Faster than a speeding swine flu?

That's how Oceanside car dealer Dean Simon of Olympic Auto Sales pitched a 2007 Chevrolet Monte Carlo in an Internet ad earlier this week: "Swine flu can't catch this!"

Swine flu may not be everywhere yet, but it's infected the Internet marketplace.

"It's the topic right now," said Simon, whose ad went up Wednesday on the classified advertising Web site Craigslist.org. "I'm just trying to have a sense of humor in my work."

A search for "swine flu" on the San Diego area Craigslist page will turn up the predictable ads for face masks and respirators.

But what about bedroom furniture?

"It's all about SEO," said Rick Ibarra of Furniture & Mattress Warehouse in San Diego, referring to "search engine optimization."

In several of the business's Craigslist ads, there is barely visible fine print containing the words "swine," "flu" and "outbreaks" -- perhaps increasing the chance that someone searching for those terms will look at the company's furniture ads.

"We want to get hits into our Web site and whatever is the big thing, (salesmen) will put in there," Ibarra said.

The users of Zazzle.com, a Web site for customized items such as T-shirts, magnets and coffee mugs, are capitalizing on swine flu's prominence in a more direct way.

T-shirts that read "I survived swine '09" and buttons that say "If you can read this, you're close enough to catch my swine flu" are just two of more than 1,100 items related to swine flu on the site.

And on Esty.com, an online marketplace for handmade goods, a "mundane surgical mask" gets a makeover with tulle, beading and a pig-shaped charm.

The seller's description of the item starts with a disclaimer: "Am unaware if this item is CDC compliant."

This isn't the first time that fast-thinking entrepreneurs have tried to capitalize on zoonoses, the diseases that can be passed from animals to humans.

Internet shoppers can still find merchandise related to the 2006-07 avian influenza scare and the discovery of mad cow disease in the U.S. in 2003.

But businesses should take care when marketing products during times of heightened health concern, said Paula Peter, an assistant professor of marketing at San Diego State University.

"It's difficult to predict what is the actual reaction of consumers towards those types of ads," Peter said. "Generally speaking, those types of techniques will drive people on the Web sites, but they don't generate a positive attitude toward the Web sites."

"The bottom line is a company should always stay true to themselves and show concern toward this type of event -- but not instrumentalize it," she said.

Simon, whose Monte Carlo was still up for grabs on Friday, said the swine flu humor in his ad was meant to be light-hearted in the face of so much negative news.

"We've had flus in the past," Simon said. "I'm taken aback by all the media coverage. I don't want to offend anyone who may have suffered from this. That's not what's in my heart."

Contact staff writer Colleen Mensching at (760) 739-6675 or cmensching@nctimes.com.

Related story:

REGION: Two Camp Pendleton Marines confirmed with swine flu