Battle of the Brands: Tylenol vs. Excedrin

Posted May 7th 2008 7:00PM by Tracy Coenen
Filed under: Johnson and Johnson (JNJ), Novartis AG ADS (NVS), Battle of the Brands

This post is part of our Battle of the Brands feature. Let us know which brand you prefer, and check out other Battle of the Brands posts.

Tylenol is probably the most recognizable brand name for the pain reliever acetaminophen. In addition to being a pain reliever, Tylenol also reduces fevers. It was created in 1955 as Tylenol Elixir for children, and was the first aspirin-free pain reliever. It was initially available only by prescription, but became available without a prescription in 1960.

The product is made and marketed by McNeil Consumer Healthcare, a brand owned by Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ). Tylenol falls within the Consumer segment of J&J, which had sales of $14.5 billion in 2007. Over-the-counter pharmaceuticals represented $5.1 billion in sales, or 35% of the segment's sales.

Excedrin is a pain reliever that combines acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine. (Caffeine is known to enhance the effectiveness of aspirin and acetaminophen.) It's a product of Novartis (NYSE: NVS), a Switzerland-based company that bought the Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) consumer medicine business in 2005. Novartis produces a variety of consumer health care products, with 2007 revenue of $39.8 billion.

These two products seem to have a loyal customer base with different characteristics. Tylenol appeals more families because of the products for children and because of Tylenol's known fever-reducing properties. Excedrin appeals more to those with severe or chronic pain, as it has been marketed for years as the product the alleviates the worst pains. (I'll take neither, thank you. Give me straight up ibuprofen any day!)

Vote in our poll for Tylenol or Excedrin as your preferred brand, and let us know in the comments why you love it.

Tags: acetaminophen, aspirin, Battle of the Brands, BMY, Bristol-Myers, excedrin, ibuprofen, JNJ, Johnson and Johnson, McNeil, Novartis, NVS, tylenol

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

4-30-2008 @ 5:41PM

stung4evr said...

If you haven't tried Excedrin, please do. It truly is the miracle drug for so many aches and pains. I highly recommend it. Just make sure you're not aspirin sensitive.

5-07-2008 @ 9:04PM

PandaBear said...

Yet another useless battle of the brand.

Why are we always caring about "brand" when it is the underlying chemicals that makes the product. What prevent Tylenol from making Asprin and acetaminophen while others like Excedrin from making ibuprofen?

For all those MBA out there, it is not the brand that makes the product, it is the product that makes the brand. Get it?

5-08-2008 @ 7:23AM

lin said...

Who cares about the brand? LOL I buy generic when it's available. I go for the product, and LARGE quantities for CHEAP!...not the namebrand

5-16-2008 @ 2:05PM

Kenneth said...

I didn't know about the caffeine and aspirin interaction before reading this. I think they should use that as a selling point. I'll definately have to try it out now.
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