No art with this story, but you know it's official because it comes from the American Medical News web site. Here's a snippet (sorry):
As men start thinking about filling out brackets for the NCAA basketball tournament pool, some urologists are trying to get their attention by marketing March Madness as a great time to get a vasectomy.
After all, men, if you're going to do something that requires you to sit around in a bathrobe, doing nothing for two days, why not do it when there's wall-to-wall basketball on TV?
For a growing number of urology practices, tournament time has become key to marketing a procedure that many men put off or avoid out of -- shall we say -- sensitivity. And because many men meet a urologist for the first time through a vasectomy, the practices find it a great way to get their names out to new patients.
"It's gotten a few guys in the door," said Keith McLeod, administrator of three-physician Northeast Georgia Urological Associates in Gainesville, Ga., which started its tournament-related marketing in 2009. Northeast Georgia's marketing materials note that getting a vasectomy before the tournament is a great way for men "to get waited on hand and foot" while they're watching sports.
"But more importantly, it's gotten us noticed. We've got a little more name recognition around the community. We're having fun with a common, safe procedure. I find that urologists are very humorous and creative when it comes to this stuff."
Other practices have similar pitches. Come in before the tournament, and come out with your vasectomy and a survival kit: coupons for free delivered pizza or other food discounts, a sports magazine, and a bag of frozen peas (for recovery, not for dinner).
We brought this up on our three-hour radio tour Saturday (podcastable option pending for the curious, and official bumper music playlist to be posted on Twitter once we can get to it). It makes perfect sense.
