Absorbine Jr. finds new use as gnat repellant

EAST LONGMEADOW, Mass. W.F. Young reported on Thursday that customers may have found a new use for its Absorbine Jr. Pain Relieving Liquid—a gnat repellant.

“We’re receiving calls and emails that Absorbine Jr. is flying off store shelves in these flood-ravaged areas with store personnel reporting to us that people are using it as an effective way to keep the biting gnats at bay,” stated Robert Wallace, vice president of sales and marketing at W.F. Young. “We do not market this product or make any claims that the product helps in this way, but it has become such a word-of-mouth phenomenon that stores in the area are ordering hundreds of extra bottles for … residents of their communities.”

Wallace surmised that some of the ingredients in Absorbine Jr., including the combination of natural menthol, absinthium oil and wormwood oil, amongst other herbal ingredients, give the product a pungent scent, which appears to be a winning combination for warding off the gnats.