• Brandweek, Monday, October 23, 2006 12:15 PM

Schering-Plough's Coricidin HPB--a cold/cough remedy that was popular in the Sixties and Seventies--is undergoing a packaging face-lift following a rise of nearly 8% in sales over the last year. The new design retains all the elements of the old one, but ups the prominence of the red heart icon and increases the size of the "HBP" typeface. The tweaking was necessary because the brand gets relatively little shelf space, and the previous heart icon could sometimes be mistaken for the letter C.

The brand, which has languished for years, has benefited from two developments. Products like Sudafed that contain pseudoephedrine have been banned from most OTC store shelves because the ingredient is used in the production of crystal methamphetamine. Also, the number of people with high blood pressure has increased--and they cannot take certain decongestants, such as pseudoephedrine, that are contained in the leading brands.

Ironically, Schering has reason to fear the product becoming too successful: teenagers seeking to get high often abuse it. At high doses, dextromethorphan is hallucinogenic. Abusing Coricidin is sometimes called "robo-tripping" or "skittling," because the pills look like the candy Skittles. The Partnership for a Drug-Free America claims that one in 11 teens report abusing dextromethorphan to get high.

Read the whole story at Brandweek »