Zicam Makers to Spend $30 Million With New Ad Firm

Six months after they were ordered recalled because some users lost their senses of smell, the controversial Zicam Cold Remedy products are back with a big-time advertising agency and positioned for a return to the marketplace, according to published reports.

Matrixx Initiatives, the Arizona-based maker of the remedies which were recalled in June 2009, has hired the national advertising agency Cramer-Krasselt as the new lead ad agency for its Zicam products. The account, to be managed by the agency’s Phoenix office, is worth a reported $30 million, according to a report in Advertising Age.

Whether or not the high-powered advertising agency can resurrect the popular cold remedies from the public image graveyard has yet to be seen.

Loss of Smell Reported

The Food and Drug Administration said since 1999, more than 130 people had reported losing their sense of smell after using Zicam cold remedies. In some cases, the injury (also called anosmia) was permanent, while some users were able to regain some or all of their sense of smell after stopping use of the Zicam products.

Matrixx said it also had received about 800 reports over the years from people who complained of losing their sense of smell after using the products. The company, however, never forwarded those consumer complaints to the FDA, because company attorneys said the law did not require Matrixx to do so, officials said.

The company later said it didn’t believe that its products had actually caused the users to lose their senses of smell and said other factors may have been to blame.

Three Zicam products — Zicam Cold Remedy Nasal Gel, Zicam Cold Remedy Nasal Swabs, and Zicam Cold Remedy Swabs Kids Size – were involved in the subsequent FDA recall.

Losing the sense of smell can have a devastating effect on a person’s life, costing them the enjoyment of cooking, eating, outdoor activities, and other pursuits. Victims of anosmia may also develop chronic depression and other severe disorders as a result of their injury.

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