Calgary company markets 'Pandemic Flu Kit'

A medical supply company in Calgary hopes concern over swine flu will help move an expensive, hard-to-sell "Pandemic Flu Kit."

'There's definitely been a lot more media coverage of the event and obviously we're taking this opportunity to take this to the masses.' — Elliot Madden

Angus Medical ran an advertisement in a Calgary newspaper on the weekend for a "reusable personal protection system that provides 99.997 per cent absorption of very small particles such as bacteria and viruses." It looks like a gas mask, and the kit includes filters and a disinfection case.

"We've been marketing this mask for a number of years now and it has been a really difficult sell to be honest," said Elliot Madden, the vice-president of sales and marketing for Angus.

Limited market for kits

The company, which supplies infection control and safety devices to medical professionals, is located at a small warehouse on 52nd Street S.E. Madden said it's the first time Angus Medical has advertised the kit to the general public, but saw an opportunity to expand their market.

"We've been selling this mask actually for a number of years now. We're just starting to get a lot more interest through our website and we thought it was necessary to put an ad in the paper as well," he said. "There's definitely been a lot more media coverage of the event and obviously we're taking this opportunity to take this to the masses."

Madden said the ad has sparked some interest, but at about $120 each, the kits have a limited market.

The ad has a picture of the face mask and reads: "H1N1 'swine' flu is on the verge of a global pandemic. Are you prepared?" It ran under an article about the city's infectious disease plan, which Madden called a coincidence.

Ad doesn't cross the line, says marketing expert

Jan Burwell, a Calgary marketing expert, says Angus Medical has managed to expand their market without crossing the line between creative and crass.

"This would be the kind of issue one would look for if you have a product that there is not generally good awareness. Does it cross the line? This kind of simple, more fact-oriented ad just makes me think that it comes close."

Glen Armstrong, the head of microbiology and infectious diseases at the University of Calgary, doesn't recommend facemasks.

"There is no real need for people to go to those lengths to protect themselves," he said. "They really are pretty uncomfortable for people to wear for a long period of time. For these to really be effective you have to wear them constantly when you are out, and like I say, you have to take them off to eat, you have to take them off if you have an itchy nose."

More than 100 Canadians have been diagnosed with swine flu, including one Alberta girl who has been hospitalized.