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Horlicks, a drink Brits go to bed with and Indians wake up with

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Re: Horlicks, a drink Brits go to bed with and Indians wake up with

#131

Post by teknologist »

Symbiote wrote: post #55
rayiner wrote: post #8

We used to drink Horlicks in Bangladesh, where it was - like in India - a breakfast drink. Of course, Horlicks has no special powers to do anything, certainly not any of the things it is marketed as doing. It's a potent example of the insidiousness of marketing: pretty much everywhere in the U.K. and the former British Empire people associate this product with qualities it simply does not possess. Not only that, they…

I don't think kids in the UK drink Horlicks, except perhaps if they're staying the night at grandma's. '"Horlicks is a brand with a huge heritage," says Steve Davies, its marketing director in the UK. "But the product had quite an ageing profile - the core of our drinkers were over 60 years old - so the market was very slowly declining."' [1] (from 2005) 'Horlicks and Ovaltine tick along, but are generally sold to ol…

I could count the number of times I've had Horlicks on the fingers of one hand and I was born and raised in the UK.

Re: Horlicks, a drink Brits go to bed with and Indians wake up with

#132

Post by teknologist »

rodgerd wrote: post #125
hprotagonist wrote: post #3

Not the same drink at all, but : As a child i read the James Herriot memoirs (all things bright and beautiful, etc..), in which he waxes rhapsodic about the restorative powers and deliciousness of Bovril. I had no idea what it was, so I was free to invent my own idea of what it might taste like, or be, or consist of. When i discovered he was so happy about diluted beef stock, i was more than a little let down.

> When i discovered he was so happy about diluted beef stock, i was more than a little let down. It's basically marmite for drinking.

Yeah I know I'm being pedantic here but Marmite is yeast extract while Bovril is beef.

Re: Horlicks, a drink Brits go to bed with and Indians wake up with

#133

Post by rodgerd »

teknologist wrote: post #132
rodgerd wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> When i discovered he was so happy about diluted beef stock, i was more than a little let down. It's basically marmite for drinking.

Yeah I know I'm being pedantic here but Marmite is yeast extract while Bovril is beef.

It's an important point for vegetarians! But the taste is very similar.

Re: Horlicks, a drink Brits go to bed with and Indians wake up with

#134

Post by gattilorenz »

dTal wrote: post #103
sealjam wrote: post #20

There is an extremely similar drink in the UK (and probably elsewhere) called Ovaltine which is marketed as an energy drink. I always thought it was odd that two such similar drinks were marketed in such contrary ways. Horlicks to make your sleep and Ovaltine to give you energy. Perhaps that was the point at which I realised marketeers weren't always scientific in their advice :(

Why do they call it Ovaltine? Mug is round... Jar is round... They should call it Round-tine!

Ba-dum-tsssss...

However it brings up a funny story: the original name is Ovomaltine, not Ovaltine, referring to the egg (ovum) and malt ingredients (I think there's no eggs inside anymore). But there was a typo in the trademark application for UK early on, and the name stood like that. It's still Ovomaltine in Italy, for example.

Now, on Wikipedia there is no source for this story, and it might be possible that they decided to change the name for easier pronunciation in English, or because the connection ovum->egg was difficult anyway, or other unknown reasons, but I want to believe the first version anyway.

Re: Horlicks, a drink Brits go to bed with and Indians wake up with

#135

Post by theBobBob »

raverbashing wrote: post #41
drcross wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Kids in the U.K. ... really don't need to be drinking milk fortified with wheat and barley. Old attitudes from when food was scarce will pervade for a few years to come until populations come to terms with food security. In times past many food items like Guinness and Lucozade were recommended for health benefits. I suspect they were more of a justification for people to spend money on extra food items because if yo…

I can understand Guinness being recommended (at the time), now Lucozade seems just a modern marketing gimmick

I think that Lucozade was originally actually made as a good way of giving people energy while they were sick. Whether that was actually a good idea, I have no idea.

Re: Horlicks, a drink Brits go to bed with and Indians wake up with

#136

Post by Blaiz0r »

laingc wrote: post #95
detritus wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And yet any time i ever have a bad hangover, my body cries out for Lucozade.

