Abstract Summary
In the mid-20th century, as GC-MS and other instrumental technologies facilitated an increasingly precise understanding of the molecular dimension of flavor alongside the development of formalized methodologies for measuring sensory experience, “flavor design” became a systematized aspect of consumer product development. Underlying the rise of this field was a growing consensus that sensory qualities such as flavor could profoundly influence attitudes and behaviors — potentially giving designers an implicit means of guiding consumer choices. Flavor molecules, understood as agents of persuasion, joined the chemical and the human sciences as manufacturers tried to gain advantage in the marketplace. This pervasive ideology of sensory design was even applied to products whose value did not reside in their superficial sensory qualities: pharmaceuticals. This paper will examine an early case in flavor design: Miltown, Wallace Laboratories’ pioneering tranquilizer. Based on research in the archives of Arthur D. Little, Inc., the Cambridge, MA consulting company that was hired to design Miltown’s flavor profile, I will examine how the “flavor of effectiveness” was conceptualized for this new type of consumer pharmaceutical, and the role that “non-active” components were seen to play in shaping patient experience. These practices established flavor molecules as chemical agents whose effects on the human body extend beyond their role as tastants. This case study has implications for current research by Jeremy Greene and others on the role of “trade dress” in generic pharmaceuticals, as well as social studies of “nutraceuticals” and other biomedical alternatives.
