An aspirin a day keeps......

A Willow Tree

One Billion, One Hundred and Twenty Two Million a Year and Counting.

That is what the world consumes of that little tablet that we call aspirin.  I would say that one of the most used phases in our vernacular is. " Take an aspirin".  Yes even more than Yogi Berra's famous, " it' dejevue all over again".  At least in America.  It is something you will find in almost every medicine cabinet. The drug goes back to 1758. When it was discovered the bark of the willow had the same distinct a strong  bitter taste of a Peruvian tree bark. Going back to 1640's it was used to lower fevers and treat the effects of malaria.  It was also used to relieve rheumatic aches and pains.  An English clergyman,  Edward Stone, presented this to the British Royal Society, but could not determine what in the bark was the effective ingredient.  Until, Brugantelli and Fontana, two Italians chemists identified the property in 1826. The was determined to be the active chemical, salicin. The same active ingredient used today in the manufacture of the common drug.

The Bayer Company based out of Germany began to manufacture and package the drug in 1899. It has been sold ever since. Helping with pain and reducing fevers. The wonders of the drug did not stop there. It is now taken by millions in the treatment and prevention of heart attacks. The common drug has become a God send for many who experience near heart attacks by acting as a blood thinner. Allowing the blood to circulate easier and faster to the heart muscle. Taken everyday it can and does reduce heart attacks and strokes.  The danger of side effects almost non existent if taken in the proper dose. A mere 5 milligrams per day will do the trick.

Joe Theisman, Di Maggio Pitchman

JOE DI MAGGIO AND MARYLIN MONROE

Believable Pitch Men , Joe Theisman and Joe Di Maggio

Theisman

One of the most believable messengers for a product has to be Joe Theisman.  College Football Hall of Famer and Washington Redskins Q.B. Who moved on to broadcasting.  Born in 1949, Joe was an outstanding player. He has done many commercials.  As of late he has become identified with a product called Super Beta Prostate. You can't help but watch his ruggedly handsome face as he pitches the product. You don't mind when he defines a condition that plagues most men who are in their 60s.  You can't help but identify with him. His energy, as he hawks the product is so intense as to be able to cut it with a knife.  His virility is something that you have a hard time questioning, I just love when he ends the pitch by taking a short jab at the air. Sort of reminding you of a fighter demonstrating a third round knockout punch. His muscular hand and fingers tells you that he is a scrapper. Determined to win against all comers and situations that come along with age. Even when it comes to having a problem with urinary urgency and incomplete voiding of the bladder. I remember when Joe played and I always enjoyed watching him do his thing. Poised and confident he shows those same traits when on the stump ( metaphorically ) touting the benefits of using the product.  I do not recall any scandal associated with the man.  Which of course is a plus when you can't make a living by playing the game. Enabling you to get into the type of business he is now in.

Kind of reminds me of Joe DiMaggio. A great player of the game of baseball.  A great hitter and fielder holding a record of 56 hits in the same number of consecutive games. The record still not broken. You can't steroid your way to that kind of record.  A simple and well mannered man who unlike many premier players had no scandals attached to him. Even though he was married to the most famous sex symbol of the 20th Century. A gentleman who didn't kiss and tell and respected Marylin Monroe's privacy to the very end. He two pitched a couple of products. The Bowery Bank and Mr. Coffee. There was no way you would have second thoughts about putting money in that band or using a coffee maker he was the spokesman for.