Joe Rogan (Comedian, UFC commentator, former Fear Factor host) has one of the best podcasts around.
Millions of people tune in every week to hear his interviews with presidential candidates, pro athletes, movie stars and more.
Last week, I was catching up on a couple of past episodes. One of the episodes in my queue was an interview with Robert Downey, Jr.
First of all, I’ll say that this episode (as usual) was quite entertaining. I recommend you give it a listen.
The reason I’m sharing this particular episode with you is that it starts with a conversation about RDJ’s reading glasses.
So I hear them start talking about his bad reading vision, and I’m thinking “Awesome!” because I work with many clients in the ophthalmology space. Knowing Joe is quite techy, my hope is that they start talking about vision correction.
Well, they did…
And imagine my shock as Joe and RDJ quickly rattle off half a dozen myths about vision correction.
Including:
- There’s an app you can use to get your eyesight back (what?)
- “If there was a real thing to get your eyesight back, I would be definitely be on that” (um, there is, Joe)
- “LASIK isn’t real” (um, what?)
- Our bad reading vision is caused by Macular Degeneration (HA! It’s actually a condition called age-related presbyopia, a natural part of the aging process)
The conversation disintegrates into a pile of misinformed talking points.
It’s really rather amazing.
You can click this link to hear this for yourself. (I set this link to start at the beginning of the interview portion, and their convo on the topic lasts about 2 minutes).
<< Also, Joe’s podcast would be considered unrated, so be careful listening around younger ears. >>
What can we take away from this?
Joe Rogan stays up on much of the latest research on diet, fitness, health, science, etc. I assumed if anyone might have the facts sorta-right about vision correction, he would.
But my assumption was clearly wrong. Which serves as a reminder of the following:
- Even though you’ve been doing what you do for years, people still don’t understand it.
- Even though millions of people have improved their lives with the procedures and treatments you offer, hundreds of millions more still have no idea they exist.
- More information isn’t necessarily accurate information. We hear this as Joe starts to conflate bad reading vision with macular degeneration.
- A simplified message – for example, “We can help people from age 18 to 80 and beyond who don’t want to wear glasses and contacts” – is easier to grasp (and to spread) than getting into the weeds about different procedures and conditions. (Certainly there are cases where you can and should talk about specific procedures and issues people have, but on the big-picture scale, people who don’t live in your world will have a hard time retaining that info accurately.)
And this isn’t a unique situation.
For example, LASIK has been able to correct astigmatism for literally decades, but people still think it can’t.
More:
I have clients who do permanent contact lenses, a treatment that has been available in the U.S. for more than 10 years. Most people still don’t even know it exists.
The takeaway:
Most people still have no idea what you do and who you can help.
So keep spreading your message.
Keep educating prospective patients.
And remember: even though you’ve said something a thousand times….
even though people have heard it….
doesn’t mean they know it and understand it and remember it and embrace it.
Educating the masses on the miraculous procedures you do – it’s definitely an uphill battle.
But it’s a battle worth fighting.