That's to be expected. Lucozade and similar products are packed with electrolytes. It's basically water, salts, flavouring, and a ton of sugar.

For the record regular Lucozade is straight glucose with no caffeine.

So yes it is sugar, but 'sugar' as in sucrose, which is glucose and fructose.

Re: Horlicks, a drink Brits go to bed with and Indians wake up with

#137

Post by Blaiz0r »

oh_sigh wrote: post #106
andy_boot wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is true that milk is a good source of vitamin D and calcium. It helps prevent things like Rickets which was why it was mandatory in schools when I was young. It is also one of the few non-sugary examples of a kids drink so I'm quite keen on it. I liked it when I was young.

Milk has ~26g sugar per 16oz serving. It is about 33% less sugar than an equivalent coke, but that doesn't mean it is non-sugary or anywhere close (unless you meant non-sugary in terms of it doesn't taste very sweet, regardless of actual sugar content)

The sugar is Lactose though not sucrose, it's a massively important distinction

Re: Horlicks, a drink Brits go to bed with and Indians wake up with

#138

Post by dm3730 »

teknologist wrote: post #130
dm3730 wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Horlicks for people that are sick and hospitalized in India You'll be surprised how deep the rabbit hole goes. Horlicks is heavily marketed and distributed by its owner Glaxo Smith Kline (GSK). What is less well known about GSK is its kickback and corruption network throughout India and Asia. Doctors/nurses/hospital admins would get kickbacks in the form of lunches, dinners, entertainment, trips, conferences, gifts…

You make a fair point, yet overlook the fact that corruption is often how business works in these countries. You might not be aware that in a country like China it is common for foreign companies to be penalized for "corruption" that is widely known to be standard fare in local industry. It is how things get done.

> yet overlook the fact that corruption is often how business works in these countries

That seems interesting. I'd be interested to know whether that's true and for which specific countries. How much of it is powerful MNCs utilizing their power to put the right politician/legislator in place, similar to how lobbying works in the US.

I'm also surprised you use the strong words "overlook" and "fact". I wonder if you're perhaps confusing hollywood portrayal of Asia/Africa/developing countries for reality. I see that mistake made often by people who have not spent significant time overseas or have chosen to live purely in an expat bubble.

> You might not be aware that in a country like China it is common for foreign companies to be penalized for "corruption" that is widely known to be standard fare in local industry.

I'm quite familiar with China. What you're saying maybe partially true but just like the USA, it's lobbying, not direct corruption. Calling it "standard fare" "corruption" would be equivalent to calling American business/lobbying industry as the same. In much the same way that you wouldn't call Boeing/McDonald Douglas/steel industry/coal industry lobbying as corruption. If I'm mistaken, could you please give a specific instance with the facts you're referring to.

Re: Horlicks, a drink Brits go to bed with and Indians wake up with

#139

Post by shardinator »

peteretep wrote: post #113
raverbashing wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can understand Guinness being recommended (at the time), now Lucozade seems just a modern marketing gimmick

It's got electrolytes.

Brawndo's got electrolytes ...

Re: Horlicks, a drink Brits go to bed with and Indians wake up with

#140

Post by LeifCarrotson »

failrate wrote: post #92
LeifCarrotson wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> and of course, the great big marketing machine - the sodas. I recently read a science fiction story that described a near-future society in which the space race is restarted following the discovery of an alien drone ship. It describes the situation [1]: > With rumours abounding that several South American nations are in talks to form their own unified space agency, not to mention the fledgling private endeavours of…

Red Bull is attached to airplane races both legitimate and fanciful. They are not as out of place on that list as you first imagine.

Yes, I think the Red Bull Air Races are awesome, and they're definitely pushing limits in an area of the human and aeronautic performance envelope that's been passed over by the military. But why and how is a fizzy drink company doing all this?

They're also attached as my sibling comment notes to Felix Baumgartner's space jump. Not to mention such diverse activites as snowboarding, mountain biking, freestyle motocross, ice cross downhill, skiing and BMX events. Cliff diving. Soapbox races. Flugtag. F1. E-sports. Stock Cars. Rallycross. Association football. Sailing. Being at the forefront of these industries is not normal for eg. Horlicks.

They manufacture energy drinks, but they're at home in the above industries. How weird is that?

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