One new package that addresses the issue of hard-to-open pharmaceuticals is McNeil-PPC, Inc.'s Tylenol Arthritis Pain caplet bottle. Each bottle contains 100 caplets of 650 mg of acetaminophen. The bottle's wraparound label is printed with graphics saying, "NEW! E-Z OPEN CAP." "Easy to open" is also molded into the deep-blue cap, which sports ridges that make it easy to grip and twist off.
"You wanted it easy to open. We made it the easiest," says a print ad for the product. Smaller ad type below reads, "Introducing the easiest-to-open arthritis cap you can buy, Tylenol Arthritis Pain. If you're not satisfied that it's easier to open than Advil or Aleve, we'll give you your money back."
Purchased for $8.99 at a Walgreen's store in Kenosha, WI, the white high-density polyethylene bottle holds 100 of the patented bilayer caplets. A perforated film neckband carries print saying, "Commendation For Packaging, Arthritis Foundation." Under the lined easy-open blue closure sealed to the mouth of the bottle was a safety-seal membrane that provides tamper evidence. The extended label is also printed with an arrow that shows users where to peel the label and where additional drug facts and directions are printed on the back panel.
Tell us what you're doing to make your containers easier to open.
--By Jim Butschli, Editor
