But I Like Airborne!

I was fascinated by something in the news today—the Airborne company is getting sued!
For those of you not “in the know,” Airborne is a fizzy tablet in various flavors (I can only stand the grapefruit kind), and it is supposed to bomb your cold, flu, megrims, humors, and what-ails-you, out of existence. I take it along with Wellness Formula and Emergen-C when I am getting a cold or flu. Honestly, I always get a bit sick anyway, so who knows if it actually works—but at least I feel Iike I’m doing something about it.

Now Airborne has been sued for false advertising! Actually, I don’t read the advertising—I just pick up Airborne at Trader Joe’s when I have a cold, because a friend recommended it once. Reading a bit closer on the box, it says, “invented by a schoolteacher.” My students and I have had some interesting discussions on product endorsements by celebrities, and also “trustworthy” people—I brought in examples of ads from the 1920s and 1930s recently, for “Cocaine Toothache Drops,”
(with a picture of children playing happily in the park), and opium syrup, “recommended by mothers everywhere,” as well as an old ad for Camel cigarettes, “the brand most preferred by doctors.” Granted, this was at a time when people weren’t all that aware of the health problems of these things (except for opium syrups, which had articles written on their harmfulness as far back as the end of the 1800s).

At any rate, the gist of the lawsuit was that Airborne really doesn’t work, and the ads will apparently change to reflect that it now claims to be an “immune system enhancer.” I, of course, as a creature of habit, will continue to buy Airborne when I feel sick. Now, if only they could invent some nicer flavors for the stuff!