While it seems that medical services marketing in the U.S has become increasingly innovative, I’m not entirely convinced that this a good thing. After last week’s discovery that a plastic surgeon had embarked on a particularly distasteful pop promo that extolled the benefits a nose job could have on one’s love life, an even more bizarre idea has turned up from a medical facility in Massachusetts.

In a frankly blinding bit of consumer insight, the Cape Cod medical facility has recognised that lots of American males fake illness to take time off work to watch the NCAA basketball finals in March. Consequently, Cape Cod is encouraging men to undergo their vasectomy procedures in March by giving them coupons to redeem for free pizza. Recovering patients are then encouraged to spend a couple of days resting at home, watching basketball on the TV. What a coincidence.

Evan Cohen, Manager of Urology Associates at Cape Cod, told ABC News that vasectomies are a "kind of a touchy subject... We're trying to make it light so it's easier to talk about. We [also] wanted men to relax and give them an excuse to watch the game”.