The fine print communicates loudly

Yesterday I was facilitating a communications workshop on message development and audience profiling to a small group of civil society organizations here in Sri Lanka. I was very happy to have the image of the vaccine billboard to use in my presentation as an example of how to use a positive message for an issue that could easily be communicated using negative language (an image of a child with a disease as opposed to the love of the mother who protects her child from a disease).

ANYWAY! Seeing the image projected on a wall I noticed the GSK logo...which I hadn't noticed when I saw the billboard on the street! I made an assumption that the billboard had been purchased by an organization like the Pediatric Association or some other non-profit interested in child heath... why would I think that?! Because in Canada that's who would deliver this message - not th ecompany making the vaccine.

The last thing I taught to the group in my workshop yesterday was about the importance of having the right messenger deliver the message. You can develop the best message possible for your target audience, but if the messenger is not credible, then the message will be lost.

Do you think GSK really cares about the health of children in Sri Lanka? Of course they'll say the do because being a "caring company" is good for business. But the bottom line is, their bottom line, not protecting a child from chicken pox or hepatitis.

If you haven't yet seen it, I highly recommend you rent or purchase The Corporation. Life - or at least my view of it - will make so much more sense once you see this film.