Max Clifford: The Lemsip Kid

If you are going to get Swine Flu, make sure you get it first . Nobody remembers the 6th man on the moon (Edgar Mitchell if you're asking) so it's not surprising that honeymooners Iain and Dawn Askham, like those perennial climbers rescued up mountains wearing flip-flops and T-shirt, have gone straight to the summit of media manipulation. As The Telegraph points out:

• Speaking from his home in the Polmont area of Falkirk, Mr Askham's father, also called Ian, directed all inquiries about the couple to Max Clifford.

  Mr Clifford is the UK's most high-profile PR guru and recently represented Jade Goody, the reality TV star who fought a high-profile cancer battle.

No doubt any money received (including Mr Clifford's fee) will be donated to research into the flu. Or maybe the strain could be given a new scientific name: Clifford's Virus. (jibes about pigs and troughs would be too easy).

POSTSCRIPT:

I chuckled that Firefox, when downloading the Lemsip image (who says I don't advertise), confimed it was scanned for viruses. Safe then.

For a less flippant view of the matter, Ben Goldacre again hits the right buttons. The media seem to want it both ways - either create a mass panic or dismiss as another damp squib.