Talk:Alka-Seltzer

Restructuring

This article desperately needs sections. In particular, history is significant for this product, and should be included, but MUST BE distinct from current product info. Consider returning some of the advertising history (appropriately) removed by Toddst1 below. --Josh Powell (talk) 08:49, 24 January 2009 (UTC)

I just came to this entry because of a bout of stomach something last night, for which I took Alka-Seltzer and when that didn't' do anything, another dose. Today I wanted to find out whether it did anything real. The article did help in that regard. Then I encountered the pop-culture stuff. It seems clear to me that it should be "restructured" into two articles: Alka-Seltzer: What It Is; and Alka-Seltzer in Popular Culture. As a casual user, enacting this prescription is way beyond my scope. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.56.125.77 (talk) 20:32, 11 July 2009 (UTC)

Uses

When I lived in the UK, there it was positioned as a cure for hangover (and that's what most people associated with "Alka"). However, I do not see it mentioned in the article. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 194.14.75.136 (talk) 16:18, 13 January 2009 (UTC)

The product contains Aspirin which can be dangerous to infants and children. That should be mentioned if any off label claims are to be included. Hippypaul (talk) 20:51, 1 June 2010 (UTC)

Microgravity

Should we include this? Seriously? --Kizor 02:59, 10 December 2006 (UTC)

• Youtube references are normally booted, because they frequently violate copyrights. Wahkeenah 04:13, 10 December 2006 (UTC)
  • Good point. In this case, though, NASA's works are PD unless otherwise noted. --Kizor 02:19, 11 December 2006 (UTC)
  • Added and refers directly to NASA site Riverpa (talk) 15:46, 13 October 2009 (UTC)

What's wrong with wikipedia.

This page is a great example of what is wrong with wikipedia and why it is such a joke now. The tv commercials and pop culture sections are longer than the section with the info that actually matters. It's not even worth deleting cause some nerd 5 seconds later is just going to put the useless pop culture info right back in again. Gotmilk23 (talk) 23:31, 23 February 2008 (UTC)Gotmilk23

You either must not live in the US -- or be 40 or younger. For anyone old enough to remember watching television in the 60s, those commercials are the number one association they have with the product. (And the list left off another Alka-Selter classic: the actor doing endless retakes of a commercial for canned spaghetti where he has trouble his line right -- "Thassa one speessey spicey meetballa!") -- llywrch (talk) 16:07, 1 May 2009 (UTC)

Moving unencyclopedic trivia section to talk

Please do not move back without integrating information in an encyclopedic manner.

