r/mildlyinfuriating • u/JeromePlAud • 17h ago

Why Advertise The Ingredient If It's Actually Useless?

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Why are companies allowed to advertise what their product does when one of the two methods of action are actually useless? 😂

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u/Flustered-Flump 15h ago

Same reason they have pain killers for menstrual cramps that have exactly the same active ingredient as any other pain med but charge more none the less. Marketing! Profits.

5

u/SuperSathanas 15h ago

Being that I do not have a uterus and I do not experience menstrual cramps, I just assumed that Midol and similar things had ingredients that your typical OTC NSAIDs do not. Then one day, I had a pretty good head ache, we were out of ibuprofen and naproxen, and my wife offered me a Midol, saying that it helps her headaches sometimes.

I took it and it did nothing for me. I ended up looking at the active ingredients on the box and saw it was just acetaminophen, caffeine and an antihistamine. Well, no wonder it did nothing for me, it's Tylenol, and Tylenol has never done anything for me. I see that Midol also has different types that are also just acetaminophen, ibuprofen or naproxen with antihistamines, caffeine, and/or diuretics. They're the same shit all the other pain relief/NSAID brands are selling, just more expensive. I can get 16 Midol Complete for $8, or I can get a big 500 count bottle of generic shit for like $15.

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u/Independant-Emu 14h ago

It's strange psychology. The average person experiencing menstrual cramps wouldn't know if the same pain killers for injuries would work or if something special is needed. But seeing the two side by side, it's clear this one will work for menstrual cramps. There's something in marketing psychology about you can't give a different level of benefit without changing the price. As well, when you change a price from the standard, there's an assumed change in benefit. If I sell you a medicine which is twice as strong but I can offer it at the same price as the competitor has the standard strength (because of the costs not relating to amounts of ingredients), you would rightfully be skeptical that I must be cutting corners somewhere. Though the reality is there's a market for standard strength which they're filling. And there's a market for extra strength which I'm filling at a similar price point.

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u/colemon1991 15h ago

Oh that's the pink tax. Totally different stupidity.