Brand Loyalty

[kphoger]

I don't think we've had this topic yet.

Store shelves these days have a lot more variety of good-quality products than they did forty years ago.  Notably, store-brand goods are often as good or better than their brand-name equivalents.  Whether it's a newer brand or an older brand of some product, what is an item to which you have unwavering brand loyalty?

I'll start.

1.  Saran wrap.  It clings to my dishes just as well as any other brand, but it's the only brand that doesn't cling irreparably to itself for me.  Our grocery store stopped selling it a few years ago, so now we order it by the three-pack online.

2.  Nabisco Fig Newton cookies.  I've never found another brand that doesn't taste like somewhat-figgy cardboard.

[1995hoo]

Crest toothpaste. As a practical matter, I have no doubt there are other perfectly good toothpastes on the market, and I have on occasion used Colgate over the years either when I've gotten it as a free sample or when I've been on the road and that was the only brand I could easily find (that happened in Nova Scotia once). But as a general matter, I grew up using Crest and now, in almost 52 years on this planet, I've never had a cavity, so I see no reason to change brands.

[JayhawkCO]

Cheez-Its - The generic are terrible
Smith Teamakers - I can't find any other teas I like nearly as well
K&N - Best car air filters around
BF Goodrich - My tires of choice

I'm sure I'll think of some more.

[kphoger]

Cheez-Its - The generic are terrible

I think I've only tried the Aldi brand, besides the original.  They tasted like nothing.  Like, not cheesy.  Just crackers with flavorless powder on them.

[JayhawkCO]

Cheez-Its - The generic are terrible

I think I've only tried the Aldi brand, besides the original.  They tasted like nothing.  Like, not cheesy.  Just crackers with flavorless powder on them.

Agreed. However, the Aldi generic Goldfish, "Turtles", are delightful.

[kphoger]

K&N - Best car air filters around

I used to drive a 2006 Nissan Pathfinder.  On winter days with just a flight snow flurry coming down, it would occasionally do what felt like a misfire while driving on the highway.  I started worrying about the transmission, because, well, I guess I always overreact.  The consensus on online Pathfinder forums about that same problem was that any aftermarket air filter would allow an occasional snowflake through, which would then make its way to the mass airflow sensor and freak it the heck out for a split-second.  That split-second freak-out was enough for the MAF sensor to not send a usable signal to the control module, which would in turn cause a single one-off misfire.  The suggested fix was simply to install a Nissan brand air filter.  I decided that a half-dozen one-off misfires a year wasn't worth it to me.

[gonealookin]

I don't like to blow my nose into anything but a real Kleenex.  The cheap-ass scratchy tissues you usually find in hotels are awful, so I usually carry a few of those little Kleenex travel packs with me.

[JayhawkCO]

I don't like to blow my nose into anything but a real Kleenex.  The cheap-ass scratchy tissues you usually find in hotels are awful, so I usually carry a few of those little Kleenex travel packs with me.

While I do find that generics suck, Puffs work just as well as Kleenex, otherwise that would have been on my list.

[1995hoo]

I don't like to blow my nose into anything but a real Kleenex.  The cheap-ass scratchy tissues you usually find in hotels are awful, so I usually carry a few of those little Kleenex travel packs with me.

While I do find that generics suck, Puffs work just as well as Kleenex, otherwise that would have been on my list.

I prefer Puffs to Kleenex because I find the former less abrasive on my nose, especially during spring allergy season. I agree with the comment about crappy hotel tissues.

[Max Rockatansky]

I used to have one for GM automotive products.  Much of my dad's side of the family were former GM employees and my grandpa was even a Chevrolet plant manager.  My loyalty was mainly based in being able to take advantage of family discounts new cars.

I haven't purchased a GM product since 2014.  My grandpa died in 2015 which rendered his family discount void.  I've had quality issues with most my GM vehicles and they don't really offer anything I want in their model lineups anymore.

[hbelkins]

Diet Coke.

Diet Pepsi is swill.

[kalvado]

Smith Teamakers - I can't find any other teas I like nearly as well

As a side note - consider following places
https://www.teasource.com/
https://www.uptontea.com/
https://svtea.com/

[kphoger]

https://www.uptontea.com/

That's what I grew up with.  It's where my dad still gets his tea.

I buy mine locally, at The Spice Merchant.

[JayhawkCO]

Smith Teamakers - I can't find any other teas I like nearly as well

As a side note - consider following places
https://www.teasource.com/
https://www.uptontea.com/
https://svtea.com/

I'll check them out. Appreciate the recommendations. Every time I try a new kind, it still just isn't better than the Rose City Genmaicha that I get from Smith's. There aren't a lot of things where I eschew variety, but tea, so far, is that thing.

[kphoger]

Smith Teamakers - I can't find any other teas I like nearly as well

I buy mine locally, at The Spice Merchant.

As a side note - consider following places
https://www.teasource.com/
https://www.uptontea.com/
https://svtea.com/

I'll check them out. Appreciate the recommendations. Every time I try a new kind, it still just isn't better than the Rose City Genmaicha that I get from Smith's. There aren't a lot of things where I eschew variety, but tea, so far, is that thing.

For what it's worth, The Spice Merchant here in town offers shipping, and their Genmaicha is less than half the price per ounce as Smith's.  However, it does not have rose petals, bergamot oil, or "natural flavors", so it probably doesn't taste quite the same.

