If the swine flu were really serious about being viral, it would find a way to transmit through Facebook, Twitter or Myspace. But being that it's not a sentient being and has actually done some serious harm (death, panic, a drop in bacon sales), maybe a more appropriate way to joke about the topic is via an online game that has spread across the Internet with pandemic-like speed over the past few days.
Pretty straightforward: there's a surgical mask-clad doctor with an impossibly large syringe spewing some sort of euthanizing liquid that zaps evil looking pigs to death in one shot. They oink, turn from green to pink and croak. It's simple and addictive in the way that all great Internet time sucks can be. Once you perfect the whack-a-mole style distraction, you can link to the game on your blog or to the social network of your choosing. (Read "China and Swine Flu: Are Mexicans Being Singled Out?")
Yes, when you think of the actual pigs that have been slaughtered in a hysteria-prompted move in Israel (no one has yet contracted the illness there), then this seems ... totally insensitive. But to be a little less crass and a bit more instructive, the creators — Immad Akhund, 25 and Jude Gomila, 24, two burgeoning online-game developers — make sure to list some helpful everyday actions suggested by the CDC that can help combat swine flu and give users the chance to donate to the Red Cross. No word on whether any flying green pigs were injured during the making or playing of this game. We sorta hope so.