Update on the Delta Airlines Anti-Vaccine Ad

In a recent blog post – Deceptive Anti-Vaccination Ad by the NVIC on Delta Airlines – I mentioned an online petition at Change.org that is gathering signatures to convince Delta Airlines to pull the deceptive anti-vaccine ad being run on some of their flights.  I wanted to pass along to you a recent update I received about this situation from my friend and skeptical colleague, Elyse Anders:

Update about ‘Tell Delta to Stop Putting their Passengers’ Health at Risk’ on Change.org

Hi,

Thank you so much for signing the petition, “Tell Delta to Stop Putting Passengers’ Health At Risk.” Delta has already committed to make some big changes: they are instituting a new review policies for future ads and will be showing a pro-vaccine Public Service Announcement beginning in December.

But we think they can do better. Do you think Delta should pull their anti-vaccine ad immediately? If so, here’s how you can help keep on the pressure:

1) Share the petition with your friends. Here’s the link to share on your Facebook wall – http://www.change.org/petitions/tell-delta-to-stop-putting-their-passengers-health-at-risk

2) Are you on Twitter? Delta sure is. They invest a lot of resources to customer service on Twitter, and this is a great way to get Delta’s attention. Here are some ideas for tweets. Feel free to write your own, just be sure to mention #fludelta and @delta or @deltaassist:

#FluDelta @DeltaAssist @Delta Thank you for changing your review process. Please, stop airing the anti-vaccine ad now! http://chn.ge/vbtnDt

When you fly, you shouldn’t have to worry about the flu. Tell @Delta to drop the anti-flu #vaccination in-flight ad now. #FluDelta

Thanks so much for supporting this important campaign,

Elyse Anders (@dELYSEious)

 

Deceptive Anti-Vaccination Ad by the NVIC on Delta Airlines

It’s like playing a game of Whack-A-Mole sometimes… the anti-vaccine movement is back at it again, this time with a deceptive ad on Delta Airlines flights by the National Vaccine Information Center directing people to their website for “accurate information” on the influenza vaccine.  The NVIC is the same outfit which ran another anti-vaccine ad in New York’s Times Square earlier this year.

Here’s the NVIC’s advertisement:

For the most part, it seems pretty much okay, until you hit the 1:56 mark in the video and they start discussing the influenza vaccine.  At that point, they flash a couple of shots of the NVIC website…

And here is where the real problem lies: the fact that the NVIC wants to use this seemingly innocuous ad to direct people to their website (which they would like people to think is a valid clearinghouse on vaccines) which contains all manner of dangerous nonsense and pseudoscience regarding vaccination.  I think my skeptical colleague, Elyse Anders of Skepchick, says it very well…

And let’s not forget that NVIC’s ultimate goal here is not to get people to opt out of just the flu shot. The ultimate goal of this ad is to get people to visit the NVIC website, trick them into thinking they’re looking at a legitimate government website, and get them to stop vaccinating altogether. And then put those people on planes. Which is how many vaccine-preventable outbreaks happen in the US.

The bad news is that these anti-vax loons have gotten their sneaky ad onto Delta Airlines; the good news is that the skeptical community is all over it, and a hard response is swinging into action.  Here are some things you can do to help (stolen from Elyse Anders’s post on Skepchick, btw)…

1. Sign this petition from Change.org demanding the Delta Airlines yank the NVIC ad
   

2. Tweet: “#fludelta @DeltaAssist @Delta If you’re so concerned about safety, stop running potentially deadly anti-vaccine ads http://wp.me/pbblq-6qu”
3. Comment on the video on Facebook (this video has since been removed, probably due to too many negative comments 🙂 )
4. Share this post on Facebook and Twitter.
5. Encourage your friends to join this campaign.
6. Tell Delta that it’s irresponsible to encourage anti vaccination rhetoric (you can also tell In-Flight Media the same thing).  Let them know that you are not willing to support their decision to risk your health for advertising dollars. Ask them if they’re willing to add to the anti-vax body count.
7. Last, but definitely not least, if you communicate with the people at Delta Airlines, tell them that you will take your business elsewhere, like to airlines that communicate responsible information regarding vaccines (because money talks and bullshit walks).  For more information on this, take a look at this PSA by Every Child By Two, a pro-vaccine group, which is running on US Airways and American Airlines through the month of November:

Where are the Psychic Security Agents?

With all of the attention that airline security has gotten of late, specifically regarding new security procedures put in place by the United States’ TSA, I think it is worthwhile to ask a seemingly tongue-in-cheek question which has a serious side: where are the psychic security agents?

Think about it, seriously… if psychics really could read minds, or talk to the dead, or somehow get “forbidden” information through whatever method of divination they employ the way many of them claim, then why the hell aren’t these people working for the TSA by probing the minds of suspected terrorists?  The question kind of harkens back to one asked by many people a little over 9 years ago: Why didn’t any of these psychic gurus see 9/11 coming before the fact?

In any case, I want to give the last word on this to skeptical investigator Ben Radford, who wrote a really good article on the matter.  Check it out…

Psychics and Airline Security

Analysis by Benjamin Radford
Thu Dec 2, 2010

Amid all the discussion, anxiety and outrage over heightened airline security this holiday season, there’s one group of people whose important information is conspicuously absent: psychics.

There are thousands of people who claim to have psychic powers. Some, like convicted felon Sylvia Browne, are New York Times best-selling authors; others are seen on talk shows; still others, like Alison DuBois (of NBC’s Medium), serve as consultants for their own television shows.

While many dismiss psychics as frauds or mere entertainers, tens of millions of Americans believe in psychic abilities. For example, a 2005 Baylor Religion Survey found that nearly one-fifth of American women (and one-tenth of men) believe that psychic powers exist.

What do psychics have to do with national security? Everything — if they are real. [emphasis added]…