Still 'finger lickin' good'?

For most of you who read Shanghaiist, there is really no reason to worry about actually being in any situation where you are likely to catch bird flu from a sick bird of some type. You are lucky enough to be able to just follow some basic common sense guidelines: don't eat raw poultry products, wash your hands regularly and don't keep close company with bunches of birds. (Shanghaiist wishes such simple statements would suffice in panicked-client-demanded-reports on bird flu for our real job.)

If you happen to be involved in any sort of business related to poultry products, now would probably be a good time to be thinking of diversifying, divesting ... or coming up with some really amazingly clever advertising to convince people that eating chicken is still conceivable even when bird flu is spreading like wildfire throughout the world in a global pandemic:

KFC will have television commercials ready to reassure customers that its chicken is safe to eat if there is a bird flu outbreak.

"As our investors would hope, we are being proactive in preparing the materials in the event that we need to use them," Jonathan Blum, spokesman for KFC's parent, Yum Brands Inc., said of the spots expected to be shot soon.

Shanghaiist is curious to know exactly how KFC would decide when is the right time to pull these works of advertising magic off the shelf, and where these ads would air. The story indicates the ads only apply to the American market, but Shanghaiist seems to recall reading that the Asian markets are really the driving force behind the fried chicken chain. KFC has already posted significantly lower sales growth for the month of October in China, a number that we can't imagine is going to improve any with the rash of outbreaks throughout the country in the past few weeks. The company's stock has also fallen amid bird flu fears.

Shanghaiist wonders what kind of amazing advertising could possibly help KFC. Generally, logic and reasoning don't coincide with words like "pandemic" and "outbreak." We can't imagine people are going to be inclined to take a jaunt to their local KFC, regardless of where the chicken comes from or whether or not the chain claims to be able to fry the virus right out of those greasy, crispy chicken wings.

Related:
Why can't the Chinese press report on bird flu properly? (Danwei)
The 'True' Statistics About Avian Flu In China (ESWN)
Bird flu kills woman as Chinese suspect 'cured' (Irish Examiner)
China has its own version of bird flu drug (Reuters)

Also on Shanghaiist:
Shanghai might start producing Tamiflu
Paranoia will destroy ya
Sole Search: Bird flu cleaning Shanghai’s shoes
OK, now we’re worried about the bird flu