'Cheat Death': North Carolina hospital under fire for 'blasphemous' new catchphrase that 'sounds like an 80s heavy metal band'
A North Carolina hospital that
recently changed its name to appear less antiquated has also adopted the
slogan ‘Cheat Death’ to promote healthier living habits, causing fury
among several groups inside and outside of the medical institution.
Gaston Memorial Hospital in Gastonia which officially became CaroMont Regional Medical Center on Thursday, said it plans to work with local restaurants to create ‘Cheat Death’ menus and local gyms to create ‘Cheat Death’ workouts.
A social media campaign run by the hospital will offer tips on how to 'Cheat Death' by living a healthier lifestyle.
Nearby
Chapel Hill-based marketing firm Immortology was hired by CaroMont to
work on its rebranding in response to a growing perception that the
hospital was 'out of date' and 'not technologically sophisticated',
according to the hospital's marketing team. Immortology also worked on
the community health initiative and its controversial slogan.
CaroMont president and chief executive Randall Kelley said that the hospital hopes to create a community health movement with its new catchphrase.
‘To put it bluntly, we have a health care crisis in Gaston County,’ he told participants at an unveiling ceremony on Thursday. ‘And to solve it we’re going to have to transition to an entirely new structure of delivering health.’
While he admitted that trying to make
Gaston the 'healthiest county in North Carolina' is ‘audacious,’ Kelly
said that the region needs ‘an equally audacious and provocative
rallying cry.’
At the unveiling ceremony, hospital employees wore ‘Cheat Death’ T-shirts and cheered one another with ‘Cheat Death’ smoothies.
But not everyone is celebrating the new slogan.
County commissioner and hospital board member Jason Williams said it needs a major revision.
He told the Charlotte Observer that within the past two days he has received complaints from hospital employees, physicians and citizens expressing their frustration over the choice of the words 'Cheat Death' to advocate better health.
‘They think it has a negative connotation,’ Williams said, noting that several doctors said the slogan cheapens their field and one minister thought it was 'blasphemous.'
Williams said the hospital's new marketing campaign needs a new, positive slogan instead.
Another
Gastonia commissioner Tom Keigher, who wasn’t invited to the slogan
unveiling, called ‘Cheat Death’ ‘the absolute worst slogan a hospital
could take.’
‘Sounds like an 80s heavy metal band,’ he said.
The hospital said it stands by its decision to use the slogan to promote its community health initiative.
‘When you decide to take a bold and provocative stance to bring necessary attention to a health care crisis, you have to expect that not everyone will understand it and if they do understand it that they won't necessarily like it,’ Penny Cowden, vice president of marketing at CaroMont Health, told MailOnline.
‘This is not the tagline for the hospital, our medical group or any entity that makes up CaroMont Health,’ she said. ‘This is a system-wide tagline for a community health movement.’
The slogan ‘Cheat Death’ has also been used for promotional purposes by Los Angeles-based pomegranate juice makers POM Wonderful.
The company is now appealing an FTC ban against the use of the phrase to sell its products.
Cowden said that her team was not aware of POM's 'Cheat Death' advertising campaign.
'We ran a search for trademark information and nothing came up,' she said.
Gaston Memorial Hospital in Gastonia which officially became CaroMont Regional Medical Center on Thursday, said it plans to work with local restaurants to create ‘Cheat Death’ menus and local gyms to create ‘Cheat Death’ workouts.
A social media campaign run by the hospital will offer tips on how to 'Cheat Death' by living a healthier lifestyle.
'Cheat Death': Gaston Memorial Hospital became
CaroMont Regional Medical Center on Thursday and also unveiled a new
community health movement with the slogan 'Cheat Death'
Community movement: CaroMont plans to work with
restaurants to create 'Cheat Death' menus and will work with gyms to
create 'Cheat Death' workouts
CaroMont president and chief executive Randall Kelley said that the hospital hopes to create a community health movement with its new catchphrase.
‘To put it bluntly, we have a health care crisis in Gaston County,’ he told participants at an unveiling ceremony on Thursday. ‘And to solve it we’re going to have to transition to an entirely new structure of delivering health.’
Bigger picture: CaroMont president and chief
executive Randall Kelley said that the hospital hopes to create a
community health movement with its new catchphrase
At the unveiling ceremony, hospital employees wore ‘Cheat Death’ T-shirts and cheered one another with ‘Cheat Death’ smoothies.
But not everyone is celebrating the new slogan.
County commissioner and hospital board member Jason Williams said it needs a major revision.
He told the Charlotte Observer that within the past two days he has received complaints from hospital employees, physicians and citizens expressing their frustration over the choice of the words 'Cheat Death' to advocate better health.
‘They think it has a negative connotation,’ Williams said, noting that several doctors said the slogan cheapens their field and one minister thought it was 'blasphemous.'
Williams said the hospital's new marketing campaign needs a new, positive slogan instead.
‘Sounds like an 80s heavy metal band,’ he said.
The hospital said it stands by its decision to use the slogan to promote its community health initiative.
‘When you decide to take a bold and provocative stance to bring necessary attention to a health care crisis, you have to expect that not everyone will understand it and if they do understand it that they won't necessarily like it,’ Penny Cowden, vice president of marketing at CaroMont Health, told MailOnline.
‘This is not the tagline for the hospital, our medical group or any entity that makes up CaroMont Health,’ she said. ‘This is a system-wide tagline for a community health movement.’
The slogan ‘Cheat Death’ has also been used for promotional purposes by Los Angeles-based pomegranate juice makers POM Wonderful.
The company is now appealing an FTC ban against the use of the phrase to sell its products.
Cowden said that her team was not aware of POM's 'Cheat Death' advertising campaign.
'We ran a search for trademark information and nothing came up,' she said.
Similar campaign: The slogan 'Cheat Death' has
also been used for promotional purposes by Los Angeles-based pomegranate
juice makers POM Wonderful