1. Archive
  2. Archive Journeys
  3. Bioritmon: “The energy booster for Olympic athletes”

Bioritmon: “The energy booster for Olympic athletes”

How the “tappo serbatoio” works, illustrative leaflet, late 1950s

On 23 August 1956, Bioritmon was officially registered in the Official Journal: a restorative syrup with trophic, tonic and hepatoprotective properties.

From its initial launch, Dompé presented it as a “revolution in the world of tonics”, thanks to its “vitamin safe” technology. Its distinctive reservoir cap, designed to keep vitamins dry and separate from the liquid, ensured their preservation until the moment of use. A simple gesture – twist and shake – released the vitamin content into the bottle, producing a freshly prepared solution with a “pleasant taste”, an essential requirement for pediatric use.

This guarantee of stability, now found in today’s “twist and shake” caps, represented a significant innovation at the time and marked the entry of pharmaceutical packaging into the modern age.

“Ogni giorno il nostro organismo…”, promotional flyer, graphic design by *Alter, 1960

The promotional flyer from 1960, the graphic design by *Alter draws on current events to reinforce the advertising message. The illustration, which depicts a road stretching to connect Milan Cathedral to the Two Towers of Bologna, is a clear tribute to the inauguration of the Apennine section of the Autostrada del Sole motorway. 

The image of the new road becomes a metaphor for the daily challenges evoked in the text: “Every day, our body has to face new, exhausting challenges”. Bioritmon is thus presented as a modern solution, “the advanced tonic with vitamins in a safe” and “the physiologically embodied neuro-energiser”.

Support for physical and mental exertion

In 1959, Bioritmon was selected among the products presented at the Pharmaceutical Products Show at the 37th Milan International Fair.

The following year, at the Milan Trade Fair, a scenographic display dominated by a large safe made the product’s promise memorable. Inside the safe, boxes of Bioritmon are displayed alongside diadems and precious jewellery: a visual analogy further reinforced by the wording on the safe door, “Vitamins: the jewels of health”.

During these years, its positioning evolved: advertising increasingly focused on energy and on supporting physical and mental effort, and Bioritmon became the ideal companion for “those who study, work and play sports”. The slogan “On slopes all over the world / it ensures easy victory in difficult trials” reinforces the link between the product and the imagery of mountains and skiing.

Dompé stand at the Fiera Campionaria di Milano,1960

“Sulle piste di tutto il mondo…”, advertisement by *Alter (Bellezza d’Italia, no. 1, 1962)

Bioritmon at the Olympics

Its link with sport was further strengthened through the Olympic world. A calendar page dedicated to the 1960 Rome Olympics recalls how Dompé had already distributed Bioritmon to athletes at the Oslo and Helsinki (1952) and Cortina and Melbourne (1956) Games, highlighting its “truly decisive effectiveness for the body under strain”. Dompé’s advertising campaign cemented its reputation with the slogan “the energy booster for Olympic athletes”. Today, nearly seventy years after its debut, that story continues with the Bioritmon line of dietary supplements. Technology may have changed, but the original promise remains unchanged: to provide support against tiredness and fatigue, thanks to vitamins B and C.

“L’energetico degli atleti olimpionici”, advertisement by *Alter (Bellezza d’Italia, no. 1, 1960)

“Anche le vette più impervie…”, advertisement (Bellezza d’Italia, no. 2, 1962)

“Dalle Alpi, dagli Appennini, alle Ande…”, advertisement (Bellezza d’Italia, no. 2, 1962)