If the BBC's Rip Off Britain exposé of UK opticians provides a lesson it is that the retail optical business has got to get its act together when communicating with the media and the general public.
There are no prizes for guessing the general thrust of the programme (News 17.12.10) which was aired in the middle of last month. Bad enough, but the optical business can thank its lucky stars that the programme aired when it did.
Luckily the programme was buried in the lead up to Christmas and during the worst weather the country has seen for decades along with the accompanying travel chaos. If it had aired in a slow news week the ramifications could have been much worse.
Dean Butler (see Letters), a master at working with the media, explains to the profession how the programme was different from his expectations. The millions who watched will simply remember the caricature that opticians charge rip-off sums for cheap bits of plastic and metal that can be bought on the internet for next to nothing.
Bizarrely it was left to media-savvy Jamie Murray Wells to act as the advocate for proper professional fees. Perhaps the optical bodies could find a communications role for this well-connected lad from the shires who raised an issue that has eluded the not inconsiderable communications forces of the UK optical bodies.