This ain't something else.

Magnesium OK

April 27, 2005

They sell a product in health stores and pharmacies here called “Magnesium OK”. I don’t know what it does or why you would take it. I know magnesium is a soft, light inflammable metal which can help you start a campfire, but I don’t know anything about its medicinal benefits.
What I do know is that this brand has a cool name because it’s when you talk about it or ask for it, you sound rude.

Chemist: “Would you like anything else?”
Me: “Yeah, I’d like some Magnesium OK.”

It sounds wonderfully sarcastic. “I’d like some Magnesium OK. And after you go and get that I’m going to ask for something else.”

Colleague: “What’s that you’re taking?”
Me: “It’s Magnesium OK”
Colleague: “Fine dude, I’m just asking. Jesus.”

Doctor: “Take some Magnesium OK”
Me: “Hey. You don’t own me.”

They should start other lines called Zinc Now, Vitamin B All Right and Vitamin C This.

Boots also sell bags of dried fruits and my favourite is a product labelled simply “Ready to Eat Prunes”. In my dreams I’d break into the shop at night and put a question mark on every pack to make it look like a sentence: “Ready to Eat Prunes?”

It’s a challenge. It’s aspirational. It’s a marketing man’s dream.

“Ready….to…Eat……..Prunes…..? You know what? I think I just might be. I’ll take a pack of those.”
“Anything else?”
“Yeah. Get me some Magnesium OK.”

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3 comments

1 SuomiChris { 04.27.05 at 4:45 pm }

Funny, I’ve always wanted to break into Boots and give their employees a helpful disposition. Although, now that I have heard about this Magnesium OK, it may help explain why everyone there is always so angry.

2 Joanne { 11.07.05 at 3:00 pm }

My dream is to go into PC World and not be talked at technically by an 18 year old spotty salesman, who i feel like screaming “just get me the manager or ur Dad please” at …. but then again I am a girl …

3 Katy Newton { 12.09.07 at 2:02 pm }

Or you could also add a comma, and direct the question to the prunes:

“Ready to eat, prunes?”

Leave a comment. Play nice. I will turn this blog around.

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