Trivia section

Trivia On March 28, 2006, Alka-Seltzer celebrated its 75th anniversary with a world record setting buffet at the Las Vegas Hilton. Over 500 dishes were featured at the buffet. The event was hosted by Kathy Griffin and was featured in the final episode of the second season of the Bravo reality show Kathy Griffin: Life on The D-List. In late 2006, Griffin appeared in another re-introduced Alka-Seltzer ad, the "Try it, you'll like it!" spot. TV commercials A well known icon was the "Speedy" character, an American advertising icon created by George Pal of the Wade Ad Agency in 1951 as Sparky, then changed to Speedy by a sales manager to promote "speedy relief." Speedy was either a little boy or an elf (opinions vary) whose body was primarily one Alka-Seltzer tablet while he wore another as a hat; he proclaimed Alka-Seltzer's virtues and sang the "Plop, plop, fizz, fizz" song in his high, squeaky voice (provided by voice actor Dick Beals). George Raft starred in the 1969 Alka-Seltzer commercial "The Unfinished Lunch." It consists of Raft incarcerated and in the prison lunchroom. He takes a bite of the awful prison food and recoils back. Suddenly he bangs his cup on the steel table loudly in the lunchroom. It ripple effects throughout the room. He starts intoning "Alka Seltzer, Alka Seltzer..." Soon, the other hundreds of inmates do the same. The commercial is regarded as a "classic", mostly because the product is never seen, and the brand name is the only word spoken. It is reminiscent of the old radio ad for a similar product, Bromo-Seltzer, with its "freight train" rhythmic repetition of the product's name. An animated mid-1960s commercial shows a man and his own stomach sitting opposite each other in chairs, having an argument which is moderated by their therapist (voiceover). The stomach accuses the man of purposely trying to irritate it, the man accuses his stomach of complaining too much about the foods he likes. The therapist suggests Alka-Seltzer, and further suggests that the two need to take care of each other. The closing words are the stomach saying: "Well, I'll try - if he will". Alka-Seltzer had a series of commercials during the mid 1960s which utilized a song called "No Matter What Shape Your Stomach's In," a different version of which was recorded by the T-Bones and was released as a single which became a hit in 1966. The ads were unique in that they featured only the mid-sections (no faces) of people of all shapes and sizes. In an Alka-Seltzer commercial from 1970, an actor (played by Jack Somack ) in a commercial for the fictional product "Magdalini's Meatballs" has to eat a meatball and then say "Mamma mia, that's-a spicy meat ball-a!" in an ersatz Italian accent. Take after take is ruined by some comedic trial or another. By the commercial's end, "Jack" has eaten so many meatballs that it's "Alka Seltzer to the rescue". With his stomach settled, Jack does a perfect take, except the oven door falls off. The director (off-camera) sighs and says, "OK, let's break for lunch." Although it has been said that this commercial was dropped because it was allegedly demeaning to Italians, more likely it was dropped because it failed to increase sales of the product (even today most people think it was a commercial for spaghetti sauce). Another 1970 commercial shows a newlywed couple in the bedroom after his wife (played by Alice Playten) has finished serving him a giant dumpling; the implication is that her cooking skills are severely lacking. She lies on the bed in delusional triumph. She offers her beleaguered husband a heart-shaped meatloaf; he disappears to take some Alka-Seltzer. When she hears the fizzy noise coming from the bathroom, he quickly covers the glass of dissolving Alka-Seltzer as she wonders aloud if it is raining. Just when he has recovered his well-being, he hears her misreading recipes for dinner the next night: "marshmallowed meatballs," and "pouched (actually poached) oysters". He returns to the bathroom for more Alka-Seltzer. A 1971 commercial featured the catch-phrase, "Try it, you'll like it!" It was remade by Kathy Griffin in 2006. [1] In 1972, an actor spent the commercial moaning, "I can't believe I ate the whole thing!" while his wife made sarcastic comments and finally advised him to take some Alka-Seltzer. [2] Another Alka-Seltzer commercial from the same era is one concerning "The ultimate businessman's lunch". Seeking "revenge" on his underlings for former bad suggestions, "The Boss" [aka "Mr. J.G.", played by character actor Milton Frome ] is taking his "boys" out to lunch in the most out-of-the-way place imaginable. In this instance they are seen trudging through the snow in a howling windstorm towards their destination, a Chinese restaurant in the mountains of Tibet. Once inside the restaurant and removing their parkas, J.G. and the boys are greeted by the proprietor, "Moo Chee" [a thinly veiled reference to other oriental food], played by character actor and