Just the other day, I was buying cough drops for a friend with a…get this…a COUGH! Imagine that? In the US, Halls are usually displayed front and center at drug stores during the winter months when everyone is getting sick. And then during the rest of the year? They are hidden back by the pharmacy…unneeded…unwanted.
Not in Belize. At only $1bzd a pack, they are often displayed with the candy as opposed to medicines and in a HUGE range of flavors. As well as some of the craziest. At least in my book…
Chela y Limon. Beer and Lime. COUGH DROPS!
And multi-colors…like they are M&Ms…or Skittles…or…candy?
Halls are always front and center at local markets…and not just during cold season. All the time.
They are sold by the street vendors who display colorful, vast quantities of sugar to kids outside the primary schools during breaks.
Which one of these things doesn’t belong??
I did a quick poll…of my taxi driver that day that just happened to have Halls on his console. “They are good for my breath” and keep his mouth from drying out.
At Marina’s Store displayed with the Starburst and gum.
Okay…and a San Pedro High School girl told me that “everyone” eats them. “Like a pack a day.” Interesting. Is this a Belize thing? A Mexican thing (that’s where these imported COUGH DROPS come from…)? I need to do some research.
Here is what my internet research yielded:
This seems to be a Latin American thing. Brazil, for instance, sells flavors like Strawberry with Chocolate Filling (OH THE HORROR) and Peach with Vanilla Crystals.
Or creamy menthol Halls? Yack!
Double yack! Maracuja = passion fruit!
In the Phillippines, Halls are packed in children’s gift bags when they leave birthday parties (according to this blog.)
On the US Halls website, these lozenges are clearly a medicine. The section “Choose your Halls” asks if you “Do You Have a Sore Throat” and “I Have an Irritating Cough”.
But the Brazilians seem to lead the charge in labeling HALLS AS A CANDY.
Check out their facebook page “Halls Brasil” – over 6mm fans. You’ve GOT to love the Brazilians.
Even Santa enjoys them as a late night snack.
Delicious around the pool!
All the cool kids eat them at the movies!
I could post these photos all day…but here is my favorite. A chart to link your astrological sign to your Halls flavor and your KISSABILITY!
SO, are Halls Mentholated Cough drops a CANDY or a MEDICINE?? I guess it depends on where you live.
And that’s all I’ve got 🙂
Oh but one thing…my opinion on the matter shared through my favorite Public Service Announcement from the 80s.
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Really slow day in San Pedro?
No! For some reason, I find it FASCINATING that Halls are kids candy here.
Your investigative reporting gets better and better… At only $1bzd, a nice example of the pharmaceutical industry’s powerful hold and obscene profit margins in the US.
But they are medicine! 🙂
where do you think we keep the tins of Vicks, and for what usage??
Vicks Vapo-Rub is huge here too! Don’t even get me started!
They are frequently with the candy and gum in the convenience stores in the Northeast US
Halls are not CAUGH DROPS all over the world. They are simply regular CANDY. Only in the U.S. they are manufactured as cough drops. That’s why you are confused.
I just got back from traveling in the Dominican Republic, where there were cough drop wrappers on the ground EVERYWHERE. I came to google with similar questions as you and happened upon your blog. These tiny littered wrappers became my pet peeve over that month in the DR. I mean, litter is everywhere, but you couldn’t practically find a square meter of ground without Hall’s wrappers. And why do they have to be individually wrapped? I am going to try to ask Hall’s “what gives?” I tried to find a sustainability statement or the like on their website, but haven’t found anything.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f93bc46f83ecc3accb9391505deca298881ad47edb434751eb7a220e5ce2303d.jpg
Curious and curiouser! Medicated candy 🙂