XMRV -IMPORTANT -VOTE TODAY

[Guest guest]

From: Jan van Roijen

Date: Sun Nov 28, 2010 10:59 pm

Subject: XMRV -IMPORTANT -VOTE TODAY

An marvalous action!

Please Vote today - Last Chance

You can find the text and links below and the

original page at:

http://mcwpa.org/2010/11/ads-ready-for-final-vote/

~jvr

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Ads Ready for Final Vote:

http://mcwpa.org/2010/11/ads-ready-for-final-vote/

Ads Ready for Final Vote

Posted by tina on November 22nd, 2010

Be sure and read this whole page and follow the link at the

bottom of the page to cast your vote.

We are happy to present the four MCWPA ad proposals for the

final patient vote. As a grassroots patient group, we have

accomplished amazing things in just a few short months. This

is our voice, the collective voice of the patients. It's time for

us to be heard.

Voting will last seven days and end on Monday, November 29

at midnight EST. We will not post a running count during the

voting time.

The ad that receives the most votes will be run in the

Washington Post. We will receive a discount by allowing the

newspaper to run the ad when they have space, within a

two-week window. We will be notified by the Post 24 hours

before the ad runs.We will announce the winner to you at

that time.

We have formed some guidelines:

* Vote only once

* Keep discussions civil and respectful

* Anyone can vote

The ads were reviewed for accuracy by researchers and a

former newspaper editor.

We ask you to look at these ads in the same way that you

shop for a house. These ads, like finished houses, should be

seen as finished products. Of course, it would be impossible to

have 100s of patients with just as many different opinions

designing each detail of each of these ads. So look at which

one you like on the whole.

The designers listened to the patient feedback and many of

the comments made by the patients are reflected in these

newer versions. Some patient suggestions contradicted each

other. So look at which one you like on the whole.

Things to keep in mind:

* The target here is to get a news reporter to do a story.

The ad itself is an action the patients take, besides the

message in the ad. The fact we run an ad is a reason for them

to do a story. The ad doesn't tell the whole story for a

reporter.It is a catalyst, a trigger. Reporters will go get more

information because that is how they do their job. We also

have the press release and our website which will provide

more information, expand on our concerns as patients, and

show journalists what to report. More will be added to the

website in the next couple of weeks.

* Also, try to remember this ad will be on a 1/2 page of a

newspaper. It is hard to get the visual impact it will have in

print when looking at it on the computer screen. It will be

much bigger.

* Each of these ads has been approved by the Washington

Post as a charity ad, saving us $13,000. Thanks to PANDORA,

we are getting a charity rate. To get a discount as a charity,

there were some limitations on how strong or direct our call to

action could be without crossing over into having to pay the

advocacy rate.

If you vote for one, but would like to see another on the

website too, please let us know in the comments section on

the survey, after you have voted.

The ad designers worked as though they were separate ad

agencies working on separate proposals to try to get you as

their client. Most did not know each other. They are

competing, not for money, but for you, the client, to reward

their hard work so that their ad is the one that runs in the

newspaper. This system was set up so they would be

responsive to your feedback. So, if you don't like the content

in one, don't think that reflects the overall position of the

group. We are giving you the power to choose which one you

feel is effective in getting reporters to do stories and that

reflects what you want to say.

Through your continued support, we anticipate to run many

more ads worldwide. This is our voice, the collective voice of

the patients. It's time for us to be heard.

The following are links to view the ads.Once in the pdf, you

can zoom in. These ads have portions that are copyrighted.

The license agreement does not allow us to grant anyone

else the right to use these parts. For your own protection,

do not copy and post elsewhere.

* World Ad

http://mcwpa.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/World-Final11.pdf

* Questions Ad

http://mcwpa.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Questions-Final11.pdf

* History Ad

http://mcwpa.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/History-Final1.pdf

* Virus Ad

http://mcwpa.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/virus-adfinal.pdf

Each ad designer has prepared a sales pitch for each ad.

Sales pitch for World Ad:

Why this ad? Because it speaks to people's legitimate

concerns and fears about viruses and retroviruses in particular.

Nothing, after HIV, after all, is scarier than a retrovirus and

what could be more disturbing than a retrovirus possibly let

loose in the population because the authorities have neglected

to study a very ill group of people. The idea that your neighbor

or workmate or schoolmate could be sick with a retrovirus and

you and your family might be in danger of coming down with a

chronic poorly understood disorder simply because the

government has ignored this group of people is incredibly

disturbing.

Some people may object to having the CDC's name up there

but this is an ad for the general population, not people with

CFS and, so far, as the general population is concerned, the

CDC's name is gold and having them assert that this disorder

with this name is a real and serious disorder is powerful.

What this ad aims to do is wake people up – for their own

good. To get that it's not safe for them personally to allow the

federal government to leave a large number of sick people

untreated and unresearched year after year after year because

– with a retrovirus….what goes around – comes around.