voice artist Marvin Miller [best-known for playing Michael Anthony, personal assistant to John Beresford Tipton [III] on the 1950s TV series "The Millionaire", and the voice of "Robby the Robot" in the 1950s film Forbidden Planet ]. Moo Chee directs them into the dining room where J.G. orders all the food, including roast yak in a special hot sauce followed by "chocolate moose". One of the boys complains "but J.G., that's a French dessert!". J.G. responds "No, this is a real moose!" followed quickly by Moo Chee chiming in "with special hot chocolate sauce!" [as in hot peppers]. In the next scene J.G. and the boys are eating and getting sick, when in comes Moo Chee announcing "Important phone call for Mr. J.G.!" In the next scene, the hung-up telephone is seen [just a prop in the ruse to get away from the boys], and J.G. is finishing his Alka-Seltzer, thanking Moo Chee for his timely "rescue" from the awful food. Relieved, the boss returns to the now-empty dining room with Moo Chee. "Where are the boys?" asks J.G. The final remark is by Moo Chee "Maybe they too have important phone call, Mr. J.G." All of this detail is conveyed in a 30-second spot. In late 2005, Alka Seltzer re-introduced the "I can't believe I ate the whole thing" ad with Peter Boyle, apparently "in character" as Frank Barone from the 1996–2005 TV sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond (his TV wife, Doris Roberts as Marie Barone, appeared alongside Boyle in some of these commercials). In one commercial, she gives him a piece of cake to eat, at the end; in true Marie Barone fashion she adds, "drop one crumb and you're dead!" References in pop culture Jack Benny suggests it as a cure for a hangover on his February 9, 1953 radio episode "Steak Ride" The 1970s commercial was also featured in the movie Dick. Another "Plop Plop, Fizz Fizz" ad is featured in the 1976 comedy Silver Streak. . The band Oasis mention Alka-Seltzer in relation to a girl named 'Elsa' in their song "Supersonic." In the song they refer to Elsa snorting the Alka-Seltzer to get high. In the 1976 Columbia Pictures theatrical release "Taxi Driver," Travis Bickle (played by Robert De Niro) puts Alka-Seltzer in his water, during a scene in a luncheonette . Oddly enough, De Niro shares this scene with Peter Boyle, who appeared in a new ad campaign for Alka Seltzer beginning in late 2005 using slightly altered dialogue taken from the 1970s original (see above). The Bloodhound Gang's song Shut Up features the lyrics "I'm an Alka Seltzer, that's right you're a seagull", which is a reference to the urban myth that a seagull will explode if it swallows an Alka Seltzer. The song No More Shoes, by Stephen Malkmus (from his album Face the Truth), ends, after a lengthy psychedelic jam, with the distorted voice of Malkmus shouting at the top of his lungs "I want my Alka-Seltzer!" Alka Seltzer appeared in a strip of Calvin and Hobbes where Calvin likes to see his cereal crackle when he puts milk in it probably referring to the effervescent property. The band Gym Class Heroes use a reference to Alka Seltzer in their song "Cupid's Chokehold", the lyrics are "...i mean she even makes me pancakes, and alka seltzer when my tummy aches, if that ain't love then i don't know what love is." The German a cappella group "Wise Guys" mentions Alka-Seltzer on their album Radio in the song Aber sonst gesund (Healthy otherwise) In the song Trilogie auf Frau Pohl by German singer-songwriter Reinhard Mey, Mey's landlady invites him to a glass of Alka-Seltzer after he had an alcoholic party where parts of her furniture were demolished. In the Star Trek TNG episode Unification, Part I, there is a ship called the USS Alka-Selsior at Surplus Depot Z-15, a play on the name Excelsior and Alka-Seltzer. In the Weekend Update segment of the September 25th, 1976 Saturday Night Live episode, it was announced that Speedy Alka-Seltzer "came out of the medicine cabinet this week, and admitted that he was a bicarbonate," and had subsequently committed suicide by throwing himself into a bathtub, where he was "fatally effervesced." In the 1988 film Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, a member of the city council, played by Kurt Fuller, is seen taking Alka-Seltzer at a town meeting after Elvira uses a magical casserole to turn everyone in town into "sex-addled maniacs". In an issue of the defunct magazine Coronet, a mother writes deploring the actions sometimes depicted in commercials, such as people deliberately spilling stuff on a floor, since kids might copy that. But then she saw her young son confronted by a local bully. The younger boy started singing "Plop, plop, fizz, fizz, oh, what a relief it is!" The bully's attitude changed and the two kids walked down the street singing. Lil Wayne mentions Alka Seltzer in Dj Khaled's - I'm so Hood (Remix). In May 2008, WWE.com (the official website of World Wrestling Entertainment) added Alka-Seltzer to the SmackDown! superstars roster page. References

