The Week That Was: 20 Hours of in-flight fun?

Do you want to spend 20 hours on a plane? That is the question that Quantas Airlines asked when it manned the longest flight ever last weekend between New York and Sydney, Australia. Designed to test the body’s ability to endure the time-zone/body clock disruption, passengers were given specific instructions for when (and what) they could eat and drink, sleep, and move around. Tests conducted during the flight ranged from monitoring pilot brain waves, melatonin levels and alertness, to exercise classes and blood pressure checks for passengers.

A Bloomberg reporter on the flight says he felt better upon landing than he did on his last trip to Australia, which included a stop. We think the regulated sleep piece would do us in.

Don’t go planning a trip just yet. If the project proceeds, new planes will be needed that can carry more weight for the duration without running out of fuel (the test flight has only 49 people on it, all in business class, and did not allow luggage).

As we board a shorter flight this weekend, we’ve got some in-flight worthy reading for you. 

All PR is NOT good PR

By Miriam Kalnicki

Are U.S. sheriffs PhRMA’s new spokespeople? According to Bloomberg, they are. The outlet details how the Partnership for Safe Medicines, a non-profit funded by the pharmaceutical industry, ‘secretly’ paid for an ad campaign against drug importation, despite the ads stating that they were paid for by the National Sheriff's Association. The TV spots under scrutiny warn about unsafe counterfeit medicines slipping into the U.S. and overwhelming law-enforcement. Bloomberg’s exposé details that the ‘secret’ payments from the Partnership for Safe Medicines helped a cash-strapped Sherriff’s association that was deep in real-estate debt. The ads leveraged “celebrity drug cops” including one retired sheriff who now regrets working with the group.

Implications for manufacturers

Maintaining transparency in relationships is the golden rule in public relations—especially for a highly visible message to resonate with stakeholder audiences. The old adage about “all PR is good PR” doesn’t hold water when the public is consistently scrutinizing the industry’s pricing and practices. These days, legal compliance isn’t enough and companies must be transparent in their disclosures to maintain public trust. This is especially critical for a message against drug importation to “land” authoritatively.

Who wrote this? The managing editor of TWTW is Randi Kahn, who just got a new and improved AC unit, just in time to turn the heat on. Blankets are her friend. Syneos Health Communications' Reputation & Risk Management Practice is a team of healthcare communications consultants, policy-shapers and crisis response specialists. We provide unique solutions to the evolving communications challenges in today’s healthcare industry, using evidence-based approaches to help our clients successfully navigate the most sensitive of situations.

Got thoughts? Contact Randi

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