A friend just pointed me to Excedrin’s web page for Excedrin® Menstrual Complete, with “a unique triple ingredient combination that relieves 5 of your major symptoms — bloating, cramps, muscle aches, headache, and fatigue.” You know, for “[w]hen your period feels like it’s going to be one of those days.”
Friends, it’s not really a unique combination, since it’s EXACTLY the same ingredient blend contained in plain ol’ Excedrin® Extra Strength and in Excedrin® Migraine:
Well, there is one difference. Caffeine is identified as a “pain reliever aid” in the other two formulas, while in Excedrin® Menstrual Complete it’s called a diuretic.
I’m not saying that acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine won’t cure what ails you, just telling Novartis they’re not fooling anybody with this gambit.
As my wife pointed out, there’s another difference — cost. After a quick run through ‘Google products’ this morning, the cheapest I could find ‘Menstrual Complete’ was $4.71 for 20 — versus 24 ‘Extra Strength’ for around a dollar. Exact same active ingredients, exact same dosage…
Wow, that is especially ridiculous. I’m glad blatantly ripping off women is a business choice they’re willing to make.
I discovered this exact same thing awhile back when comparing migraine formula pain relievers. Excedrin is the king of niche marketing on their products. So I buy Target’s store brand instead!
Thanks, genehack. That little detail wasn’t available on Excedrin’s web site!
(See this post at Bitch magazine today for how that happens with other products as well.)