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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Homeopathic remedies and mass advertising in Spain: 1880-1910

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La homeopatía se introdujo en España en la década de 1830, pero vivió su época dorada a finales del siglo XIX. Tradicionalmente se había dicho que la causa era la buena respuesta de los remedios homeopáticos frente a las epidemias de cólera que sobrevinieron en las décadas de 1880 y 1890. Aquí se demuestra que la publicidad de masas actuó a gran escala para legitimar los productos homeopáticos. En primer lugar, apareció la publicidad vinculada a empresas norteamericanas que pretendían abrir un mercado global. A continuación, fue una publicidad impulsada por farmacéuticos locales convertidos en fabricantes de producos homeopáticos. A través de estas dos fases, la publicidad de masas alteró la naturaleza de la homeopatía, inicialmente contraria a remedios universales. Pero mantuvo y acrecentó su influencia social como producto-milagro. Homeopathy was introduced in Spain in the 1830s, but lived its golden age in the late 19th century. Traditionally, it had been said that the cause was the good response of homeopathic remedies to the cholera epidemics that occurred in the 1880s and 1890s. Here it is shown that mass advertising acted on a large scale to legitimize homeopathic products. First of all, advertising linked to American companies that wanted to open up a global market appeared. This was followed by advertising driven by local pharmacists who had become manufacturers of homeopathic products. Through these two phases, mass advertising altered the nature of homeopathy, which was initially opposed to universal remedies. But it maintained and increased its social influence as a miracle-product.