Designed for "the devilish, garlic-and-onion-loving, coffee-drinking, cigarette-puffing, beer-drinking, party animal" in everyone, new Close Call™ drinkable breath freshener in a handy, discrete, 1.69-oz "flask" is said to eliminate, rather than mask, bad breath odors with just a swish and a swallow. "Close Call is clinically proven to eliminate the smell of tobacco smoke, onion, garlic, coffee and other strong odors from your breath," says Barbara Longchamp, vp, marketing for Tasker Beverage Corp., Danbury, CT, the developer and marketer of the product. "Close Call's innovative, alcohol-free formula is a technological breakthrough that allows copper sulfate, a known safe and effective disinfectant, to be suspended in a drinkable liquid for the first time."

Available in select bars, convenience stores and drugstores, and via Tasker's website, www.myclosecall.com, Close Call is the result of 15 years of scientific development, Longchamp says. She adds that while its active ingredient, copper sulfate, is not entirely new to the breath freshener industry, in its drinkable form, it provides "unprecedented" reach to bad breath bacteria in the throat and upper respiratory tract.

Unprecedented, as well, is its primary packaging—a two-serving-sized, black polyethylene terephthalate bottle with a vibrantly printed shrink-band label, designed by Wilkes Creative. The bottle, supplied by multiple sources in North America and offshore, was designed for convenience and portability. "It fits nicely into purses and pockets for our on-the-go consumers," says Longchamp.

Graphics for the clever label, converted by H&N Packaging (www.hnpack.com), play on the double entendre signified by the product name. "Close Call can mean 'kissing close,' as well as 'Whew, I didn't get caught smoking that cigar,'" says Longchamp. On the bottle's front panel, a deep-blue background carries a halo symbol, that represents "the sweet, charming, kissable, lovable me, which is the result of using this product." The back panel, in fiery red, carries a devil-horn illustration to depict the user's state-of-breath before consuming the product.

Targeted primarily at socially active young adults, the citrus-flavored liquid breath freshener is marketed as a cure for hangovers, as well. Longchamp says that retailers, which are selling the product for $2.99 per bottle, have responded positively to the new product. "Retailers are always looking for new products to interest their customers," she says. "Close Call can provide them with incremental impulse sales with good margins and penny profit."