Urban Brand Myths:The Dark Side of Social MediaUrban Brand Myths:The Dark Side of Social Media

Over dinner the other night,my wife told me a story about killer germ strains.  Germs that have grown in strength because of the overuse of antibiotics,more specifically,hand sanitizers.  The urban myth states that a germ strain has developed that it is resistant to all hand sanitizer products,except Purell.

After numerous searches of news sites and blogs,I found no evidence of the killer germs  –at least not yet (the latest germ news is on a new TB strain,a new E. Coli strain,and the ever infamous H1N1 virus).  As far as the originating source of the dinner story,my wife heard the story from her sister,who heard it from a friend at local coffee house,who …you get the idea.  The beauty of urban myths is they never seem to have a  beginning,they are believable,and easy to pass along.

Although I didn’t find any factual evidence on killer hand sanitizer germs,I did come across several other brand urban myths you may or may not be aware of:

• Pregnant women should not consume aspartame (false per Equal).
• A few drops of Visine taken internally will cause diarrhea (false per Snopes.com)
• Boycotting several fuel companies will lower gas prices (false per Scambusters.org)

Sometimes the urban myth is a boon for the brand,however,many times the urban myth casts the brand in a negative light.  Dispelling a brand urban myth is very difficult.  Who is someone most likely to believe?  The brand?  The government?  Their friend or neighbor?  A person’s friends and neighbors are very believable,and the best urban brand myths are compelling,relatable,and some kernel of truth. 

Can a brand harness the power of the urban myth?  Maybe.  Urban myths are very much like brand word of mouth campaigns,just with one hitch —typically,they have a dark side.   The Purell brand urban myth is playing off people’s fears of killer germs.  It is compelling for this reason.  Most people can relate due to the current overuse of hand sanitizer (my children are required to bring hand sanitizer to their school —of course,my wife only supplies Purell).  And finally the myth is believable due to the pervasive fact,er,rumor that the overuse of antibiotics will eventually result in a killer strain of bacteria resistant to antibiotics.

For all the reasons mentioned above,the rumor seems like it will spread.  And in this scenario,Purell is the hero since none of the competition can take out the killer resistant germs.  Will the rumor result in more sales of Purell?  Maybe.  However,it would be hard to prove the myth was the catalyst for the sales. 

So,where does this leave us?  Well in the case of my significant other,she is in excessive Purell hand sanitizing mode until someone refutes the myth.