Toddst1 (talk) 13:26, 16 June 2008 (UTC)

Alternative Uses

There has been talk that when taking alka-seltzer at the onset of a urinary tract infection, that they symptoms will subside and the infection clears. It does this because the alkaline offsets the pH balance in your system.Northstar1219 (talk) 22:26, 23 November 2008 (UTC)

"Invention"

The article says the stuff was invented in 1931, but used in the 1920s. How exactly does that work? Monkeyzpop (talk) 16:09, 29 May 2009 (UTC)

• Found cite for invention date and replaced this line with cited material.Riverpa (talk) 15:48, 13 October 2009 (UTC)

Hangover

In the UK this is mostly known as a hangover cure - the glass tube variety being used in many a sitcom for "the morning after" (e.g. yes minister). After hangover, I would say it associates as a headache cure.

The article reads like it is considered/marketed as primarily indigestion cure in the US? There is no mention of hangovers in the article... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.244.153.18 (talk) 12:50, 28 July 2009 (UTC)

Might be worth mentioning the Black Books episode where it appears, shows the British attitude to it. I'll return later with an appropriate citation and someone can add it if they think it's worth mentioning. Ico2 (talk) 15:39, 30 January 2010 (UTC)

I agree with the above. I've never heard of it being used for anything other than hangovers and much of what is mentioned here is new to me. This article is, like most Wikipedia articles, too US-centric. Please write articles so they are useful for all people and not just Americans. Articles that appeal only to the USA should be rewritten or deleted.--79.34.11.198 (talk) 14:04, 8 January 2012 (UTC)

Started Clean-up

Re-wrote the lead, reformatted a bit. Found a good citation. Yes, it's marketed for hangovers in the US! :-) Riverpa (talk) 04:06, 13 October 2009 (UTC)

• Added several references and section headers and re-arranged things. I removed the flags as it seems much better to me now, but would not be offended if they need to be put back on. The article still needs citations in the TV ad area, also could use detail in the Radio sponsorship area, as a new section. So I think it is much better but still needs work. Riverpa (talk) 19:21, 13 October 2009 (UTC)

What are the active ingredients?

From the article it does not become clear to me what the active ingredients are. In case that it is just acetylsalicylic acid it should be made obvious at a prominent place. 76.124.87.103 (talk) 19:48, 3 April 2010 (UTC)

In popular culture section

To the anonymous user who added the Oasis song: popular culture sections do not need to include every song which mentions the article topic. The song is not about Alka-Seltzer. Also, avoid the personal attacks. If you have sources which show this song is particularly notable (as related to the product), then provide them. See WP:POPCULTURE: "However, passing mentions in books, television or film dialogue or song lyrics should be included only when that mention's significance is itself demonstrated with secondary sources. For example, a brief reference in film dialogue may be notable if the subject responds to it in a public fashion—such as a celebrity or official quoted as expressing pleasure or displeasure at the reference." PaulGS (talk) 01:17, 13 June 2010 (UTC)

In "Star Trek: The Next Generation", there is an episode with a retired/decommissioned starship whose name is a pun of the product. The vessel's name is, "U.S.S. ALKA-SELSIOR NCC-1404"! Does this minor usage count well enough for reference in the pop culture section? Just curious. Leo Star Dragon 1. 70.129.174.55 (talk) 03:06, 16 April 2011 (UTC)

Increasing sales by doubling dose

It should be mentioned that originally the suggested dose was a single tablet but this was later doubled to increase sales (along with an advert showing two tabs being dropped in to water to help change the publics opinion on the number to take) Muleattack (talk) 16:01, 8 December 2011 (UTC)

Etymology?

Have added Carbonated water as it contaims the etymolgy of "seltzer". But this could also (or instead) be added as a separate section, or be added in Marketing. Presumably the "Alka" part was from "alkali", from sodium, the basis for the nature of the resulting solution. So perhaps this could be added if a supporting ref could be found? Martinevans123 (talk) 21:23, 3 January 2012 (UTC)

Missing famous commercials

I'm amazed that there is no mention of two of Alka-Seltzers' most famous commercials here: the one about the newlywed couple after she made him "marshmellow meatballs" for dinner. (Google that phrase & you'll find stuff like this; & the commercial featuring a middle-aged guy moaning, "I can't believe I ate the whole thing." I believe these won awards for commercials & introduced the genre of the "soft-sell commercial" -- where the idea is to create a commercial the viewer remembers, rather than one that hawks the quality of the product. -- llywrch (talk) 22:04, 14 December 2013 (UTC)

Picture

The main picture should be improved Henkob (talk) 21:29, 20 December 2015 (UTC)

Agreed, it's terrible. It's not the regular product, and you can't even see the tablets. Kendall-K1 (talk) 21:44, 20 December 2015 (UTC)

