Redditors Reveal Major Secrets About Some of Your Favorite Brands

"The key ingredient in Pepto-Bismol is bismuth, a metal 86% the density of lead, hence the weight of a bottle of the stuff. Bismuth is used because it is toxic to some bacteria that cause diarrhea (along with some other nifty characteristics), but a genius science teacher I had in junior high told me the weight of the bismuth allows it to displace stomach contents very effectively and reach the source of your problems." — Reddit user JimmyLongnWider

"The 'strawberries' and 'peaches' in Quaker Instant Oatmeal are actually flavored dehydrated apples. The 'blueberries' are flavored dried figs." — Reddit user Rugiewit

"The old school yellow liquid version that comes in the pump container — gets out every f*cking stain known to mankind." — Reddit user uhuhshesaid

"HeadOn is a homeopathic remedy, meaning it's nothing but wax. No active ingredients." — Reddit user sulaymansf

"In the 60's a marketing director told the company producing Alka-Seltzer that he could double their sales. He did this with the now iconic phrase plop plop fizz fizz in a jingle. Till that time they had only recommended a dose of one, and this jingle was about rebranding it as a pack of two. They did in fact nearly double in market size very shortly after releasing this jingle, mostly attributable to people now taking two at a time. It marks the beginning of larger serving sizes to increase sales." — Reddit user techniforus

"They're just melamine sponges. You can order hundreds for like $8. Basically if you pay more than a few cents each, you're getting robbed." — Reddit user _josepi

"Play-Doh was originally sold as wallpaper cleaner in the 1930's until classrooms started using it as modeling clay and it eventually became rebranded as a toy in 1950's." — Reddit user -eDgAR-

"The samples of cleaning products are much more potent than the stuff you buy. My dad's company makes the spray bottles they use. They send samples to test the sprayers because the over the counter versions are more watered down. If you send them an email saying you like their products they will often send you samples in the mail." — Reddit user fineillmakeausername