These Oversized Monsters Highlight the Dangers of Overusing Antibiotics

Mucinex and McCann New York are flipping the script on antibiotic overuse with a dramatic new installation that is being unveiled in New York today.

The experiential installation is called 'The Monster in Waiting,' and aims to raise awareness about an alarming health emergency.

Every year in the US nearly 2.8 million antibiotic-resistant infections occur and 35,000 people die from antimicrobial resistance. A large part of the problem stems from misconceptions around the effectiveness of antibiotics in treating cold and flu symptoms.

Antibiotics don’t work on sniffles, coughs or fevers, yet half of all urgent care patients ask their doctors to prescribe them. Seven in 103 urgent care centre patients ask their doctor for an antibiotic and 45.7% of inappropriate antibiotic prescriptions for respiratory diagnoses were from urgent care centres. This leads to dramatic antibiotic overuse which, in turn, creates the problem of antibiotic resistance.

With this behaviour, people aren’t helping to fix their colds and flu, but they are helping to create a monster. A deadly one.

To raise awareness of this problem, Mucinex teams up with McCann New York, the Glue Society, and Biscuit Filmworks to create the “Monster in Waiting” installation and put it on display in the waiting room of a HealthNeed Medical Urgent Care in Queens, New York. Two oversized monsters highlight the issue: “Amber,” who was assembled out of antibiotic pill bottles, and “Rex,” who was fashioned from paper prescriptions.

“Antibiotic overuse is a problem that is unseen,” said Dr. Charles Pollack, the North American and global upper respiratory medical science director at Reckitt. “And the warnings are often unheeded. But the monsters in our waiting room are impossible to ignore. This is a great way to educate and inform people.”

The “Monsters” are part of the Mucinex “Flip the Script” campaign, a multipronged initiative. Mucinex, a Reckitt brand, aims to educate consumers about the widespread inappropriate use of antibiotics currently plaguing the US and the world at large.

“We want to shine a light on the pervasive issue of antibiotic resistance,” said Mark Pearson, vice president of marketing for Health Brands at Reckitt. “Overuse gives bacteria and germs more opportunity to build resistance to antibiotics, which can lead to them becoming ineffective when they are really needed.”

Mucinex’ partnership with urgent and primary care centres throughout the nation focuses on states that have a high index of certain antimicrobial resistance strains and antibiotic prescriptions per population.

To flip the script, consumers visiting participating urgent care centres will find educational materials about antibiotic resistance. Should their physician recommend an over-the-counter medication, they can share a “prescription” with the patient — an informative flipped brochure about antibiotics vs. over-the-counter medication — that includes a Mucinex coupon, making it simpler to relieve your worst cold and flu symptoms at any time, day or night.

For more information on the campaign and real-life examples of people struggling with the effects of antimicrobial resistance, visit the “Flip the Script” page here.

For more information on Mucinex, visit here.