SIX Advertisement Samples for the Washington Post - Review & Comment by 31 Oct!

[pictureofhealth]

Ads 3 & 6 stand out to me. They are visually arresting at first glance, so immediately the reader will look at them, but not too overwhelming with detail when they start to read it.

I realise you are appealing intially to reporters, but agreed with Xandoff and Marco - somehow you have to link this illness to the public/ general concern ie to answer the - 'Why should we Care?' question very clearly.

That's why I like 6 because it includes the: 'According to the CDC ...' para which links the illness with the general public (which includes reporters), it adds the word 'mysterious' which arouses curiosity, and it links ME/CFS with other disabling illnesses that the public do understand already (heart disease etc).

1. V Good design & really like the idea that XMRV 'raises questions', but poss too much info at first glance & not enough general reader appeal IMO?

2. Recumbent man + illness immediately to me = AIDS.

*3. LIKE most, but need link to public (eg Marco's suggestion 'Have YOU got the X-Factor?' or something like).

4. Same as 3 but no image to draw readers' attention, so prefer 3.

5. Great pic of Rivka (obviously! , but way too much info for anyone other than us to be interested IMO.

*6. LIKE, lots of info but done in a way that links the illness to the general population & other illnesses they do understand & draws them in with 'mystery illness'. Also raises questions, doesn't just state that 'in blood supply' - leaves reader open to more possibilities.

I think that we still have to be quite careful exactly how we link XMRV with ME/CFS and the Blood Supply even though many countries have taken precautionary steps - its not technically 'proven' yet, although strongly suspected (& for that reason alone media may not print if seen as too much scaremongering without scientific evidence - all they need to do is make x1 phone call to FDA/NIH to find out).

If the blood scare remains unproven or XMRV doesn't 'pan out' for ME/CFS, we may end up with 'egg on our faces'. Perhaps its best to simply raise possibilities at this stage - which is why I like Ad 6.

Wow, thank you so much to everyone who has worked so hard to design these. Sorry much longer reply than I ever intended, but got really into it!!!

Good luck (even though I am in UK) !

 

[muffin]

Please post your ad comments on the www.mcwpa.org forum not here

http://forum.mcwpa.org/index.php

You can register for access to the site and then hit the forum "Print Advertisements-
Ideas and feedback"
Password: action

You can chat about your ideas on the ADs here if you like but if you want the Advisors to read your comments and take them into consideration for changes then you must go to the forum site shown above. We have gotten quite a bit of comments and they are really insightful, thoughtful, and helpful. So please keep looking and adding. You have until 31 Oct to respond!

We want your ideas and comments so that the ADs are even better with more eyes and brains looking at them. So please go there and not here to give us your input. Voting is also on the website/forum as well. Thanks! The MCWPA Team

 

[dannybex]

Hi Muffin -- I've tried to register repeatedly -- both yesterday and today -- and keep running into a roadblock with the 'captcha' thingy. I'm pretty sure I'm typing in the correct case-sensitive combo of letters/numbers, to no avail.

So if you'd like to pass this on...my vote is for either number 3 or number 4.

 

[hensue]

Hey it is working now everyone can post.

 

[RivkaRivka]

Xandoff makes some good points.

I also liked all of the ads but different parts of each of them and I'm not sure any one pressed all the right buttons.

First off you need to get people's attention and they need to feel that they personally, or their nearest and dearest are at risk.

We already have the womens' disease label and should use it. At the same time this label allows men to feel safe - but the association with prostate cancer doesn't.

I agree that we should only use published associations (the demographic and mortality data, the CFS and prostate studies) and shouldn't state any association as yet that has not appeared as published research. But we can allude to these suspicions - e.g. by having the suspected diseases as part of the background pattern (autism?, MS?, GWS?, cancer?, lymphoma? etc).

I'm no copywriter - this is my attempt for what its worth. Please don't feel I'm being flippant with the title - it gets attention and is deadly serious :

HAVE YOU GOT THE 'X' FACTOR?​

What would happen if, for 25 years, our government ignored a disease that the World Health Organisation describes as a serious neurological disease"?


By calling it chronic fatigue despite a wide range of symptoms that can be as disabling as heart failure or as devastating as kidney disease.

By dismissing it as a women's disease when the disease doesn't discriminate between male or female, adult or child.

By calling it yuppie flu despite the fact that it disproportionately affects the poor and minorities.

Where the main causes of premature death are cancer, heart failure and suicide.

That is estimated to cost the American economy between $18 and 23 Billion annually but receives less government research funding than hay fever.

A disease that affects at least one million Americans but allows them to continue giving and receiving blood despite the majority of patients describing the onset of their illness as post viral.


What might happen is this :

XMRV

BIG SCARY PHOTO OF THE VIRUS

The third human retrovirus found after HIV and HTLV.

Found in 67% of patients with CFS;
Found in % of patients with aggressive prostate cancer;
Found in 4-7% of the currently healthy general population;
Found to be infectious in animal studies;
Suspected of being linked to many other poorly understood diseases;
Already in the blood supply?​

excellently written!

 

[RivkaRivka]

all the ads are excellent -- and beautiful to boot. i plan to comment on them shortly.

everyone, get yr comments in before the end of sunday night.

 

[jimbob]

All the ads are good, but #6 seems to do it for me.

 

[muffin]

Did you all post your comments on the www.mcwpa.org website for review?

Please also keep text that you have written (Riv) so that it can be used in other areas.

Go and review - get your comments onto the website.

Speak UP now!

 

[Sasha]

http://forum.mcwpa.org/index.php

You can register for access to the site and then hit the forum "Print Advertisements-
Ideas and feedback"
Password: action

I've registered and I'm on that index page but I can't see how to find that forum. Can anybody help me navigate to it? Is there a direct link? I'm looking at a page with just a top level index. I've done a search and can't find the thread.

 

[Sasha]

Actually I think I've found the thread but it's called something different - here's a direct link, though you may need to be logged in to reach it. I went to Forum (botton section of index page), clicked on "Media & Public Relations" and then "Vote for the XMRV Newspaper Ad". All the other forum topic headings were showing zero threads, zero posts.

Please correct me if I'm wrong on this, someone in the know! Other people may also be having problems.

ETA: I'm trying to leave a comment on the board rather than to vote, though I'll do that too if I can find where.

 

[caledonia]

You have to register and login to see the comment section. It's called Print Advertisements. Once you click on the Print Advertisements title, there is a further password, "action".

 

[Sasha]

You have to register and login to see the comment section. It's called Print Advertisements. Once you click on the Print Advertisements title, there is a further password, "action".

Thanks Caledonia! Now I see it.

 

[muffin]

The Six ADs were Reviewed with tons of great comments

Thank you all for taking the time and energy to give some really great comments for the six ADs.
Shortly, after the Advisors and graphics artists do their thing the ADs will be back out for voting.
So please pay attention! We will ensure to alert everyone ahead of time so that they can vote.
IF for some reason you can not get to the website, we will figure a work-around for you.

It does seem that issues with getting to the website are getting fixed. Hit the website and see the many comments and ideas that are now out there. People ARE going there and posting their ideas and thoughts.

Great commetns!!! Soon we vote and then you will be alerted when it hits the Post.
MCWPA Team

 

[*GG*]

So what is the game plan for putting this out, by that I mean, are we waiting for a big event or just when we are ready to publish? I take it we have enough money for a 1-time ad now?

GG

Thanks!