Beloved Cold Remedy is Placebo-tastic
You may be familiar with Airborne, the sure fire cold remedy that, as the corporate branding tells us, was invented by a second grade teacher. Well, as it turns out, Airborne only operates on a second grade level — that is, it fights colds with the power of imagination.
As reported by ABC News, the only actual cited piece of evidence that Airborne effectively fights or prevents colds came from a study conducted by “GNG Pharmaceutical Services.” As it happens, GNG Pharmaceutical Services has about as much ability to test commercial products as the man with the exploding banana face (see yesterday’s post) GNG Pharmaceuticals in completely fabricated. It is a figment. And so millions of people have staked their cold-catching chances on this figment for years. Oops. Whatever will the oblivious public turn to next?