This one is slightly better, but I'm not crazy about it: [3] Kendall-K1 (talk) 21:46, 20 December 2015 (UTC)

Markets and brands

Afaik (and experience) Alka seltzer is sold in Europe under that brand. Different from rennie (which is administered dry without adding water). BBird (talk) 15:42, 29 March 2016 (UTC)

I confirm that Alka-Seltzer is sold in Europe (in Belgium at least). I just bought some 10 minutes ago. --Dom (talk) 09:27, 5 October 2017 (UTC)

Unsourced almost entirely

The following is almost entirely unsourced, or is badly sourced, and was moved here per WP:PRESERVE. Per WP:BURDEN please do not restore without finding independent, reliable sources, checking the content against them, and citing them, and ensuring that this content has appropriate WP:WEIGHT in the article overall.

Please be aware that per WP:PROMO: Wikipedia is not for..... Advertising, marketing or public relations. Information about companies and products must be written in an objective and unbiased style, free of puffery. All article topics must be verifiable with independent, third-party sources...."

Please note the " Wikipedia articles about a company or organization are not an extension of their website" piece of that.

from lead

A spin-off of Alka-Seltzer made to relieve colds and flu, Alka-Seltzer Plus, was later introduced. A short-lived antacid non-aspirin variant, Alka-Mints, was introduced in 1994 and discontinued in 1997. Another non-aspirin-based variant, Alka-Seltzer Gold, was later released.

Since 1978 Alka-Seltzer has been owned by Bayer Schering Pharma AG, Germany. The name "Alka-Seltzer" has been extended to incorporate an entire line of medications sold over the counter and taken by means of rapidly dissolving tablets that form a carbonated solution in water.

The brand is sold in North and Central America (and the Caribbean), as well in Australia and Asia-Pacific. In the 1980s and 1990s Bayer attempted to introduce the brand in Europe and South America with little success, withdrawing them after a few years.

Marketing

The product has been extensively advertised since its launch in the U.S. It was originally marketed by Mikey Wiseman, a company scientist of Dr. Miles Medicine Company, who also helped direct its development. Print advertising was used immediately, and in 1932 the radio show Alka-Seltzer Comedy Star of Hollywood began, with National Barn Dance following in 1933, along with many more. The radio sponsorships continued into the 1950s, ending with the Alka-Seltzer Time show.

Two years after its launch came the repeal of Prohibition in the US, and Alka-Seltzer became Miles' new flagship product, displacing Miles Nervine Tonic.

In 1951 the "Speedy" character was introduced. The character was created by ad writer Chuck Tenant and designed by commercial artist Bob Watkins, both of the Wade Advertising agency. Originally named Sparky, the name was changed to Speedy by sales manager Perry L. Shupert to align with that year's promotional theme, "Speedy Relief." Speedy appeared in over 200 TV commercials between 1954 and 1964. His body was one Alka-Seltzer tablet, while he wore another as a hat. In his original spots he sang "Relief is just a swallow away"; in his 1978 revival he proclaimed Alka-Seltzer's virtues and sang the "Plop, plop, fizz, fizz, oh what a relief it is" song in his high, squeaky voice (provided by veteran juvenile voice actor Dick Beals). In the early 1960s a commercial showing two tablets dropping into a glass of water instead of the usual one caused sales to double. In December 2010 Alka-Seltzer began a series of new commercials featuring Speedy, using CGI effects to recreate the stop-motion puppetry of the 1950s and 1960s, with Speedy voiced by Debi Derryberry.

US TV commercials

Alka Seltzer Plus tablet

Alka-Seltzer TV ads from the 1960s and 1970s in the US were among the most popular of the 20th century, ranking number 13, according to Advertising Age. To increase sales in a relatively flat business, Bayer has revived several of the vintage spots.

The famous "Plop, plop, fizz, fizz" commercial song was written by Tom Dawes, who was a former member of The Cyrkle.

• During the race for space in the early 1960s before the USA moon landing there was a commercial with Speedy in a space suit and a jingle with the lyrics

On Man's first trip through space, I only hope that I'm aboard, securely strapped in place. They'll track our ship with radar and telescopes and soon, imagine seeing Speedy Alka-Seltzer on the moon!

