During my recent bout with a summer cold, I reached for the Halls of medicine for temporary relief. Of course, in America Halls are marketed as cough and cold medicine. Not so in Japan. Here, they are marketed as candy, which had a few of my co-workers questioning why I was eating so much candy if I felt sick.I then took the time to read the Japanese katakana characters on the package. Sure enough, above the HALLS it says, 'Menthol Candy.' Although, to be fair, the package also says, 'Throat and nose refresher!' which is typically why we reach for the Halls of medicine when we have a scratchy throat or stuffy nose.
Another fun fact. The Halls are also marketed based on their menthol level (note the number in the bottom right hand corner). The regular Halls (blue) has a menthol level of 2, while the strong, or Hyper-mint (red), goes up to a whopping level 5!
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heh.. It boggled my mind when I saw fisherman's friend in the candy aisle.. I can just imagine the japanese perspective on foreign candy, when expecting candy, you get the blast of menthol pain. :)
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