extract of willow bark. what could be more natural than that!!!

I'm surprised no one has taken THAT marketing tack. . .or have I missed something?

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Keeper of the Jabberwock

Probably because you'd need to have actual extract of willow bark in your product to market it as such, which would be a bad idea, since willowbark extract doesn't actually contain any acetylsalicylic acid, but instead has salicin as the active component, which has lots of nasty sideeffects that acetylsalicylic acid doesn't.

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And the "driving on the freeway on a scooter" analogy still holds true because the pilots are sitting in 7 to 30 ton aircraft o' doom and you are running around them in your very own Meatbody, Mark I. Beep, beep.
Trying to make sense of computers, The Error Log.

Oh no! NBC Nightly News is about to do a story on the Head On commercial. They just called it the “most annoying commercial on television, and maybe the most effective.”

James Randi just covered HeadOn in this week's newsletter. It's worth a read in its entirety. You can find it at www.randi.org.

But the relevant excerpt:

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In Fallout 3, 'happiness' is a warm junkyard dog and a loaded gun. It's mostly the loaded gun.
- Moose's one-line review.

"your going to regret that one. You are now a colonoscope...
- Chrissy, corrupting PraedSt's wish.

I'm still seeing last week's Randi newsletter. What gives?

Never mind, just hit refresh and it came up. Like Randi, I'm disgusted that major drug chains sell this utter fraud alongside legitimate products.

Regarding the commercial, I'm still wondering if they got warned by the FTC about claiming effectiveness for headaches, which they did for the first few days.

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Cum catapultae proscribeantur tum soli proscripti catapultas habeant.

I finally saw that horrible commercial, and from the picture at Randi's site, I notice that the package says in at least three places "EXTRA STRENGTH!"

Extra strength what exactly? Waxy buildup?

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I say there is an invisible elf in my backyard. How do you prove that I am wrong?

Disclaimer: Avatar is not an official NASA image and does not imply any specific interplanetary or interstellar capability.

The Leif Ericson Cruiser

Wouldn't "extra strength" make a homoeopathic product weaker? Just more proof that it's simply a money-making scam.

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Cum catapultae proscribeantur tum soli proscripti catapultas habeant.

I wonder if the fact that when you apply a waxy substance to your skin it nearly eliminates perspirative cooling, thus warming the local area, has anything to do with the reported effects?

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I am Mugs, of the Alien clan of Usa, Nordamerica, a Terran, of Sol. A human.

Whoever says "perception is reality" is daft. It's merely an abstraction, and often not a very good one.

This product was fully stocked at Walgreens today. Looks to me like no one is going for this cheesy advert. Perhaps they need "mouth on"...apply directly to the mouth....and keep it stuffed there.

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Offer up your best defence, this is the end of the innocence. "Don Henley"
That which does not kill us will only make us stronger. "Steel Magnolias"

Now they're advertising another "on" for arthritis and specifically mentioning pain relief. Unfortunately I've forgotten the full name and it wasn't stocked at the drugstore I looked at. It's possible it actually contains potentially effective amounts of potentially effective ingredients.

Have you ever looked at the"Zicam" line? About half contain real ingredients; the rest are labled homeopathic. But some of the homeopathic ones, such as zinc lozenges, contain zinc compounds at dilutions of 1X. That means 10%. The homeopathic label is a dodge to avoid FDA regulation.

Edit: The arthritis product is "Activon".
Active Ingredients: Histamine Dihydrochloride 0.025% (Topical Analgesic), Menthol 4.127% (Topical Analgesic)
So it isn't homeopathic, hence the ability to say what it's for.

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Cum catapultae proscribeantur tum soli proscripti catapultas habeant.

Okay, everybody, here's your chance to DO something about all those headaches you're getting watching the commercial:
info@headon.com
Here's what I told 'em:

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How many times have you been about to grasp the truth when somebody else suddenly yanked it out of your reach?

So you're advocating telling them that their commercial has an impact?
And you don't think that'll make them send it even more?

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And the "driving on the freeway on a scooter" analogy still holds true because the pilots are sitting in 7 to 30 ton aircraft o' doom and you are running around them in your very own Meatbody, Mark I. Beep, beep.
Trying to make sense of computers, The Error Log.

You betcha! Besides, I seriously doubt my comment will have much impact on them, and I had at least some small measure of satisfaction from expressing my opinion to the horse itself. And no, I don't think that'll make them do anything they haven't already decided to do. It's the principle of the matter that drives me to provide feedback on the, perhaps small, hope of having some effect in line with my intentions. All we can do is try, right. Unless you think you have it all figured out beyond doubt. I tend to take the optimistic course, perhaps because I have actually gotten a positive response with the corresponding positive action from a few companies and organizations in the past. If you don't speak up, who will?

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How many times have you been about to grasp the truth when somebody else suddenly yanked it out of your reach?

Hmmm, how about this:

I found your "Headon" commercial completely uninformative, so I did a little research. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that it was nothing more than a wax stick! Now, when the subject of your confusing commercial comes up, I point out that it is a forehead shining product. Unfortunately for you, I have yet to find anyone who wants a highly reflective forehead, so I see little future for your product.

__________________
I say there is an invisible elf in my backyard. How do you prove that I am wrong?

Disclaimer: Avatar is not an official NASA image and does not imply any specific interplanetary or interstellar capability.

The Leif Ericson Cruiser

I once wrote in to a company (some satellite dish company, I believe) to point out a minor factual error in their commercial. (They said "suck" was an adjective.) They thanked me for my interest and said their commercials couldn't accomodate everybody, or some such. The commercial has finally gone off the air. (I believe I also said that the word they'd called the wrong part of speech was a verb that could also be said to be what their commercials did.)

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Gillian

"Now everyone was giving her that kind of look UFOlogists get when they suddenly say, 'Hey, if you shade your eyes you can see it is just a flock of geese after all.'"

"You can't erase icing."

"I can't believe it doesn't work! I found it on the internet, man!"

"...the 1:1,000,000 dilution makes the Head On product quite colorless – as well as without ingredients..."

Head On: throw directly in your trash can.
Head On: throw directly in your trash can.
Head On: throw directly in your trash can.

BTW, even assuming there were levels of medicine exceeding 1 part in 10¹², would this work? Most headaches are caused by blood-vessel dilation or sinuses IIRC, both internal conditions that I don't think an external remedy would touch.

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"WARNING: Being launched into space is hazardous."--Lonewulf

Triplebrick is no longer birdable. It was fun while it lasted.

"N'oubliez pas: l'ours n'est pas un nounours!"--Nounours de Salmonberry

Good point... it'd have to go through (solid?) bone.

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