Skip to main content

Ricola - Who Invented it?!

Despite the season (supposedly summer) I managed to catch a cold and am now going through the usual routines of fighting it off with home remedies. One of such remedies we us here in Switzerland is Ricola, the famous Swiss cough drops.
Ricola Cough Drops

I remember when I was a child my mom used to buy Ricola cough drops in a tin and the drops were cube shaped and tasted and were made of herbs. By now, they are popular internationally and sold all over the world. A Swiss success story.

I believe you can still find those original Ricola in most supermarkets in Switzerland. However, these days the more common version of Ricola comes in a bag where the drops are individually wrapped or in little cardboard boxes much like gum. Also, instead of just having the one flavor there are dozens of new flavors: Mint, Lemon Grass, Cranberry, Honey-Cherry and more. There is even Ricola chewing gum. The original Ricola is still my favorite though!

Why I (still) like Ricola

What I like about Ricola is that not only do they create great cough drops but they also have these funny advertising campaigns, much like their colleagues from Rivella. The main theme of all Ricola commercials in the last few years has been the 'Swissness' of it and the spot always run along the same lines.
  1. People from a country that is not Switzerland (e.g. Finland, England, Greenland) hold a bag of Ricola and share a toast to the goodness and usefulness of Ricola cough drops.
  2. A slightly annoying Swiss guy (who happens to be also very short) appears and pulls/pushes/bothers/attacks the non-Swiss people and forces them to admit who really created Ricola (the Swiss) and who manufactures it (Ricola Company). He says: "Wer hat's erfunden?!" which means "Who invented it?!" in such an exaggerated way that it this phrase became part of Swiss slang for a while.
  3. The Swiss guy joins in with the others in whatever they were doing (e.g. Sauna, horse riding)
This video is a good example of such a spot. You'll understand what's going on even without understanding Swiss German!







© 2011 IRENE WYRSCH "A HUMOROUS GUIDE TO SWITZERLAND" ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Labels:

Comments

  1. Expat with KidsJuly 31, 2011 at 11:59 PM

    I love your blog. It really makes me smile to read about all these Swiss products that make you feel good just thinking about them.
    Greetings from Lugano.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

You have something to add or would like to ask a question? I would love to hear from you!

Popular posts from this blog

Schätzli, Schnüggel and Müüsli - Terms of Endearment in Swiss German

Kiss -  Oliver Haja  / pixelio.de If you've ever been invited to the home of a Swiss couple, you are probably familiar with the most popular Swiss German term of endearment "Schätzli" ('little treasure') or one of it's many varieties like e.g. "Schatz" or "Schätzeli" . Obviously, this is not the only pet name used by Swiss couples (or parents for that matter). Like many other languages, Swiss German offers a wide variety of words and phrases that you can use to address your loved one. Swiss German Terms of Endearment What most of these pet names have in common is the ending "-li" which basically turns the thing or person a word refers to into something small or cute. For example "Haus" means house and "Hüüs li " means small house. Plus, this ending "-li" can also be added to first names as a means of endearment, e.g. Benjamin li , Esther li or Fabienne li . I tried to come up with a colle...
4 comments
Read more

How to Say 'I Love You' in Swiss German

To be completely honest, I'm not very fond of hallmark holidays and Valentine's Day is probably the mothership of them all. In my home there will be no cheesy cards or flowers on that day and, personally, I'm happy about it. However, I know that there are many people who like to celebrate Valentine's Day and take it as an opportunity to show their love and appreciation to their loves. Even in Switzerland, there are plenty of people celebrating it nowadays. If you're short on ideas for this years Valentine's Day in Switzerland you might find some inspiration here: Valentine's Day in Switzerland . If you're already set and have the perfect date ready, how about surprising your loved one with a few romantic Swiss German phrases? You should know that the expression "I love you" has only recently made its way into Swiss German from the High German "Ich liebe dich". Swiss people used to simply say "I like you" or "I like ...
4 comments
Read more

How to Spot a Swiss Person

"You're not from here, right?!" These were the words the saleslady of a small clothes store on a busy Tel Aviv street directed at me a few years ago. I was surprised she had spotted my foreignness so easily. After having lived in Israel for a few years and mastered the local Hebrew, I thought I was able to blend in quite well by then. So, I asked her how she knew. She replied with a smile and said: "You nicely folded the clothes you tried on before bringing them back out!" Oh that! Something I assumed was 'normal' but, apparently, the locals didn't do that. My Swiss background gave me away.  A Stereotypical (Swiss) Person As an expat I can usually spot fellow expats right away even if at first they seem to fit right in. Be they Swiss people I encounter abroad or foreigners living in Switzerland. Mostly, I catch a word or a phrase in a foreign language or see clothes or other items that are clearly not local. Here in South America it's very easy t...
13 comments
Read more