Designer flu masks put the personal touch on panic
正当甲型H1N1流感疫情在全球蔓延之时，美国纽约一家名为DIGO的广告创意公司抓住商机，推出一系列颇具创意的口罩。这家公司共推出6款设计诙谐幽默的口罩，比如有的口罩上印着一支雪茄，戴上它就好像人在抽雪茄一样；有的印着红唇或一撇黑色的小胡子；有的印着一只猪鼻，鼻子外围有一个红色的圆圈加斜线，表示“禁止猪”的意思。DIGO公司首席执行官兼创意总监表示，口罩也可以成为一种自我表达的方式。该公司计划首批生产2.5万个创意口罩，并于 5月5日起在互联网上销售。
If a flu pandemic is coming, but you have to get out and about, there is now a creative way to express fear.
That seems to be the approach at DIGO, the New York ad agency behind a line of humorous designer masks that will allow people to stand out from the crowd as they attempt to fend off the swine flu virus.
"When we saw swine flu panic taking hold, we felt that re-envisioning the face mask, this icon of fear, into a canvas for more creative, playful sentiments was a way to say we have nothing to fear but fear itself," said Mark DiMassimo, DIGO's CEO and chief creative officer.
"Life goes on, enjoy yourself, express yourself. If you want to be careful, don't make that all that life is about," said DiMassimo, who envisions an initial run of 25,000 masks for $100 each along with a certificate authenticating them as part of the first printing.
A variation on the masks that may become ubiquitous on the streets of U.S. cities before the flu epidemic runs its course, the DIGO version comes in six whimsical styles, including DiMassimo's personal favorite, one that makes it appear the wearer is smoking a cigar through the mask.
Other masks have bright red lips, a pink pig snout with red circle and slash signifying no pigs, a black handlebar mustache, the words "It's not me, it's you" and its opposite, "It's not you, it's me."
"We're basically saying that something functional can also be a form of self-expression," said DiMassimo, who insists the masks, while humorous, will be medical grade.
The masks will be sold on DIGO's website before shifting to a special website. Ultimately, they might be available in stores at a lower price, DiMassimo said.
Medical experts advise people to wash their hands frequently, cover their coughs and sneezes and stay home if sick to avoid spreading the illness. They generally agree that face masks, especially the surgical masks now seen on the streets of Mexico, offer very little protection.
No matter for DIGO.
"Our belief is that brands are built and ideas are spread today person to person, much like the flu," DiMassimo joked.
In a nod to Mexico -- epicenter so far of a disease that could spread around the globe to become a pandemic -- DIGO plans to start selling the masks on the Mexican festival Cinco de Mayo (May 5).
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