So you're about to have surgery. You're probably nervous. But the medical staff seems calm and competent, and that's reassuring, because you're counting on them to make pretty serious decisions. You glance over at a nurse, and you notice the tag on her scrubs. "Grey's Anatomy," it says.
Whether you're a fan of ABC's hit hospital drama or not, you might find this . . . notable. How odd is it that a profession that asks people to trust its members to take life-or-death actions would advertise a brand based on a TV show on the job? Even if you enjoy following the private tribulations and messy love lives of an imaginary hospital staff during prime time, you would probably prefer to see the people delivering your care as laser-focused pros leading a personal-distraction-free existence.
But it turns out that "Grey's Anatomy" scrubs have been popular with medical professionals pretty much from the moment they were first produced, in 2006. For most patients, the branding is probably too small and subtle to notice, and I suppose if it made my caregivers happy, I would be fine with anything that put them in a good mood. But if this catches on and medical uniforms routinely reference medical-themed entertainments, let's just agree on this: no "Nurse Jackie" scrubs, O.K.?
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/03/magazine/03fob-consumed-t.html?_r=1&emc=tnt&tntemail0=y