Hitting the Target

I went to Target for headache supplies. I wasn’t sure what to get, as ibuprofren is hard on your liver (or is it acetaminophen? but that’s easy on your stomach?) or whatever.

I decided simple aspirin was the ticket, because you’re supposed to take that to prevent heart attacks or something anyway. (Plus it fits with my theory on butter: yeah, maybe it’s all fat, but it’s been around forever. The body’s gotta be used to it. Forget that newfangled margarine.)

So I stood at the shelf, agog:
Three hundred coated 325 mg. tablets of Bayer aspirin: $ 9.49
Three hundred coated 325 mg. tablets of Target aspirin: $ 2.39

Who the hell is buying that Bayer? was all I could think. The active ingredients [on that page it’s $11.99!] are identical, save for triacetin, but that’s just a “plasticizer.”

I know it’s just aspirin, but I think the question goes to the heart of the American shopping experience. Why hasn’t Bayer been laughed out of the store? Do product attributes even matter anymore?

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