QUESTION: I am afraid of getting avian flu from the chicken salad sandwich I brought for lunch. Am I being silly?
ANSWER: Yes, you are silly...but you are not
alone. The Center for Consumer Freedom confirmed this with a newly released poll of approximately 1,000 Americans, which discovered roughly half of those surveyed believed avian
flu was spread by eating chicken.
On the surface, the response is almost comical: You cannot get avian flu from a properly cooked chicken. The relatively few global cases of avian flu resulted from direct
contact with a living bird, either domesticated farm poultry or a wild bird.
But the PR implications of avian flu have ruffled plenty of feathers. Yum Brands, the parent company of KFC, is starting a major PR and marketing campaign to calm jittery
fried chicken lovers. Tyson and Perdue have also distributed press releases with similar reassurances about their supermarket product lines.
So don't worry about that chicken salad sandwich, or that Thanksgiving turkey. Those meals are getting a bad PR rap, for sure.
(To ask a question of the wise PR Sherpa, pass your inquiry to our editor Phil Hall at [email protected].)