• Buster Keaton appeared along with the animated Speedy Alka-Seltzer figure in a series of 1950s commercials based on the product's then-current slogan, "Relief is just a swallow away." Speedy Alka-Seltzer was voiced by Dick Beals. Speedy was revived for one of the "Plop, plop, fizz, fizz" song spots in 1978.
• George Raft starred in the 1969 Alka-Seltzer commercial "The Unfinished Lunch." It consists of Raft incarcerated and in the prison lunchroom. He takes a bite of the prison food and recoils. Suddenly he bangs his cup on the steel table. It ripples throughout the room. He starts intoning "Alka-Seltzer, Alka-Seltzer..." Soon, the other hundreds of inmates do the same. (The commercial was so popular that several weeks later Raft appeared as a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Raft told Carson that it took more than 7 hours to tape the 30-second commercial. Raft was enraged by the end of the day, thus making his inmate portrayal that much more convincing for the final editing. The film crew gave Raft his crumpled tin cup, which he showed to Carson and the audience.)
• An animated mid-1960s commercial, animated by R.O. Blechman, shows a man and his own stomach sitting opposite each other in chairs, having an argument moderated by their therapist in a voiceover. The stomach (voiced by Gene Wilder) accuses the man of purposely trying to irritate it. The man accuses his stomach of complaining too much about the foods he likes. The therapist suggests Alka-Seltzer, and further suggests that the two must take care of each other. The closing words are of the stomach saying to the man: "Well, I'll try — if you will."
• Alka-Seltzer had a series of commercials during the mid-1960s that used a song called "No Matter What Shape (Your Stomach's In)." A different version was recorded by the T-Bones and was released as a single, which became a hit in 1966. The ads were unique in that they featured only the midsections (no faces) of people of all shapes and sizes. A version of this ad can be seen briefly in the 1988 motion picture The In Crowd, immediately before the movie's first live broadcast of the fictitious "Perry Parker's Dance Party."
• In an Alka-Seltzer commercial from 1969, an actor (played by Jack Somack) in a commercial for the fictional product "Magdalini's Meatballs" has to eat a meatball and then say, "Mamma mia, that's-a spicy meat-ball!" in an thick Italian accent. Numerous takes are ruined by various errors, as comedian Ronny Graham drops the clapperboard. By take 59, Jack has eaten so many meatballs that he can't continue, and it's "Alka Seltzer to the rescue." With his stomach settled, Jack does a perfect take, and then the oven door falls off. The director sighs and says, "okay, let's break for lunch."
• A 1970 commercial shows a newlywed couple in the bedroom after the woman (played by Alice Playten) has finished serving her husband (played by Terry Kiser) a giant dumpling; the implication is that her cooking skills are severely lacking, despite her husband's lament, "I can't believe I ate that whole thing!", the commercial's catch-phrase. She lies on the bed in delusional triumph. She offers her beleaguered husband a heart-shaped meatloaf; he disappears to take some Alka-Seltzer. When she hears the fizzy noise coming from the bathroom, he quickly covers the glass of dissolving Alka-Seltzer as she wonders aloud if it is raining. Just when he has recovered his well-being, he hears her misreading recipes for dinner the next night: "Marshmallowed meatballs," ,"medium salad snails and "pouched (actually poached) oysters". He returns to the bathroom for more Alka-Seltzer. The catch-phrase, Howie Cohen told The Los Angeles Times, was inspired when he ate too much of the food at a London commercial shoot because "I am a nice Jewish kid from the Bronx, so I ate everything," and when he told his wife "I can't believe I ate the whole thing", she said, "There's your next Alka-Seltzer commercial."
• A 1971 commercial featured another catch-phrase from Cohen (along with Bob Pasqualina), "Try it, you'll like it!" It was remade with Kathy Griffin in 2006.
• In 1972, an actor (Milt Moss) spent the commercial moaning, "I can't believe I ate that who-o-o-o-o-ole thing," while his wife (Lynn Whinic) made sarcastic comments and finally advised him to take some Alka-Seltzer. In 2005, this ad was also remade, featuring Peter Boyle and Doris Roberts from the 1996–2005 TV sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond.
• Sammy Davis, Jr. recorded two versions of the famous "Plop Plop Fizz Fizz" jingle in 1978, one of which (the "big band" version) was featured on a television commercial. Both the big band and rock versions had additional lyrics (with at least one verse unique to each song) written by Tom Dawes, former lead singer of The Cyrkle who wrote the original jingle.
• In 2009, the brand was featured in television commercials supporting the United States Ski Team that included alpine skier Lindsey Vonn and Nordic combined skier Bill Demong. Miniature figures of the Speedy mascot were shown with each.

