COPD: One of the Most Confusing Healthcare Marketing Campaigns Ever!

Wife to husband returning from doctor’s visit: “Hi honey, what did the  doctor have to say?” 

“The doctor said I have C…..C….hold on, let me get the brochure. I have COPD.”

Wife: “What the hell is that?  My God, Is it contagious?”

If you are in the Healthcare field, quick, think and tell us what COPD means. Don’t cheat. No googling. If you are among the numerous healthy lifestyle consumers who read us, I would bet the vast number of you haven’t got the slightest idea, because you’ll never remember it. Probably the only people who know the answer are those who keep trying to “breathe” life into it. Ok, I won’t tease you any longer. Here is a description from the National Heart and Blood Institute:

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

“COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) is a serious lung disease that, over time, makes it hard to breathe. It is the 4th leading cause of death in the United States and causes serious, long-term disability. The number of people with COPD is increasing. More than 12 million people are currently diagnosed with COPD and an additional 12 million likely have the disease and don’t even know it.

You may have heard COPD called other names, like emphysema or chronic bronchitis. In people who have COPD, the airways—tubes that carry air in and out of your lungs—are partly blocked, which makes it hard to get air in and out.

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) has developed a national campaign—Learn More Breathe Better —to increase awareness and understanding of COPD and its risk factors and to underscore the benefits of early detection and treatment in slowing the disease and improving the quality of life.”

Is it a serious disease? Of course. But we need to have some professional marketing/pr people step up to the plate if this campaign is going to make any sense to the public so it can do some good. Millions of dollars are being spent by the Health Industry every year promoting this campaign on tv, cable, print and the internet, and still very few people can tell you what it means.

Several months ago I spoke to a doctor who heads up this portfolio at a major health institution, and among other things I asked him who dreamt up the acronym that is not an acronym. He told me that he thought it was a group of doctors who came up with it for lack of a better idea.

I asked a friend of mine what she thought it meant, and she said,  ”The Colorado Police Department ?”

So, who am I to be such a critic. Well, since launching HealthNewsDigest.com in 1999, my credentials include writing/editing/publishing over 20,000 health-related articles/news stories on the health industry, as well producing/directing approximately 300 public service commercials for television over the last 25 years.

I would love to hear from those who think they have a better idea for this marketing/pr campaign…Mike McCurdy, Founder/Publisher - HealthNewsDigest.com