's got to be one somewhere.