Unhappy namesake
At the head of the Omikron eye clinic, the Russian Alexandre Padar, 39, feels threatened by the name of the variant of Covid-19, Omicron – “Omikron”, in Russian. The businessman filed a complaint on November 30 in a Moscow court against the regional office of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Russia, at the origin of the choice of the name according to the system it has set up. The argument for the complaint is implacable logic: “The complainant incurred considerable advertising expenses to promote the Omikron brand. (…) Today, a search on the Internet with this name returns to information carrying anguish and fear, which has nothing to do with the medical activity of the complainant. ”
Eye laser
It is in Novokouznetsk, 500,000 inhabitants, in the heart of Russian Kouzbass, that the adventure of the Omikron company was born. The mining and industrial city, over which the acrid smell of coal constantly floats, is not precisely a reservoir for start-ups. But this is where Alexandre Padar opened his first ophthalmological clinic in 2015, specializing in laser correction of the eyes, before setting off to attack the whole of Siberia. Eleven medical centers, a turnover of 116 million rubles (1.4 million euros) in 2020, Omikron is a success story.
Coup de com ‘
In repair of the severe blow to his “Commercial reputation”, Alexandre Padar does not ask for money but demands that the variant be purely and simply renamed. Russian justice is certainly fanciful, but observers doubt the chances of success of the Siberian businessman. Is the goal really there? The man is used to blows of brilliance. On the site dedicated to his person (padar.ru), filled with advantageous photos, he displays his ambition to create “A global chain” clinics. First step fulfilled, he is famous.
Zapped letters
The Omikron clinic could actually take advantage of the homonymous variant. Because if, at the start of the pandemic, some may have worried about the beer manufacturer Corona, the company finally saw its sales increase by 17% worldwide in 2020. If Alexandre Padar is not convinced, he will be able to plead a precedent in court, that of Chinese President Xi Jinping. Because, by virtue of its method consisting in following the Greek alphabet to baptize the variants of Covid-19, the WHO should have, after the not very famous variant Mu, baptize its successor “Nu” or “Xi”. The first evoked too much the English word new, the second is “A common last name”, highlighted the organization. A good argument for the boss of the Omikron clinic.