FROBOZZ MAGIC GRUE REPELLENTAlthough grues had been virtually absent from all regions of Zork following their alledged eradication at the hands of Entharion the Wise by the meridian of the first century, aggressive marketing compaigns were able to scare the populace into making FrobozzCo announce in 778 GUE that the Frobozz Magic Grue Repellent Company was one of its fastest growing divisions. Spurred on by the drastic extensive improvements made in the product, sales of grue repellent nearly tripled that year. The Magic Grue Repellent Company executived proudly pointed to a 31% drop in grue-related deaths that year, and a consequent 31% drop in the grue population.
The original Frobozz Magic Grue Repellent with its spray smelling like a mixture of old socks and burning rubber, managed to do its job well enough, albeit for a matter of about thirty seconds before drifting away, which was usually not enough time to escape the now agitated grue. (Note: burning a can of Grue Repellent causes it to explode immediately and those nearby to die a horribly smelly death.) Each can came with the following instructions:
Apply liberally to
creature to be protected. Duration of
effect is unpredictable. Use only in place of death!
(No warranty expressed or implied)
778 was a tremendous burst in the product line for the Magic Grue Repellent Company. The discovery of a particularly effective new additive by the research division increased the efficiency of the product by 45%. Studies showed that most grues would not come within 70 feet of someone sprayed with New Improved Repellent. The new additive, dubbed G-17, was also longer-lasting, requiring fewer sprayings, and it could be made from ordinary sand! Encouraged by the runaway success of their regular socks/burning rubber-scented repellent, company scientists increased the product lines with the introduction of seven new odors. The new odors included rotting eggs, dead fish, swamp gas, threeweek-old meatloaf, gym locker, wet dog and mint. Several ingenious sales strategies were highly successful. The Free-Noseplugs-With-Every-Can campaign, in association with the Frobozz Magic Noseplugs Company, ran for one month and increased sales by 92%. Advertisements featuring grue-mangled corpses ran before and during the peak travel season. Finally, a joint packaging effort with the Frobozz Magic Lantern Company to produce a Frobozz Anti-Grue Kit paid off with remarkable end-of-year sales. Other products included Grue Repellent (lasts 12 hours), wipe on Grue Repellent (scented), oil on Grue Repellent, and Grue Cream.