Why did my medications come with seasonings?

29 comments

1. It’s a gift. A marketing gag. Something like a ballpoint pen or a little pack of gummy bears. There is no “why” otherwise and trying to exchange it would be silly at best and rude at worst. 

   Of course you don’t eat it with your meds, but that was probably a rhetorical question anyways. At least I hope so.

2. Advertisement.

   Pharmacies in Germany have the habit of giving you all kinds of small present like tissues or cough drops. Though I must admit… TOMATENWÜRZMISCHUNG????
   WTF!

   Maybe that’s the reason it’s Tomatenwürzmischung, the WTF factor is very high.

3. Yeah, that’s weird.

   Sometimes you’ll get some freebies at the pharmacy like tissues or candy, but seasoning is a new one for me.

4. Don’t you know the Marry Poppins Song:“ A spoon full of tomato seasoning makes the medicine go down.“

5. So they taste better duh

6. My local pharmacy always gives me seasoning for fried potatoes. The packet looks the same as yours.

   Plus it is actually very good Bratkartoffelwürzmischung.

7. I have a pharmacy gift that has a special place in my heart. I’m from the US, my husband is from Pakistan and we met while living in Germany. We decided to move to the US when we got engaged and he needed a bunch of vaccines for his visa.

   We were running all over town trying to find one at pharmacies because the Gesundheitsamt didn’t have it, but told us they would administer it if we brought it before closing. We finally got it, ran back as fast as we could, and the office put the vaccine in a fridge while we waited. When it was our turn, a woman came out laughing and asked us if the rabbit is also ours. And we were like ….rabbit? She produced from the bag a very cute porcelain rabbit that the pharmacy had put in the bag as an Easter promotion. She asked us if we didn’t want them to also refrigerate the rabbit lol.

   We still have it 10 years later and it’s our most treasured Easter decoration.

8. Thats a funny one. usually its tissues, band aids, samples of lotion, magnesium, stuff like that.

9. My local pharmacy was giving out an herbal tea mix one time. Really nice herbal tea, at that!

10. Your question is already answered but I couldn’t resist the opportunity to share the word (which I learned recently): a gift given to the customer by the merchant alongside their purchase can be called a [lagniappe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lagniappe)

    In my experience at German pharmacies I usually get a packet of tissues if anything. Never got a spice mix.

11. “we give you a reason to buy fresh vegetables”

12. Btw, while still very common, it’s illegal for pharmacies to hand you gifts for handing in a prescription from a doctor, as to not promote unhealthy competition.
    It’s still allowed for non prescription drugs though

13. It’s bruSchetta and it’s pronounced “broo sketta”, not “brushetta” like many Germans do.

14. I once got a book as present at the pharmacy with “Piri-Piri: The best chili recipes” (Original title: “Piri-Piri: Die besten Chili-Rezepte” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piri_piri). I have no idea how they came up with that one 😀

15. To spice up the sickness lol

16. I think I laughed for a solid five minutes at this.

    “Hey, we know your medication tastes like horse manure, so here’s a little something to make it better.”

17. Pharmacies in Germany usually give out small goodies, Often it’s a small pack of tissues, sometimes a sample pack of some kind of tea and, as in your case, spice mixes are a thing, too.

    I once got scissors from my pharmacy, still use it in my kitchen and it always reminds me of this pharmacy.

18. They forgot to put the homeopathic medicine in it’s pharmacy package 🙂

19. They acomplished their goal. Giving you a wtf moment and getting you to tell other people. I mean you didnt tell us the Name of the pharmacy but thats one way how marketing works. They gave you something weird but not off putting and you went as far as telling other people and making a reddit post.
    Its funny nontheless!

20. Yeah we give that the fat ones instead of sugar

21. 4. 5. and 6. why are you so unthankful for a small gift?

22. Better if they came mit Strammer Max

23. Old people really like such kinds of goodies

24. Maybe the medicine is really bitter, so this may help.

25. It is a Werbegeschenk. It geschenks werbe.

26. Tomatoes reduce the likelihood of a stroke happening. Maybe that?

27. Don’t ask how many packages of hankies i got at home 🤣

28. I would suggest it has something to do with having a nice warm soup whilst sick. Add hot water, hydration, salts, easy to get down ya and also low effort to make when groggy!

29. Maybe they want to make you aware that you’re allergic to herbs, so they can sell you some antihistamine.