References

- Jytdog (talk) 01:01, 31 December 2017 (UTC)

Alka-Seltzer XS

In the UK there's a product called Alka-Seltzer XS. It contains aspirin, paracetamol (US: acetaminophen), caffeine and sodium. It's not described as an antacid on the box it comes in or on the informational leaflet inside the box, but rather as a pain-killing medication (hardly surprising considering the ingredients). I'm a bit confused by this because I bought it the other day thinking it was an antacid/heartburn remedy (since that's how I've always thought of Alka-Seltzer) but XS is clearly different. That said, sodium bicarbonate is an indigestion remedy, so I'm thinking the sodium in the Alka-Seltzer might help with indigestion/heartburn (am I wrong/right?), but neither the box nor the leaflet mention anything about indigestion or heartburn. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2.25.65.63 (talk) 03:12, 11 June 2019 (UTC)

Image

I took a large number of images so that I could update the image of this article. I selected what I thought to be the best one, but you can take a look around at c:Category:Alka-Seltzer and let me know if I made the wrong choice.  Mysterymanblue  04:11, 5 February 2022 (UTC)

Re: Advertisement

I notice there has been discussion over the years on the odd inclusion of so much information on the marketing of Alka-Seltzer. Wikipedia is encyclopaedic in scope—to include this much information on what is ultimately an unnecessary section that will only ever appeal to a group of people nostalgic for some television ads defeats this entirely. --JJLiu112 (talk) 07:40, 26 May 2022 (UTC)

I agree. It seems that a lot of the pop culture references have been cut down, but still, the section on the commercials dominates this article. It still seems to be a significant wall of text talking about these commercials in a manner that feels a bit too in depth for what it is. I understand that some of these commercials have had impacts on advertising and culture, but as said previously, a lot of it does feel to be appealing to nostalgia than being encyclopedic content. I feel that it would be most in line with wikipedia standards to try to only mention the commercials that have had significant and observable impact on advertising and culture. I do not feel we need to include the mention of commercials that did not do much in the wide scope of things. For example, the commercials that introduced the song, or the one that started the meatball catchphrase likely should be included. An example of what I feel is unnecessary and contributing to the excessive length of the marketing section is the following.

"A 1971 commercial featured another catch-phrase from Cohen (along with Bob Pasqualina), "Try it, you'll like it!" It was remade with Kathy Griffin in 2006. In 1972, an actor (Milt Moss) spent the commercial moaning, "I can't believe I ate that who-o-o-o-o-ole thing," while his wife (Lynn Whinic) made sarcastic comments and finally advised him to take some Alka-Seltzer. In 2005, this ad was also remade, featuring Peter Boyle and Doris Roberts from the 1996–2005 TV sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond."

This does not seem important to bring up in the article, regardless of it being remade by famous actors, or who wrote the lines in the commercial. At most, mentioning that Cohen had also written a line for a commercial in 1971 would be more than appropriate. If we absolutely must mention the presence of famous people like Kathy Griffin and such, perhaps a short section listing the notable people who have been in the commercials and the year.

Lastly, I do feel that even with commercials of significance, I feel that the descriptions are a little much. I feel it would be most appropriate to mention specifically what about the ad was important or notable, rather than describing the plot and characters from the ad with this level of creative description, if that makes sense.

To anyone reading, obviously, I am new to Wikipedia editing, So if any of my thoughts are actually not in line with the etiquette, I apologise. I just felt I should make it known that despite the years of improvements with this page, it's quality still feels lacking to even a beginner contributor/editor.

Judaspleen (talk) 04:09, 5 December 2022 (UTC)