• Wall Street Journal, Monday, April 5, 2010 8:22 AM

Without actually saying that they'll cure a hangover, two new spots suggest that Coca-Cola's Vitaminwater is just the right tonic if you've woken up with a throbbing brain "and your face is in a pile of nachos." Vitaminwater's purple "Revive" flavor has B vitamins and potassium, we are assured, and will help to rehydrate you after "these apparently epic nights." The claims would seem to bolster popular wisdom on college campuses, if not academia per se.

Coke says the spots are the vanguard of a major push that it hopes will pull the brand, which it bought in 2007, out of the doldrums. Sales volume dropped 22% last year, according to Beverage Digest. Elements include three more TV ads, online videos, billboards and a new label with a box highlighting the vitamins and minerals within, Valerie Bauerlein and Suzanne Vranica report.

Alcohol researcher John Brick says that drinks like Vitaminwater can indeed improve hangover symptoms. "The key is to rehydrate," says the author of The Doctor's Hangover Handbook. "If you're drinking Vitaminwater or plain water or Gatorade or Alka-Seltzer, those are all going to be helpful," he says.

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