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by Moira Smith
November 1999
Those of us who live with ME/CFS would hardly think our lifestyle comparable to the delights of a relaxing holiday at an idyllic tourist resort. Unfortunately, the general public has no idea what our illness entails. It was this ignorance that a leading advertising agency sought to exploit with an ill-conceived advertising campaign for Hamilton Island.
In early September 1999 a sharp-eyed reader wrote to the OzME and CFS-20s e-mail discussion lists about a billboard he had spotted at Melbourne’s Tullamarine airport. It showed a man and a woman in holiday gear, lounging in a dinghy in a beautiful blue sea. The caption in huge letters was CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME and underneath the poster ran the message: Hamilton. The island that’s spoiling Australia. Another sighting was confirmed on the freeway outside Sydney airport, and we later learned there was one in Brisbane as well.
from the Stricken website
Needless to say, members of the lists - all people with CFS and related illnesses, or their supporters - were outraged. A photograph of the billboard soon appeared on the Alison Hunter Memorial Foundation website. Shortly afterwards a whole webpage appeared devoted to the issue, developed by Joanne who at that stage ran a website called CFS and Rickettsia - a Survivor's Guide to Beating this Disease. On her Hamilton page she reproduced another photo of the offending ad, and gave the names, fax numbers and email addresses of executives at both Hamilton Island Enterprises and their advertising agency, The Campaign Palace.
The story spread quickly via the internet. Other websites - including this one - ran stories and linked to the AHMF and Joanne’s page. Prominent ME/CFS rights campaigner Roger Burns published an item on his CFS News website in the USA, and the issue was discussed on the international CFS-L email list (alt.med.cfs newsgroup).
By mid-September 1999, our campaign was in full swing, with list members and others who read about the billboards on the web writing, faxing and emailing the perpetrators. A complaint was also lodged with the Advertising Standards Board.
One resourceful OzME member rang the Hamilton Island 1800 number to say she was calling to accept their advertised offer for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome sufferers. Put through to the Sales Department, she exclaimed: "How lovely it is that someone understands this devastating condition and is offering us a free holiday!" As she reported to OzME: "They spluttered to explain that that was not so - and then very firmly and definitely I informed them that they were guilty of false advertising - and further, they were parodying our condition and making fun of it. I was quickly told some one more senior would ring me back!"
Deluged with complaints, the advertising executives changed their email addresses and sent a form letter apology to everyone who had complained:
Hamilton Island believes it has a responsibility to be a good corporate citizen and is involved in several community based programmes to fulfil that role. It was never the intention that the poster cause offence to sufferers of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, their families or friends.
Without admitting any liability, on behalf of Hamilton Island and The Campaign Palace, we would like to sincerely apologise for any offence that has been taken. To illustrate this, we have taken immediate steps to change the poster .....
Of course, this response misses the point. Our main concern was not the offence caused to us, but the perpetuation of public misconceptions about ME/CFS - that it is not a serious illness but just an excuse for "lying around doing nothing".
However, in October 1999, the Advertising Standards Board got the point when they upheld complaints about the billboards. They decided the ads constituted "vilification of a section of the community on account of their disability" and breached Section 2.1 of the Advertiser Code of Ethics:
In making this determination, the Board considered that the advertisement tended to demean sufferers of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and that it could serve to reinforce some public perceptions trivialising the nature and severity of the condition.
All in all, a pretty good result - although unfortunately neither the resort nor the advertising agency has taken up the suggestion made by many, that a substantial contribution to CFS research might help rehabilitate their reputation among this section of the community!
This episode is a wonderful demonstration of how the internet empowers communities like ours to communicate and spread information easily and quickly, even though we may be largely housebound or even bedbound, so that we can actively engage in effective consumer advocacy.
Ian Woolf and Anelie Walsh (Snaf) spotted the ads and started off the campaign.
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