FDA video on health fraud: So boring it makes you wonder

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has a new video on health fraud awareness. A worthy topic. It touches on weight loss products, HIV scams, cures for cancer and diabetes. What’s noteworthy about the video is that it’s SO boring. The inflections of the voiceover are totally inauthentic. It has the pacing of a 1970s newscast. There’s almost no music. It’s not sufficiently interesting to grab and hold anyone’s attention.
News – and not just TV news — has become infotainment. I would be the first to complain that this is a tragedy with major implications. But it’s also a reality. To compete for attention, you need some creativity. The chances that this video had any input from a decent ad agency are slim.

The video received virtually no news coverage – I can find only one story on Google news. I found only two blog posts that mentioned it. The video has received 2,600 hits on YouTube. To put that in perspective, YouTube gets over a billion hits per day. All this is a sign that time and money was spent on ineffective public education.

Swine flu videos

During the height of the swine flu scare, the department of Health and Human Services sponsored a contest: “Create a 15, 30, or 60 second video Public Service Announcement (PSA) that will inform and motivate people to take steps that will help prevent the spread of the flu. Make your video fun, smart, and entertaining.” They got 219 responses. The video that won the $2500 cash prize went viral before the contest ended. I posted it on September 6. its view count on YouTube is over 226,600.
Come on, FDA. It’s 2010 already. And we’re counting on you to protect our food and drugs. Get with it!
Here’s the FDA’s health fraud awareness video. Judge for yourself.

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