In popular culture
Geritol was often used in the 1960s as a punch line for a joke in sitcoms or in comedy routines; comic singer Allan Sherman referenced Geritol on his 1962 album My Son, the Folk Singer, singing "Yasha got a bottle of Geritol" to the tune of "Joshua Fought the Battle of Jericho".
Geritol is famous for a controversial 1972 television commercial tag line, "My wife, I think I'll keep her."[8] This line, brought out during the height of the Women's Liberation Movement, was not appreciated by some women and was lambasted by news and comedy shows. Comedian Robert Klein commented on his 1972 album Child of the Fifties: "Where does he get the nerve?... She has to keep begging him, "Will you keep me one more day?" "All right, one more day: now, get back to the kitchen!" The line was the inspiration for Mary Chapin Carpenter's 1993 song "He Thinks He'll Keep Her".[17]
During her 1990 Blond Ambition World Tour, Madonna joked to a low-energy Houston audience, “Should I pass out some Geritol or what?”—a reference to the supplement’s association with aging and fatigue, used here to humorously suggest the crowd lacked vitality.[18]
In 1992, George Jones used the line "I don't need your rockin' chair, your Geritol or your Medicare" in his song "I Don't Need Your Rockin' Chair".
In 1994, a reunion of members of Bill Haley & His Comets released the album You're Never Too Old to Rock (Hydra Records BCK 27013). One track, "Let's Rock and Roll Some More" features 70-year-old drummer Dick Richards singing "We've been away a while, but we ain't gone / Take a Geritol and put your dancin' shoes on."
In the 2002 stage musical Hairspray, Edna and Wilbur Turnblad sing to each other of love as they grow old in the song "Timeless to Me". In one line, Edna sings "Pass that Geritol!"[19]
