• by Les Luchter , June 26, 2024

“Pop Pop, Fizz Fizz.”

Bayer’s Alka-Seltzer is using that play on its iconic “Plop Plop, Fizz Fizz” slogan to help promote the brand’s new Fizzy Melts, said to provide all the benefits of the original Alka-Seltzer without needing to plop the tablets into water to create effervescence.

Such portability can help people avoid canceling social engagements, Alka-Seltzer says, citing a recent brand study that found 50% of respondents had canceled dates and other engagements due to digestive issues like heartburn or upset stomach.

The study, conducted by Talker Research, surveyed 2,000 Americans, 500 of whom were millennials in New York City. The brand this past Friday and Saturday offered daters in three Big Apple Zip codes covering the restaurant-heavy West Village and Greenwich Village free on-the-spot delivery of free Fizzy Melts if they called a special phone number between 4 p.m. and 10 p.m.

While not divulging any numbers, Alka-Seltzer tells Marketing Daily that the activation was a “great success,” as vehicles wrapped in Fizzy Melts signage showed up with “speedy delivery to provide relief, fast as fizz.” 

The use of the word “speedy” shouldn’t be confused with Alka-Seltzer’s iconic mascot of that same name -- nor with Lauren Speed-Hamilton, who with husband Cameron Hamilton brought their reality TV fame (they met on Netflix’s “Love is Blind”) into play to promote the Fizzy giveaways via Instagram Reels: Here’s Lauren's and here’s Cameron’s.

Alka-Seltzer says the power couple will continue promoting Fizzy Melts throughout the summer, and that the brand is also “tapping additional creators to share their funniest wingman stories, further promoting how new Alka-Seltzer Fizzy Melts is the ultimate wingman, no water needed.”

In addition, Fizzy Melts showed up at the recent Morocco Desert Challenge road rally race with two drivers, dubbed the Fizzy Relief Team, who didn’t “have to think twice when indulging on local delicacies and jumping back in the race car thanks to New Alka-Seltzer Fizzy Melt.” Content from the event will be distributed across multiple platforms.

Alka-Seltzer Fizzy Melts come in mixed berry and orange flavors.

In addition to not needing to be plopped in water, there’s another major difference between them and original Alka-Seltzer: while the latter contains buffered aspirin, Fiuzzy Melts use calcium carbonate, the same active ingredient used by Tums and other antacids like Wonderbelly.