Poorly thought out marketing email from Countdown

Forums › Off topic › Poorly thought out marketing email from Countdown - Win a trip to Rio!

jpoc

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#191667 11-Feb-2016 19:54

Would I get extra points on my onecard if I came back with a dose of Zika virus?

I realise that the Rio promotion would have been in planning for many months but Zika in Brazil has been in the news since the start of the year and you would have hoped that the folks at Countdown would have had the sense to cancel this promo by now.

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Mad Scientist
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#1490766 11-Feb-2016 20:21

I'm not sure if it's a bad thing to do or not.

Otherwise people like Usain Bolt and Roger Federer / Martina Hingis won't be so excited to be there.

gzt

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#1490790 11-Feb-2016 21:32

Does it come with health insurance?

tardtasticx

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#1490797 11-Feb-2016 22:09

Why? I mean, you don't have to go. I can imagine most people would jump at the chance to go overseas, including me. There's never good timing for anything these days unfortunately, it's just reality.

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#1490808 11-Feb-2016 22:32

Do you have to go and see the sport if you win, or can you just go and see South America?

networkn

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#1490811 11-Feb-2016 23:08

jpoc:

Would I get extra points on my onecard if I came back with a dose of Zika virus?

I realise that the Rio promotion would have been in planning for many months but Zika in Brazil has been in the news since the start of the year and you would have hoped that the folks at Countdown would have had the sense to cancel this promo by now.

Well so long as you don't have unprotected sex, something I'd seriously hope you wouldn't do anywhere in the world let alone South America, I'd say your risk is pretty low.

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#1490815 11-Feb-2016 23:14

Except that it is mainly transmitted by mosquito bites - Aeges in Brazil is a big problem, with decades of dengue fever there. This virus also exists in tropical Pacific islands - just see that teenager who came back from an Island last week and was infected with Zika due to all mosquito bites.

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gzt

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#1490819 11-Feb-2016 23:27

Is it zika relatively restricted to some geography and not really an issue in Rio or nationwide an issue? Either way you would not go if pregnant or planning to be but maybe not a big worry otherwise based on current information.

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#1490820 11-Feb-2016 23:39

You have to watch it round here. I had the radio on yesterday and they had a guy from MPI on talking about Typhoid in NZ from seasonal workers! Fortunately my vaccination for it is up to date.

jpoc

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#1490828 12-Feb-2016 00:41

networkn:

jpoc:

Would I get extra points on my onecard if I came back with a dose of Zika virus?

I realise that the Rio promotion would have been in planning for many months but Zika in Brazil has been in the news since the start of the year and you would have hoped that the folks at Countdown would have had the sense to cancel this promo by now.

Well so long as you don't have unprotected sex, something I'd seriously hope you wouldn't do anywhere in the world let alone South America, I'd say your risk is pretty low.

The current outbreak in Brazil has seen 1.5 million infections from mozzie bites in the last few months plus approx 2 cases of sexual transmission in the whole world ever.

jpoc

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#1490829 12-Feb-2016 01:01

gzt: Is it zika relatively restricted to some geography and not really an issue in Rio or nationwide an issue? Either way you would not go if pregnant or planning to be but maybe not a big worry otherwise based on current information.

It is present in all of Brazil though with varying degrees of prevalence. At the current rate of spread in both area and severity, it is likely to be present on a large scale in all of Brazil and most of South America within a few months.

The WHO have described its rate of spread as explosive.

While pregnant women are most at risk because of the potential for neurological damage to babies, there are plenty of other things to worry about.

In South America cases of Guillain–Barré syndrome are rising among adults affected with Zika. That can kill you or cause permanent disability.

The fact of sexual transmission suggests that the virus can establish itself in parts of the body that are poorly protected by the immune system. That could mean long term illness for a significant number of sufferers.

It is nasty.

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#1490857 12-Feb-2016 07:50

tardtasticx:

Why? I mean, you don't have to go. I can imagine most people would jump at the chance to go overseas, including me. There's never good timing for anything these days unfortunately, it's just reality.

Agreed. If you don't want to win the prize in a competition then don't enter it. (Not sure about this particular one, are all OneCard member automatically entered, but they can't make you go.)

The NZ safetravel website states some danger travelling to Brazil related to violent crime, no mention of the virus.

I could imagine that if an organisation in an overseas country offered a trip to New Zealand some people would react with similar concern about earthquake risk.

(Incidentally, the Dutch equivalent of safetravel warns that there is some risk coming here because of our less than savoury record of (sometimes violent) robbery incidents against tourists)

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#1490859 12-Feb-2016 07:53

There are risks no matter where you go. This just happens to be the one that hit the headlines on the day. Do your due diligence on the risks of that country and take appropriate precautions. I imagine the promotion was months in the planning and see no reason to pull it.

Lazy is such an ugly word, I prefer to call it selective participation

Fred99

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#1490866 12-Feb-2016 08:12

Meanwhile, GOP House congressmen have decided that pregnant women in countries outside the US, and infected with Zika, should not have access to pregnancy termination regardless of circumstances.

They argued that microcephaly "is not that bad".

Paul1977

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#1490885 12-Feb-2016 09:07

Fred99:

Meanwhile, GOP House congressmen have decided that pregnant women in countries outside the US, and infected with Zika, should not have access to pregnancy termination regardless of circumstances.

They argued that microcephaly "is not that bad".

"Each child is made in the image of God and has inherent worth," - Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere.

A little off topic, but scary that it seems acceptable to them to base foreign policy decisions on their own personal religious beliefs.

networkn

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#1490888 12-Feb-2016 09:16

jpoc:

networkn:

jpoc:

Would I get extra points on my onecard if I came back with a dose of Zika virus?

I realise that the Rio promotion would have been in planning for many months but Zika in Brazil has been in the news since the start of the year and you would have hoped that the folks at Countdown would have had the sense to cancel this promo by now.

Well so long as you don't have unprotected sex, something I'd seriously hope you wouldn't do anywhere in the world let alone South America, I'd say your risk is pretty low.

The current outbreak in Brazil has seen 1.5 million infections from mozzie bites in the last few months plus approx 2 cases of sexual transmission in the whole world ever.

Well that surprises me because I was watching a news broadcast about it (Sorry I am unsure which one but an overseas one like BBC) and they were saying some countries have been telling their citizens to not get pregnant and use protection etc during sex, which is unheard of in largely catholic locations.

I wasn't aware it was prevalent in Mosquitoes, and that does change things.

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