Does anyone else find this disturbing - candystore called Happy Pills?

1. I don't know.

2. I never heard of candy rope

3. Is it being advertised to children?

4. If it is being advertised to children, how is it being advertised to children?

5. How is it being labeled and packaged?

So I told my 17 year old about this store ... the name and that it is set up to have the look of a pharmacy store.

She said the name happy pills might be ok... but having it look like a drug store is not right. It will teach young children that taking drugs is good. She said it would send the wrong messages to kids.

This store originated in Europe I wonder if the translation to happy pills might not be completely correct

I don't understand it. I have always believed that taking drugs .... from a drug store is good. When my daughter has an ear infection, or a fever or allergies, or a skin irritation, I buy her drugs myself, from the drug store down the street.

Let me think about that this again. This is taking drugs.... from a drug store.... and this is bad because...

No, I still don't get it. What's the problem?

Happy Pills as a phrase sets me back but I suspect it's at least partly a generational thing. I remember Happy Pills as a problem for some women of my mother's generation and then later some in my generation.

https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/gqmx9j/here-lady-take-some-pills-for-your-hysteria-253

https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2004/apr/18/observerfocus


https://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/happy-pill-purse-article-1.1294381





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Interestingly (?), Happy Pills (the retailer) targets adults, not kids, or so they claim.



https://www.retail-insider.com/retail-insider/2019/12/spanish-candy-happy-pills-canada-expansion-first-store-cf-carrefour-laval-montreal

urf
I must be tired
I'm back in full EFL mode

Over-the-Counter
Drugs of Abuse

https://drugabuse.com/otc-drugs/

Sorry, this seems like a overreaction.

Kids drink Ginger Ale, and Root Beer. Is that a problem? (Given the scourge of alcohol abuse).

I have raised three kids now (the youngest now 15) in the age of the internet. I think the greater danger is being overprotective, and missing opportunities to talk about things that worry you.

1. You are now comparing apples to oranges.

2. Advertising and selling something as Happy pills to children with the connotation of pills getting you high is not a true comparison of the examples you have presented.

3. Drinking sugary drinks, greasy french fries, and fatty hamburgers is not a true comparison to abusing over-the-counter drugs.

4. Alcohol abuse is more of a true comparison to over-the-counter drug abuse.

I think I am comparing apples to apples.

Advertising and selling something as "Root Beer" to children with the connotation of beer getting you drunk is the same as your characterization of "Happy Pills".

I don't see anything to suggest that this store is suggesting that their pills will make you high.

That one actually went over my head.

When you said Root beer, I was only thinking of sodas or sugary drinks.

Your point about "Root Beer" is a good point.

I just didn't get it until after you had explained it.

You are claiming that the term "Happy Pills" connotes drug abuse. I don't think you have make your case.

1. Pills are used for all sorts of things, from headaches, to indigestion, to infections, to allergies. Pills are a normal part of kids lives in ways that have nothing to do with abuse.

The connotation to abuse is coming from you... not from them.

2. I think Root Beer" is a valid counter-example. When kids drink root beer, they are pretending to drink beer... a substance that can be abused and is not appropriate for kids. Beer is not a normal part of kid's lives.

I think you are overreacting in either case. Kids aren't going to be hurt in either case.

We are cross-posting! Sorry.

I think it is the abuse of drugs - comparing candy to drugs (even those taken to get better) - you can candy - as kids - in quantity. You do not take drugs in quantity.

I also thought that adding good flavor to kids pills is probably not the smartest. If it taste too much like candy - they are more likely to try to sneak it and eat it. I used to love the kids aspirin. As a teen - I would take like 5 of them instead of say an advil.

Yes - it does say it targets adults - but it did state that they do have candy there targeted for children as well like the gummies.

I do find it amusing that the teenagers in general seem to have more of an issue with this store than most of the adults!

I'm remembering (grandparents/aunt had had a drugstore/pharmacy) that salty liquorice is called in German "Salmiakpastillen" to give it a pharmaceutical touch while the Dutch look more at sweet candy side with "Salmiakdrop".

It is even more amusing considering that these same teenagers make jokes about pot all the time.

Every time I call my daughter her best friend yells out "pass the weed!" (clearly for my benefit) and then laughs as if this is the funniest thing ever said.

I gotta ask my 21 year old her thoughts

Ok my 21 year old's response - "Oh that sounds cool!"

...funny thing is - she is the conservative one!

FWIW I, even being childfree and having no horse in this race, find this problematic. For many of the reason already mentioned.

Children emulate adults. They are, with or without adults, going into a store that looks like a pharmacy, dispenses candy like a pharmacy in what looks like a sterile clinical environment.

When a doctor or dentist gives a young one a lollipop or such for being a brave patient, I don't think the child is going to associate later on the candy with the doctor experience.
However, visiting an entire store where all the environment says is "medical" and all they dispense is candy, well, I see that as direct association. Kids aren't known to be the most rational of people, so I'm not going to put adult reasoning into this.

Years ago, at our monthly regional meeting, I made up a gag thing for the attendees, who were almost all nurse managers. It had been a stressful quarter, so I found just the right color blue jelly beans, put them in a jar, and labeled it "Valium PRN"
It got a laugh from everyone, and the jelly beans were pretty much gone by the end of the day.
But this was a room full of adults. I never would have presented candy to children as a medicine. Why? Because it's not.

Regardless of what "happy pills" connotes to anyone here, the word "pills" is right there. Pills aren't candy.
I mean, weren't we in the first place all taught that growing up?

Pills aren't candy.

Another problem I have is that I feel there are so many better ideas out there. Why this one?

There's a store here in a trendy area called "Big Top Candy" It's been there for years, and is a great place to go, even if you don't eat candy.
Rather than being lazy and just putting various colors of candies in jars and calling them "pills", they bring back candies from yesteryear, that even young people get all excited about.

And yes, they do have candy cigarettes, which in the setting makes it seem quaint, in that it's so obvious in it's silliness.

A former co-worker was once reminiscing about how her beloved grandfather would give her sen sen gum and violet candies.
I went to Big Top after work, found them both, and gave them to her the next day. She got all teary holding the package of violets up to her nose, because she said "I can smell my grandfather"

I just don't imagine evoking that response giving someone happy pills.