Advertising in Hospitals
I was in hospital last week. It was my first time as a patient, not counting the day I was born. I’m OK now, it was a stomach thing and I’ll be fine, but it left me feeling a little shaken (and poked, and jabbed and prodded and tired and vulnerable). In fact, I was so mortified by my own mortality, I even changed my Facebook status to the following:
“…is in hospital. First time in hospital. Doesn’t like hospital. Fees mortal. Preferred previous immortal feeling.”
If you’ve never been in hospital before you probably don’t quite know what I mean, but if you have ever been in hospital for the first time and been told the news that you are not, in fact, immune to everything, you will, in fact, die sooner or later, and your previously temple-like body is not as fit and healthy as it was when you were, for example, 12-years-old, it does definitely arouse a sense of mortality. So much so, that the last thing you want to be told upon you exit is that you will, with almost 100% certainty, be back, one day.
This ad in the hospital elevator was therefore the last thing I wanted to see:
The photograph is a little blurry because the lift was full of sick people and I didn’t want to be seen happy-snapping away in a hospital (’it’s OK people, it’s for my blog’), but the poster is advertising ‘free will-making’ and ‘executor services’. Ouch. Talk about kicking people while they’re down. I can totally see why the Public Trustee of Queensland wanted to get a message to people in a hospital lift, but it left me with a sour taste in my mouth. Is the same media buying agency hitting up morgue escalators and funeral parlour urinals as well?
Daniel Oyston
April 15th, 2009 at 9:33 am
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People’s perceptions of hospitals are funny I recon. My view is you go to the hospital when you are sick so that you can get fixed up and live! I suppose if you go to hospital enough you get used to it (although my visits predominantly revolve around getting injuries fixed
My wife recons hospitals are full of sick people. But if you stop and watch what is happening then you will notice lots of people getting better and plenty of kids being brought into the world – happy times. Sure, people die … but people die in car accidents as well but you don’t feel uneasy about going for a drive do you?
Matt, next time you are in hospital (remember they said that you are guaranteed to be back there some day), then swing past the maternity ward. I think this type of advertising would be better placed around there where mothers and fathers are now thinking about securing their family’s future.
Matt Granfield
April 15th, 2009 at 9:56 am
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Shazam Daniel - lovely perspective!
Nathan Bush
April 16th, 2009 at 9:47 am
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I like Daniel’s point. Would be great to see advertising for skydiving, safari tours or nude beaches (aka bucket list!)
Deborah
December 1st, 2009 at 8:19 pm
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I also like Daniel’s viewpoint. Hospitals are very short of funds, advertising in hospitals is a good way to get a message across to a captive audience. People don’t talk much in lifts so they read the ads.
Anyway hospitals are large complexes full of staff, nurses and doctors. Ads can be targetted to them as well.
Hey they all need to eat somewhere, drive cars, buy insurance, look after there loved ones.
Hospitals don’t allow funeral palour ads - that would be tacky.
Maternity and Children’s areas are happy places so why not have ads there as well. Gee Whiz people spend a lot of money on new bubs and kiddies. So good luck to the hospitals who have taken aboard this great idea.
Anyway the government should be funding them more.
Hope you guys don’t need to go to a hospital any time soon, coz they are all understaff. So I say let them raise reveue. Deb