The average desk harbors 400 times more bacteria than the average toilet seat.
A study, funded by a grant from The Clorox Company, found that surfaces in personal work areas such as offices and cubes had higher bacteria levels than surfaces in common areas. Telephones came in as the Number One home for office germs, followed by desks, water fountain handles, microwave door handles and computer keyboards.
Thanks to Publicity Hound Gary Knowles of Madison, Wisconsin for pointing out this fun press release about the study.
It was written three years ago by the folks at PR firm Ketchum.
You know how I feel about multi-page news releases. But I love so many things about this one:
–A fun lead. “Working late again? You’re not alone, according to a new study by University of Arizona germ guru Dr. Charles Gerba. You have plenty of bacteria keeping you company.” I cringe when I envision the incredibly dull release that might have been written by someone hoping to make the study sound important instead of fun.
–The great head and sub-head.
–I love the description of the researcher as a “germ guru.” The writer could have used the long title he’s known by in academia: professor of environmental microbiology in the Departments of Microbiology and Immunology and Soil, Water and Environmental Science at the University of Arizona. But that would have made readers’ eyes glaze over. Germ guru says it all.
–Notice how Clorox worked in a section mentioning that its product is the solution to the problem.
–The release includes a photo of the germ guru with a contraption known simply as “the germ meter.” I love it!
Ann Wylie has 6 ideas on how to write world-class news releases, and she explains them all in the article she wrote for the November/December issue of “Craigslist: A Valuable Publicity Tool.”.
