“Eewww! That person just left without washing their hands!”

A story in this morning’s New York Times confirms what you already knew: Lots of people are leaving the washroom without washing their hands. Click here to read the story.

Implications: The numbers are up, with regard to hand washing hygiene, since the recent H1N1 pandemic. But the world remains a less than perfectly hygienic place. And when reminded of this issue—many of us have observed people leaving a public restroom without washing their hands—it makes some people visibly uncomfortable. (Did you get the creeps just reading the NY Times story? Did your face involuntarily take-on a look of disgust?)
Could your company take advantage of this issue? Yes, I’m serious.

Perhaps the conventional restaurant could muster images of a buffet-style competitor, where customers are selecting their food choices from an open cafeteria-style serving table. The headline or voice-over says something like: “One in six people don’t wash their hands after visiting the restroom. I wonder which of these people has dirty hands.” The body copy of the ad would conclude: “[Conventional] restaurant. Where your food is only touched by professional, clean hands.”

Do you offer microbe-killing hand sanitizer at your bakery or produce counter? Are your products packaged in a more hygienic way?

How could you talk-up the concept of clean?

Mike Anderson