Content
Skip to Main ContentAccessibility Help
Under the Influence

Four little words doubled this company's sales

Every company dreams of doubling its profit. It’s almost impossible to do. Yet, some companies do it by tweaking one tiny thing.
CBC Radio ·
Alka Seltzer ad from 1976 featuring the famous "Plop, Plop, Fizz, Fizz" jingle, prompting folks with indigestion to take two Alka Seltzer tablets.
Alka Seltzer ad from 1976 featuring the famous "Plop, Plop, Fizz, Fizz" jingle. (YouTube (navigide))
Under the Influence27:26Plop, Plop, Fizz, Fizz: How Companies Double Their Profits

Back in the 1960's, Alka Seltzer was a brand in trouble.

Its loyal users were getting old, and Alka Seltzer had become a symbol of slobs who ate and drank too much. It was almost embarrassing to be seen using Alka Seltzer. In focus groups, people often said they took Alka Seltzer "in the dark." But people were still experiencing heartburn and indigestion, and Alka Seltzer could solve those problems. So ad legend Mary Wells Lawrence decided to create entertaining commercials for Alka Seltzer, instead of the corny ones the brand had been running for years.

First, her agency created a commercial that showed all sorts of stomachs, big ones, slim ones, young ones, and old ones – all filmed at stomach level.

The commercial was a big hit – and the accompanying jingle would soon become a hit song in 1967. Then Mary Wells Lawrence hit gold.

She met a doctor named Dorothy Carter at Miles Laboratories, the company that produced Alka Seltzer. Carter told her that in order for aspirin to break through the pain barrier, it often required two tablets. Because aspirin was one of the ingredients that made Alka Seltzer effective, Mary asked if two Alka Seltzer tablets would work better than one.

The answer was yes.

With that, Mary Wells Lawrence created one of the most famous taglines of all time:

Every commercial from that point on showed two Alka Seltzer tablets dissolving in a glass of water – hence Mary's brilliant use of the words "plop, plop, fizz, fizz".

The directions on the package were changed to say to take "two" tablets – and small, foil packets containing two tablets were created. Those packets were then sold in new places – like magazine stands, bars, and fast-food restaurants.

With that small change, Alka Seltzer doubled its sales.

For more stories on Companies That Doubled Their Profits, click or tap the play button above to hear the full Under the Influence episode. Find more episodes on the CBC Listen app or subscribe to the podcast.