The recent announcement from Apple that The Beatles catalog is now available on iTunes was remarkable in a way that had nothing to do with music.
I was amazed by the image of the boys Apple posted to its home page, and featured in its store windows. The photo of John, Paul, George and Ringo, the survivors now old enough to sing “When I Was 64,” reflects extraordinary freshness and a contemporary cool. It is hard to think of many other 40-year-old images that remain as appealing, as cutting edge as this one of The Beatles.
It got me thinking about images that stand the test of time, that people notice and connect with anew, even though they are old.
The Statue of Liberty is such an image. A perfectly balanced mix of masculine muscle and feminine resolve, we all respond to Lady Liberty, whether we see her in New York Harbor, on a stamp or in a lousy Ghostbusters sequel.
To cite a marketing example, Cinderella’s castle, the central symbol of the Disney empire, is another time-tested image that makes the cut. It calls to every generation. Whether you love Donald Duck or Hannah Montana, that castle pulls at you with promises of magic and sweet memories.
Not every icon and symbol stands up to passing generations and changing tastes, at least not without refurbishment. The Golden Arches, the AT&T globe and the Apple apple have longevity, but they have been updated and rehabbed to remain relevant.
The Beatle photo on the Apple site prompted me to think about whether there are any images or symbols in health care that stand-up despite the passage of time and without an overhaul.
The ubiquitous cross does not qualify, because it is generic and must be embellished to represent a hospital or health system. The nurse in white? Long gone. The stethoscope? That’s a prop rather than a symbol.
There might be only one viable candidate. We seasoned people remember Marcus Welby, MD, a sappy 70’s era television drama about a trusted, selfless doctor who always did the right thing for the right reasons. The show is a relic, but check out the picture of star Robert Young, dressed in scrubs, mask pulled below the chin. The image quality could be better and this pose is a little sappy, but the picture, or something very close to it, would look at home in a lot of contemporary healthcare websites or ads.
What in the health care world speaks to us from generation to generation? The confident, wise, experienced doctor. He or she is the iconic image that represents quality, trust and the hope of a better outcome.
We would be justified in labeling the heroic doctor in scrubs a cliché, but it is not a tired cliché. Young or old, we all want a Welby to hold our hand.
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