Canadians, Beware: The Bugs Are Coming! (Or So Says Lysol)

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A B-roll video -- an unassembled video news release -- has been distributed to Canadian newsrooms warning consumers that "disease causing germs can be found lurking" just about everywhere in the home. The video, which was distributed by the PR firm Hill & Knowlton on behalf of The Hygiene Council, includes a "suggested" script for journalists. The suggested narration reads, in part: "Lysol is the No.1 pediatrician recommended brand and can help you maintain a clean, healthy environment for the whole family." The video includes interview clips of two doctors who are members of The Hygiene Council, Professor John Oxford from St. Bartholomew's and Royal London Hospital, and Dr Donald Low, the Microbiologist-in-Chief at the Toronto Medical Laboratories, Mount Sinai Hospital. Who makes Lysol? Reckitt Benckiser, a company that produces chemical products for domestic consumers. And who funds The Hygiene Council? On its website -- but not in the B-roll information sent to newsrooms -- the council states that it is funded by "an educational grant from Reckitt Benckiser."