HeadOn

{{altmed}}
{{cquote|HeadOn, apply directly to forehead! HeadOn, apply directly to forehead! HeadOn, apply directly to forehead!|||[[Argumentum ad nauseam|HeadOn, apply directly to forehead!]]<ref name=commercial>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_SwD7RveNE HEADON! Apply directly to the forehead!]</ref><ref name=adage>[http://adage.com/article/news/ad-give-a-headache-sells/120636/ THIS AD WILL GIVE YOU A HEADACHE, BUT IT SELLS]</ref>}}
'''HeadOn''' is a topical "[[Homeopathy|homeopathic]]" "medicine" created by '''Miralus Healthcare''' that claims to cure headaches and migraines. Originally, it was a stick made of wax and not much else. Now, it's a stick made of wax with a few herbs in it. The medicine is famous mostly due to its horrible commercials.

==Efficacy==
{{cquote|tests showed that if you applied enough force at the moment of contact, you could enter a sleep, which helped for the current headaches, but when waking up they seemed to be worse.|||CampusCarl<ref>[https://www.reddit.com/r/OutOfTheLoop/comments/2my0ci/what_is_the_deal_with_headon_apply_directly_to/cm8zo37/ reddit]</ref>}}
Before reformulation, HeadOn consisted almost entirely of wax. Since it was not water-based, it could not have had "[[water memory]]" and thus could not have been homeopathic. HeadOn contained {{wpl|potassium dichromate||,}} diluted to one part per million, and {{wpl|Bryonia alba|White Bryony|,}} diluted to one part per trillion — akin to putting an eye dropper amount into 5 Olympic swimming pools.<ref name=nmsr>[http://www.nmsr.org/quacky.htm SPECIAL REPORT: Homeopathy — Quack Medicine.]</ref> Neither compound is known to relieve headaches.<ref name=nmsr /> In high inhalation exposures for human workers, potassium dichromate causes cancer;<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20140728160420/http://monographs.iarc.fr/ENG/Monographs/vol100C/mono100C-9.pdf International Agency for Research on Cancer; Chromium (VI) Compounds]</ref> HeadOn use would never reach these exposure levels.

In 2008, HeadOn was sold to Sirvision. Sirivision reformulated HeadOn as an homeopathic medicine "containing" [[herb]]s only.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20080803171552/http://www.miralus.com/headon.php?link=1 Miralus Health Care: HeadOn]</ref> Further, Sirivision claimed that HeadOn has a "clinically proven active ingredient for topical headache relief" inside it; no [[peer review|peer reviewed]] studies have examined the product.<ref name=rub>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/25/AR2006092500934.html?noredirect=on Head Rub], Washington Post</ref>

Of relevance: the placebo effect occurs in about 40% of headache medicine users.<ref name=rub /><ref>[https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0161475411000674 Headache: the Placebo Effects in the Control Groups in Randomized Clinical Trials; an Analysis of Systematic Reviews]</ref>

==Commercials==
The "apply directly to forehead" commercial was produced after the Better Business Bureau warned Miralus Healthcare about its claims of "fast, safe, effective headache relief".<ref>https://www.upi.com/Headache-remedy-becomes-pop-culture-phenom/77321154364387/</ref> Instead of going the [[Quack Miranda Warning]] route, Miralus decided not to include any factual claims (!) and organized focus groups and found that viewers remembered the repetitive commercial the most.<ref>[https://slate.com/business/2006/07/the-mesmerizing-ad-for-headon.html Head Case]</ref> Miralus also produces several other [[quack]] products (ActivOn for arthitis, PreferOn for scar regrowth, RenewIn for joint pain) that use the same marketing tactics. Perhaps the company was trying to give people headaches and drum up some business.

==Press head to pay respects==
We have to give some respect to the makers of HeadOn for one of the greatest practical [[joke]]s of all time: getting millions of [[Fun:American|Americans]] to rub wax on their foreheads — $6.5 million dollars of it.<ref name=adage />

==See also==
{{fun}}
*[[Homeopathy]]
*[[Oscillococcinum]]
*[[Purity Products]]

==External links==
*{{wpa|HeadOn}}
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGmYWIPbgKg Head-On for 1 hour and 36 mins]

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

[[Category:Alternative medicine]]
[[Category:Homeopathy]]

Categories: Alternative medicine, Homeopathy