Zombies

I confess I do not understand the zombie craze that seems to be sweeping our nation. Zombies seem to be everywhere: movies, television shows, video games, numerous books, and even as the subject of college courses. To me, these flesh-eating undead creatures have little going for them. They walk around stiffly with their arms extended looking to chow down on any poor living being in their path. Their gait is slow, they do not speak and their level of intelligence is about the same as a door knob. If those deficiencies are not enough, they are also highly vulnerable. A simple bash to the head of a zombie with a baseball bat seems to be enough to stop them. Off hand, I would say vampires have a lot more going for them than zombies, even on their best day.

Yet in the fickle world of pop culture, zombies definitely seem to be the belle of the ball these days. Perhaps one thing zombies do have going for them in terms of terror is that they are so relentless and single-minded even more so than, say, sharks. Sharks, at least, do sleep from time to time and, for the most part, eat only when hungry. But not zombies. For them, it's eat eat eat. Do not get me wrong. Despite their limitations, I definitely label zombies as bad things. I sure would not want to find my house surrounded by them.

In terms of communication, I equate zombies with lies except lies can be worse. Sure, lies can be stopped, but often it takes the equivalent of a baseball bat to the head to do it. They are relentless and can do a great deal of damage if left unchecked. I am concerned this kind communication zombie - lies - are infiltrating our public discourse. Professional communicators, especially ones who are hired to represent the views and positions of clients, need to be extra careful about not unleashing any zombies - even little ones. I understand the temptation, but I also understand the damage they do regardless of whether they are designed to serve a positive end. An example is when the false that former Vice President Al Gore claimed he invented the Internet. He did no such thing. Not once. Yet this lie, in some circles, seems to be accepted as fact. It is not fair to Gore or to the people on the receiving end of this communication zombie who do not know any better.

Zombies that seem to be so popular these days are notable because they are undead creatures. But untruths have a way of taking on life that does real and lasting damage to our entire society. This is why all of us, especially professional communicators, should never be far away from a baseball bat to squash them.