Anacin
Encyclopedia
Anacin is a pain reliever intended for the temporary relief of minor aches and pains. Anacin is a product of Insight Pharmaceuticals. Anacin's active ingredients are aspirin
and caffeine
.
It was originally sold by The Anacin Co. ("Pharmaceutical Chemists") in Chicago, Illinois. American Home Products, now known as Wyeth, purchased the manufacturing rights in 1930. Anacin was reportedly their "most popular product." Insight Pharmaceuticals acquired the brand in 2003.
. Their sponsorship spanned 18 of the program's 23 years on the air.
Anacin is one of the earliest and best examples of a concerted television marketing campaign created for them in the late 1950s by Rosser Reeves
of the Ted Bates
ad agency. Many people remember the commercials advertising "tension producing" situations, and the "hammers in the head" advert with the slogan "Tension. Pressure. Pain."
A later Anacin advert (in 1962) featured a mother trying to assist her grown daughter with various chores, such as preparing a meal. "Don't you think it needs a little salt in it?", mother would say, only to have her nerve-racked daughter shout, "Mother, please, I'd rather do it myself!" As the mother wilted, the daughter would emote and rub her head, with her inner voice saying, "Control yourself! Sure, you're tired, you have a headache, but don't take it out on her!" These advertisement scenarios became popular and were parodied a number of times, including in the Allan Sherman
song "Headaches" and the 1980 film Airplane
.
Anacin had a large advertisement behind the center field fence in Yankee Stadium from the 1950s through 1973, prior to the stadium's renovation in 1974 and 1975.
Early Anacin radio commercials appeared in radio shows and dramas of the 1940s and '50s. These "formulaic" commercials usually claimed that Anacin was being actively prescribed by doctors and dentists at the time, treated "headaches, neuritis and neuralgia," and that it contained "a combination of medically proven ingredients, like a doctor's prescription," without specifying those ingredients. Sometimes the announcer would mention that there were four active ingredients in Anacin, one of which was the medicine the consumer was already taking. The announcer then reminded the listener that Anacin was available "at any drug counter", and "come in handy (tin) boxes of 12 and 30, and economical family-size bottles of 50 and 100", usually spelling out its name at the end of the commercial: "A-N-A-C-I-N".
Aspirin
Aspirin , also known as acetylsalicylic acid , is a salicylate drug, often used as an analgesic to relieve minor aches and pains, as an antipyretic to reduce fever, and as an anti-inflammatory medication. It was discovered by Arthur Eichengrun, a chemist with the German company Bayer...
and caffeine
Caffeine
Caffeine is a bitter, white crystalline xanthine alkaloid that acts as a stimulant drug. Caffeine is found in varying quantities in the seeds, leaves, and fruit of some plants, where it acts as a natural pesticide that paralyzes and kills certain insects feeding on the plants...
.
History
Anacin was invented by William Milton Knight and was first estimated to be used in the year of 1916 as stated in the patent. Anacin is one of the oldest brands of pain relievers in the United States, first beginning sales in the 1930s. Anacin's mascot at the time was Ana Anacin, who was found in a number of ads of this product.It was originally sold by The Anacin Co. ("Pharmaceutical Chemists") in Chicago, Illinois. American Home Products, now known as Wyeth, purchased the manufacturing rights in 1930. Anacin was reportedly their "most popular product." Insight Pharmaceuticals acquired the brand in 2003.
Advertising
In 1939, Anacin sponsored a daytime serial called Our Gal SundayOur Gal Sunday
Our Gal Sunday was an American soap opera produced by Frank and Anne Hummert and heard on CBS from 1937 to 1959.The origin of this radio series was a 1904 Broadway production, Sunday, which starred Ethel Barrymore...
. Their sponsorship spanned 18 of the program's 23 years on the air.
Anacin is one of the earliest and best examples of a concerted television marketing campaign created for them in the late 1950s by Rosser Reeves
Rosser Reeves
Rosser Reeves was a hugely successful American advertising executive and pioneer of television advertising. He believed the purpose of advertising is to sell. He insisted that an advertisement or commercial should show off the value of a product, not the cleverness of a copywriter. His most...
of the Ted Bates
Ted Bates (executive)
Theodore Lewis "Ted" Bates was an American advertising executive who founded a worldwide advertising agency that bears his name: Ted Bates Inc...-Biography:...
ad agency. Many people remember the commercials advertising "tension producing" situations, and the "hammers in the head" advert with the slogan "Tension. Pressure. Pain."
A later Anacin advert (in 1962) featured a mother trying to assist her grown daughter with various chores, such as preparing a meal. "Don't you think it needs a little salt in it?", mother would say, only to have her nerve-racked daughter shout, "Mother, please, I'd rather do it myself!" As the mother wilted, the daughter would emote and rub her head, with her inner voice saying, "Control yourself! Sure, you're tired, you have a headache, but don't take it out on her!" These advertisement scenarios became popular and were parodied a number of times, including in the Allan Sherman
Allan Sherman
Allan Sherman was an American comedy writer and television producer who became famous as a song parodist in the early 1960s. His first album, My Son, the Folk Singer , became the fastest-selling record album up to that time...
song "Headaches" and the 1980 film Airplane
Airplane!
Airplane! is a 1980 American satirical comedy film directed and written by David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker and released by Paramount Pictures...
.
Anacin had a large advertisement behind the center field fence in Yankee Stadium from the 1950s through 1973, prior to the stadium's renovation in 1974 and 1975.
Early Anacin radio commercials appeared in radio shows and dramas of the 1940s and '50s. These "formulaic" commercials usually claimed that Anacin was being actively prescribed by doctors and dentists at the time, treated "headaches, neuritis and neuralgia," and that it contained "a combination of medically proven ingredients, like a doctor's prescription," without specifying those ingredients. Sometimes the announcer would mention that there were four active ingredients in Anacin, one of which was the medicine the consumer was already taking. The announcer then reminded the listener that Anacin was available "at any drug counter", and "come in handy (tin) boxes of 12 and 30, and economical family-size bottles of 50 and 100", usually spelling out its name at the end of the commercial: "A-N-A-C-I-N".
Varieties
Anacin covers an entire family of pain relievers. There are six different formulations:- Anacin Regular Strength - contains 400 mg aspirin and 32 mg caffeine per tablet.
- Anacin Extra Strength - contains 500 mg aspirin and 32 mg caffeine per tablet.
- Anacin Advanced - contains 250 mg acetaminophen (paracetamolParacetamolParacetamol INN , or acetaminophen USAN , is a widely used over-the-counter analgesic and antipyretic . It is commonly used for the relief of headaches and other minor aches and pains and is a major ingredient in numerous cold and flu remedies...
), 250 mg aspirin and 65 mg caffeine per tablet. - Aspirin Free - contains 500 mg acetaminophen per tablet.
- Anacin 3 - acetaminophen