See World Ad Here:

http://mcwpa.org/2010/11/ads-ready-for-final-vote/world-final-2/

Sales Pitch for Questions Ad:

First you must get the reader's eye to stop at your ad. The

reversal going up and down across half the page will make the

eye stop. Then the eye will go to the heading which will be

right under the middle of the page. At that point, the reporter

sees this shocking announcement of an HIV-like virus. Then,

the eye will fall on the " This Discovery Raises Questions. "

Well, now I have really peaked their curiosity. Reporters love

questions because a question gives them something they can

do, what is in their nature to do, find answers, which is where

they feel power. Reporters are curious. It shows they have an

opportunity to exert their power, which is to get and give

information.

So the reader then wants to read the questions. The questions

are very strong and raises four different issues, four different

angles, four different stories. It makes the reporter's work

easy as we do a lot of the mental work for them. They don't

have to think up the questions, they don't have to come up

with the angle. No matter what type of reporter is reading

this, we show they have a story ripe for the picking. These

questions are stronger than in the original sample ad offered,

more to the heart of the matter, based on the patient

feedback received. Notice prostate cancer is included but not

the other illnesses. To be concise in the questions and

keeping each question similar in size, I chose the illness that

our target audience might feel is more important to them.

The statement " You Deserve Answers " is basically a " go do

your job " command to reporters. So we go from Discovery, to

Discovery Raises Questions, to You Deserve Answers. So the

headings connect to each other. Gradually, the reader is pulled

in to read the whole ad.

I kept Jim's moving story for a personal touch. He is a great

candidate because he is male, highly educated and XMRV

positive. I believe our target audience will say, " This could

have been me. " Also, the paragraph at the top gives

background information that shows government should have

done something on this decades ago.

See Questions Ad Here

http://mcwpa.org/2010/11/ads-ready-for-final-vote/questions-final-2/

Sales Pitch for History Ad:

We highlight the direct impact of ME/CFS and XMRV/MLV on

our population as a whole while focusing specifically on the

potential health and financial ramifications to every reader by

ignoring this epidemic. Our aim is to set this ad apart from

what is typically seen in a newspaper while providing several

topics which a journalist might write about.

We focused on creating a forceful and compelling ad while

based on verifiable facts. We took great care, from start to

finish, to include information important to the ME/CFS

Worldwide Patient Alliance members while staying focused on

clarity, credibility, and making an impact on the reader.

Our most difficult challenge came in seeking approval for a

charity advertisement rate. In order to adhere to these

requirements, changes were necessary. Our ad continues to

send a strong message regarding our government's negligence

and mishandling of this disease and the associated retroviral

family. We are confident that this ad will be successful in

getting our message across to journalists and the public. If

our ad is selected, the MCWPA website will have a section

titled " Urgent Action Needed Now " where we will list our

demands for government action.

Our demands are as follows and may be changed or expanded

upon according to what the Worldwide Patient Alliance

members feel are most important.

* Protect the blood supply and explicitly prevent ME/CFS

patients from donating blood.

* Provide substantial funding for XMRV/MLV clinical research

in order to sustain momentum and stimulate research in this

area.

* Provide substantial funding for biomedical ME/CFS

research and develop a national research and clinical network,

as recommended by the Federal CFS Advisory Committee.

* Adopt the Canadian Consensus Criteria for diagnosis and

research of ME/CFS.

* Bring the Centers for Disease Control website into line

with the recommendations of leading researchers and

practicing physicians in the field of ME/CFS.

See History Ad Here

http://mcwpa.org/2010/11/ads-ready-for-final-vote/history-final/

Sales Pitch for Virus Ad:

Grabbing attention is the key issue. In my 20 years of

experience in the advertising field, I have found that a

powerful visual is essential. The black background and the

virus picture will capture attention.

Another key principle is to keep the message concise,

emotional, and to the point to get the job done. It is difficult

to get a reader to read a lot of text in an ad. As a culture, we

are used to sound bites. The message in this ad is brief and

powerful. ME/CFS is disabling. It is linked to a virus like HIV

and is a risk to our blood supply (therefore to the reader).

Because of your feedback, this is now a stronger ad.It still

retains the key elements that were in the original design with

some additions to the text that will make it more effective.

Some of the new key points I have added are:

* Up to 20 million could be infected with a new retrovirus

* ME/CFS is serious and sometimes fatal

* Will you or your child be next?

* Stop the suffering

I also wanted to address an important request to include the

" 17 million " worldwide figure.Putting in the word " million "

three times in a few paragraphs would be confusing. Since the

ad is running in the Washington Post in the US, it is essential

to keep the " 1 million Americans " figure. The website will have

information on the worldwide impact.

The MCWPA goal for this ad campaign is to get journalists and

government officials to wonder what this virus is about and

look for more information on the MCWPA website.

This ad effectively does that.

See Virus Ad Here

http://mcwpa.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/virus-adfinal.pdf

Go here to vote for your favorite ad:

http://survey.constantcontact.com/survey/a07e35dh8etggse0iys/start