I eat cough drops like candies, so I've thought more than most about cough drops.

Whenever I buy a significant product, I consider how much I'm paying for marketing versus function.

Ricola puts a lot of effort into marketing their mixture of herbs as effective. However, the label lists menthol as the active ingredient, and the herb mixture as an inactive ingredient. Many people have figured this out, enough for a class action lawsuit. Needless to say, I don't buy Ricola.

I buy Vicks cough drops, with 20mg of menthol, over Ricola's measly 5mg. It has enough menthol to make me cough!