Monday, August 23, 2004
PERSONS, PLACES, AND THINGS
Items in the News, or Not
August 23, 2004
Are People Chewing These Things?
The McNeil Consumer & Specialty Pharmaceuticals division of Johnson & Johnson has introduced a new version of Tylenol, this one mint-flavored and marketed as Tylenol Cool Caps. Pull quote from “A New Way to Spell Pain Relief: M-I-N-T-Y F-R-E-S-H,” by Eric Dash, the New York Times:
Borrowing marketing strategies out of the playbooks of chewing gum, beer and soft drink manufacturers, McNeil packaged the Tylenol samples to show the mint medicine package bursting out like a pack of Wrigley’s Big Red, and last November it hired a new advertising agency, Deutsch in New York, to redesign its campaigns. It even retained Faith Popcorn, the trend-spotting marketing consultant. And, in what must be a first for the brand marketed as the one hospitals trust most, McNeil has hired dozens of “Tylenol Cool Caps Girls” to wear revealing outfits while they distribute samples in hot spots like Times Square and Miami Beach.
(I didn’t know anyone put their faith in Popcorn anymore.)
Presumably the Cool Caps Girls warn those accepting samples of Tylenol Cool Caps that the pain reliever is not recommended for everyone (people with liver problems, for example, should not take Tylenol) and should not be taken during or after the consumption of alcohol, but, hey, why let that get in the way of cheesy marketing campaign.
One has to wonder, though, about Tylenol users who can actually taste the product: “Consumers have told us, ‘This tastes different, that it’s a different experience for me, and yeah, it makes the pills easier to take,’” said Kathy Fallon, McNeil Consumer’s director of communications. “But this is certainly not about making medicines fun, because medicines are serious business.”
No, certainly not. And those Cool Caps Girls cavorting around Times Square and Miami Beach? Serious business.
[Note: Additional items may be posted to “PP&T” after initial publication but only on the day of publication, excluding post-publication addenda. Such items, when posted, are designated by an asterisk.]
| HOME |
The Rittenhouse Review |
Copyright 2002-2006 | PERMALINK |
|
|
|
| CONTACT |
|
Send E-Mail
JAMES MARTIN CAPOZZOLA
|
|
| BIO & STUFF |
|
James Martin (Jim) Capozzola launched The Rittenhouse Review in April 2002, TRR: The Lighter Side of Rittenhouse, HorowitzWatch, and Smarter Andrew Sullivan in July 2002, and Bulldogs for Kerry-Edwards in October 2004. He is also a contributing member of President Boxer.
He received the 2002 Koufax Award for Best Post> for "Al Gore and the Alpha Girls" (published November 25, 2002). Capozzola's record in the Koufax Awards includes two additional nominations for 2002 (Best Blog and Best Writing), three nominations for 2003 (Best Blog, Best Series, and Best Writing), and two finalist nominations in 2004 (Best Blog and Best Writing).
Capozzola’s experience beyond the blogosphere includes a lengthy career in financial journalism, securities analysis, and investment research, and in freelance writing, editing, ghost-writing, and writing instruction.
He earned his bachelor's degree in political science from the University at Albany and a master's in foreign affairs from the University of Virginia.
Capozzola lives in Philadelphia with his bulldog, Mildred.
|
| PUBLICATION NOTES |
|
Posts pertaining to site developments, news, and updates are subject to deletion and to withdrawal, and with respect thereto, without notice.
~~~~~
Access to linked articles may require registration or subscription.
~~~~~
Linked articles are subject to expiration at the sole discretion of the original publisher.
~~~~~
Letters received by The Rittenhouse Review are subject to publication in full and with complete citation and attribution, including the sender's mailing and/or e-mail address and/or addresses, unless otherwise specifically requested in writing and at the time of submission.
~~~~~
The publisher reserves the right to confirm the identity and/or identities of each, any, and all correspondents through and by whatever means legal and necessary.
~~~~~
Any and all correspondence received and published hereat is subject to editing by the publisher for content, particularly but with no limitations implied thereto, with respect to vulgarity and other offensive language, and length, at the complete, full, and unhindered discretion of same.
~~~~~
The decision to publish each or any correspondence, if at all, rests solely with the publisher of this site.
~~~~~
The publisher retains copyrights to all original material here published and any submissions here received, including correspondence directed hereto, whether or not published hereat, unless otherwise specified.
~~~~~
Obviously, no provision is here made for immediate comments from readers.
~~~~~
All rights reserved and all that.
|
|
|
| LINKS |
|
|
|
|
|