In the early 20th century in Great Britain, images of flies sitting in trash and excrement were used to drive home just how dangerous they were. The contagions they spread couldn’t be seen, but through that marketing campaign families learned how they could poison and kill their young children. The method of understanding, through the natural reaction of disgust, is now being considered to be used to ramp up national hand-washing, as spreading germs can cause disease and death. But are humans too reticent now to carry through on such a campaign?

Key Takeaways:

• The Edwardians used repulsive images of flies on food, feces and vomit to raise awareness of how the insects spread killer diseases. Could disgust be used to promote better hygiene today?
• “Emotions are the key to changing people’s behaviour,” Curtis told me. “It’s not education that will do it. It’s not knowledge. Disgust is the obvious emotion. If you want a child to stop touching poo, you just pull a face.”
• Food poisoning – most of it caused by fecal bacteria from unwashed hands – costs the UK economy nearly £1.5bn a year. A 2003 study found that Britons suffer to a greater extent from traveller’s diarrhoea than Americans, Australians or Europeans.

“”In the modern world, individuals are often disgusted by things that might do us good – such as liver and leftovers – and not disgusted by things – such as unwashed hands and sugary drinks – that do us harm. Disgust can still be a matter of life and death but it doesn’t seem to be working for us any more.””

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/jul/26/disgust-science-public-health-hygiene