Hospital billboards and health system advertising can be a curious thing. One ad that I see driving between San Antonio and Austin is one that promises:
“Serious E.R. Care”
Or something like that. I don't have a picture of it because taking photos while driving might lead to an visit to the emergency department (safety first!).
The ad slogan, like many from hospitals, is pretty meaningless. What is “serious” care? Nobody smiles? Doesn't every hospital have a pretty serious E.R.? Does “serious” lead to better outcomes? Lower mortality? Higher patient satisfaction?
Does the ad slogan attract more patients?
That got me thinking… what would the opposite of “serious care” look like? This led to my latest cartoon collaboration with Carrie Schurman (see all of them). We apparently have two competing health systems with different philosophies in this town… Serious Health System that provides “SERIOUS' care and a Silly Health System that… well…
Do you have a better caption? Leave a comment below.
What other hospital ad slogans do you see that are silly, unproven, or meaningless?
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William Hoefle @AlexRogoConsult
From LInkedin:
John T Bushling:
Those billboards are a great example of “data without context.” They are usually averages, not real time. And, they don’t say what that wait means. Wait to be triaged? Wait to see a doctor? What about total ER length of stay??
I managed to eat a “Serious Brunch” today – this was the sign at the Liberty Bar in San Antonio.
It was not served by clowns :-)
There seems to be a serious theme in that area. I like that it’s on both floors one and two.
It would be fun to have a have a choice of serious brunch and clown brunch on those two floors.
This is too funny. It makes me think of Patch Adams & the old adage that laughter is the best medicine. It seems that this ER disagrees with that sentiment. Then again, if the sign had read “Hilarious E.R. Care” I definitely wouldn’t want to go there…at least not as a patient. :)