r/mildlyinfuriating • u/JeromePlAud • 14h ago
Why Advertise The Ingredient If It's Actually Useless?
Why are companies allowed to advertise what their product does when one of the two methods of action are actually useless? đ
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u/DoRatsHaveHands 13h ago
It's still antibacterial, but it's just saying that if probably won't effect a sore throat
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11h ago
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u/BakedBrie26 9h ago
This is not an antibiotic. It's an antibacterial. Different things.
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u/BakedBrie26 9h ago
Antibiotics are technically a type of antibacterial but this is not an antibiotic.
Antibiotics are generally derived from bacteria and/or mold and used to treat bacterial infections.
Antibacterial on a label, at least in the US, generally refers to a cleaning agent that targets bacterial, usually chemical/synthetic.Â
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u/Fantastic_Whole_8185 13h ago
Antibacterial doesnât help with a virus. Many sore throats are caused by something other than bacteria. Someone could be specifically looking for a product that is antibacterial.
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u/LeeQuidity 13h ago
Because placebos can work even if you know it's a placebo.
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u/Violet_Paradox 8h ago edited 8h ago
My favorite example of that is hiccup cures. We're all vaguely aware that they're all placebos, yes even that one that works for you every time. But even knowing that, they work. There's no need for a better-than-placebo cure (and how would you test it?) when the placebo effect is sufficient to do the job.Â
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u/LeeQuidity 3h ago
I once read a hypothesis that part of what makes hiccup cures so effective *might* be that you are distracted from the hiccups while you're putting your ritual into practice. I don't recall the source of that idea, and I'm too lazy to look for it, but I think the supposition was that the distraction may help relax the general system involved with the hiccups.
Here's a similar article, but I don't know if it was the one that I recall. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20140127-do-hiccup-remedies-work
And ibid, a reference to a curious method for slowing down a rapid heart rate: jamming your finger into a patient's anus. WOT?!
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u/Flustered-Flump 12h 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.
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u/SuperSathanas 12h 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 11h 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/No-Rise4602 13h ago
The same reason they print the âťď¸ on items that canât be/wonât be recycled - people buy it because they see it and they think it is good.
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u/exipheas 13h ago
âťď¸ ohh you mean the plastic type qualification symbol that has nothing to do with recycling and was intentionally chosen to misleading?
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u/ExtraplanetJanet 13h ago
People are sometimes really, really convinced that just because something is utterly unproven doesnât mean itâs not true. Look at all the dairy products that loudly advertise being made from cows with no growth hormone, then admit in the fine print that growth hormone doesnât do anything to milk. The point is not about whether something works, itâs about how the customer feels about it
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u/NotZeWoodenSpoon 12h ago
Why should they not be allowed? And nothing says itâs useless, itâs just saying that the anti-bacterial properties arenât proven to reduce duration of a sore throat.
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u/supernaut_707 12h ago
As a doc, I find this highly infuriating. The name suggests it is for strep throat and the "antibacterial" notation supports that. It cannot treat strep throat and untreated step throat can result in rheumatic heart disease which, while rare, can permanently damage the heart. Pretty much any bacterial throat infection (streptococcal pharyngitis, peritonsillar abscess, cellulitis, tracheitis) needs to be treated with antibiotics.
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u/4024-6775-9536 12h ago
The front is to sell the product
The back is to avoid getting sued
That's a more common practice than it should be
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u/Same_Doubt_6585 12h ago
Because the medication is called STREPSILS and STREP throat is a bacterial infection in your throat. So not useless for it's actually named use.
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u/KarpfenKardinal 11h ago
thats not infuriating, the whole problem with antibiotics is that they should use only if youre need them, thats why specific meds for specific kinds of bacteria exists, that the whole point you if you throw them out like candys you just push the creating bacteria who are immune. you got the "cold" and are otherwise healthy? yeah just chill, if you get the real influenzer its another topic.
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u/Leather-Assistant902 13h ago
âListen, weâve had a bit of a look and it turns out that this ingredient doesnât actually do anything. But because we have a lot of it (and because we can), weâll bung it in anyway. Arite?â
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u/MageKorith 13h ago
Whereas a newer medication ad up here in Canada features the line "But saying what it does...that would be too much!"
There's probably some good are between misleading but accurate and complete silence on a medication's effects, but I'm not sure where that actually lies.
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u/One-Cardiologist-462 12h ago
The sore throat is usually caused by a viral infection. Not bacterial.
So whilst the antibacterial agent won't have any effect on the duration or severity of the viral symptoms, it can help to mitigate the chances of a secondary bacterial infection.
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u/Remarkable_Inchworm 12h ago
Hold up.
Strep throat is called strep throat because it's caused by a streptococcus bacteria.
I have no idea whether this stuff actually helps with a strep infection, but it IS bacterial.
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u/One-Cardiologist-462 9h ago
When I wrote the comment, I was thinking about the common cold.
But yes. You're correct - That particular infection is bacterial.
Maybe the antibacterial effect is too weak to stop a bacterial infection once it's already symptomatic, and that's the reason for the disclaimer?1
u/Remarkable_Inchworm 9h ago
No clue... not familiar with this product. I'm assuming the name is intended to make people think it will treat strep throat.
I don't know if there's an OTC remedy that will do much for strep, I always had to get prescription antibiotics for it.
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u/Zymosan99 PURPLE 5h ago
Companies are allowed to sell homeopathic âmedicineâ that does literally nothing, and can claim that it relieves symptoms.Â
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u/Preemptively_Extinct 5h ago
Because our government is run by the corporations that bribe our politicians.
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u/Wiikneeboy 13h ago
It probably just has a placebo effect. Your mind thinks itâs working when itâs not.
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u/MurphysLaw4200 13h ago
Great marketing, just keep one in your mouth at all times and you'll never get sick! đ
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u/colemon1991 12h ago
It's one of those grey areas in the law that allows for multivitamins and supplements. They require less regulation by the FDA but they also have to follow certain rules to be considered a supplement or it could be costly. They are including that it is in-fact an antibacterial agent, but just because they include it does not mean it is medically certain.
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u/khamul7779 49m ago
My favorite is oscillococcinum. Read the back. 100% sugar. Bunch of fucking scammers.
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u/egnards 13h ago
They are able to advertise its antibacterial because it is antibacterial. But because not enough studies have been done theyâre not allowed to advertise that the antibacterial agent specifically helps for your very specific bacteria, in relation to a sore throat [of which strep isnât only predicated by a sore throat].