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H1N1 Swine Flu: Good for Business
H1N1 has been a good boost for manufacturers of sanitizers and disinfectants.
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I work for a manufacturer of disinfectant and sanitizing wipes. Early this year, right after the holidays, business was very slow. We were not yet ready to lay off employees, but we didn’t have any temps. Overtime was strictly held back. It was tough.
When H1N1 came on the scene, things turned around dramatically. By May, we needed to run a couple of weeks of 12-hour shifts to catch up with the flood of orders for sanitizers and disinfectants. We’ve been running steady since then.
Now, with schools getting ready to open and the regular flu season imminent we’re beginning to ramp up production schedules again. There is a lot of noise and fear about a resurgence of the “swine flu”, the H1N1 virus. So I say, “bring it.”
I don’t wish for people to get sick. Not at all. I just want people to be afraid of getting sick. It’s good for business. At least my business is selling prevention.
On the other hand, I once worked for a company that printed card inserts for a crutch manufacturer. It came to me that in a business like crutch manufacturing, the business depends on people becoming injured. I thought, “How do you hope for good business? Do you hope for a lot of people to break legs this year?” Does this pose a moral dilemma for someone? How do you hope for good business when that means harm to others? I don’t really believe that is truly how someone would look at it, it is just a different perspective to put on it.
By the same token, I have a good friend that works for a manufacturer of portable and stand-by generators. In a conversation he expressed disappointment that one of the early tropical storms this year did not grow to hurricane strength and make land-fall. I joked with him about it. I raised the same question. Did he feel any moral qualms about hoping for hurricanes so his business would pick up?
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Now what about disaster recovery companies. These are companies that come in and do clean-up and restoration after floods and fires. There was a huge fire at one of the divisions of my company. I was told that as the fire was still raging, representatives from some of these companies were there to hand out their business cards. Here is a business that depends on disaster for its existence.
I don’t really believe that there is a moral dilemma. These products and services are needed and people depend on them because stuff happens. It’s just something that I thought about. It’s just a different kind of perspective.
Swine flu is coming. Be afraid, be very afraid. Protect yourself. Buy disinfectant wipes!
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6 Comments
You’ve brought up some interesting points in this article. Many businesses are based around people’s fear. Would disinfecting wipes really protect us from the swine flu? I doubt it, but people will spend their money to allay their fear. Then the media feeds on people’s fears of swine flu by giving them more articles to read about the flu and hence more fear and more of a need to read up on what they can do to protect themselves! (I even succumbed to the feeding frenzy and shamefully wrote an article on the swine flu.) Then disinfecting wipe sales shoot up even more.
LOL
Oh, and by the way, this article should not be on Purple Slinky. Were the editors sleeping when they read it?! I’ve seen many articles mis-assigned to Purple Slinky. What’s up with that?
Maybe this article fits on Purple Slinky if it’s in the offbeat section, but it seems more like a serious article to me. Ah, what do I know?
I didn’t even realize this was in Purple Slinky until I saw your comments WES.
There is definitely a humorous spirit intended with this article. But I wanted to provoke thought.
Thank you for “getting it”.
I may publish another article based on the irony of my worldview juxtaposed with my employment.
Shouldn’t say it, but perhaps the H1N1 flu was a blessing in disguise for some LOL. I carry hand sanitiser at all times..particularly when I use public amenities. It is also interesting to point out that the influenza virus can survive 2 days on surfaces. A common way to catch the flu is by touching something that has been coughed or sneezed upon by an infected person. For example, someone who used the shopping trolley before you may have had the flu.
Well-penned and very relevant Natels.
Your writing is well-thought and to the point. You have a good way of looking at things, too! Glad you sent me the PM. Good lookin out!
Good points. The DuPont family got rich from making gunpowder during wars which killed millions.