[JayhawkCO]

Smith Teamakers - I can't find any other teas I like nearly as well

I buy mine locally, at The Spice Merchant.

As a side note - consider following places
https://www.teasource.com/
https://www.uptontea.com/
https://svtea.com/

I'll check them out. Appreciate the recommendations. Every time I try a new kind, it still just isn't better than the Rose City Genmaicha that I get from Smith's. There aren't a lot of things where I eschew variety, but tea, so far, is that thing.

For what it's worth, The Spice Merchant here in town offers shipping, and their Genmaicha is less than half the price per ounce as Smith's.  However, it does not have rose petals, bergamot oil, or "natural flavors", so it probably doesn't taste quite the same.

I think the rose is what separates what I like about the Smith from others. Sometimes green tea can just taste like grass clippings. The toasted rice adds some more "savoriness", but it needs something to lighten it up.

[SP Cook]

I think I have less brand loyalties than most.  I generally buy whatever is on sale or the store brand.  Among my few exceptions are:

Coke, now Coke Zero Sugar as I get older.  All forms of Pepsi are vile.  I avoid any restaurant that has only Diet Pepsi as its only diet drink, as Diet Dr Pepper and Dr Pepper Zero Sugar (which, I suspect are the same thing) are acceptable if no Coke is available, but Pepsi is disgusting.

I generally extend this to all soda flavors.  The only non- Coca-Cola Company flavor I buy is Dr Pepper. 

Heiner's bread.  Local to this area, fell out of family control 20 years ago, but they never monkied with the recipe until about 2 years ago.  Now under the control of Mexican based multinational "big bread" company Bimbo, its still better than others, but not as good as it used to be.

DirecTV.  You talk all day about how much money you saved and how you don't miss * all that much.  I will be enjoying every single option there is on DirecTV.  Life is way too short to do without. 

Kellogg's corn flakes.  While the generic of about any other cereal is indistinguishable from the brand name, corn flakes are the exception. 

As to cars, I have owned or via work had control and responsibility over, many cars.  The "big 3" cars are garbage.  Always have been, always will be.  Every 10 years they tell you the cars they made 10 years ago were bad, but they aren't anymore.   Been saying that for years.  But, beyond that, no loyalty at all.  Toyotas are fine, Nissans are fine, Hondas are fine, VWs are fine, other "German" brands are fine, the "Korean" brands are fine.  Currently own an Audi.  Trade every 5 years, just short of halfway through, next car will be whatever the auto media says is the thing to get in the segment I'm looking at.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

I can't say what soft drink products an establishment serves has ever factored into my decision about where to *eat*...

[LilianaUwU]

I'm a Dr Pepper apologist. You won't ever see me drink Pibb Xtra. Fucker can't even be a doctor like Dr Pepper.

I can drink other sodas, and I'm wildly indifferent to Coke vs Pepsi (both taste the same to me, which is painfully mediocre), but Dr Pepper is THE soda I drink.

[JayhawkCO]

I don't remember the last time I purchased soda.

[formulanone]

Brand loyalty tends to be less meaningful as the years go on, and I'd guess the realm of appliances wind up that way. There's either loads of knock-offs or just limited reason to stick with one brand unless it's price or you want everything to match.

But on the other hand, areas where there's less competition also brings about loyalty, whether intentionally or begrudgingly. I'm sure many of us are wedded to our phone and computer OS brands. And I'm not immune, I've been shooting with Canon for decades because you buy into a lens system...the moment I even thought about moving into a new brand, a friend of mine let me use his new mirrorless EOS and I didn't look back. The familiarity is all right there and some backward compatibility is nice.

On the other hand, there's usually a lot of blind spots created when you're overly brand loyal. Unless you're really following a specific industry, you can really miss out on other developments and historically-better options because you're all-in on one brand. Many times we do this for emotional and nostalgic reasons being the deciding factor; or we hold onto untested ideas and preconceived notions of the competition.

As for food, I like to try different brands of the same types of products, just to see if I'm missing anything. Mostly my family likes the same things and that's that. I suppose I've traveled with a tin of lightly-salted Blue Diamond almonds for the best part of nearly 20 years. The generic or local brands are either unsalted (which taste like wax) or over-salted (which taste like...salt) so they just win by default.

Y'all are absolutely right about Cheez-it crackers; there really is no substitute. I can enjoy like 42 brands of potato chips and snack crackers, but nothing hits that "gently crunchy-salty-cheesy" spot quite like they do.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

I'm a Dr Pepper apologist. You won't ever see me drink Pibb Xtra. Fucker can't even be a doctor like Dr Pepper.

Of course, Dr. Pepper imitators specifically are an entire industry of their own, far beyond third-party colas or hip Mountain Dew-type citrus drinks.

[GaryV]

Diet Coke.

Diet Pepsi is swill.

I'd disagree with you. But I've already been told that my taste buds must be broken because I don't like Dr Pepper. So ...


Anyway, 30-some years ago, my kids liked Meijer store-brand mac and cheese better than Kraft. We now only buy it to go in one recipe we like (hamburger, onions, chili powder, tomatoes, throw in the prepared mac and cheese). So the difference in taste doesn't matter to us, and we still buy the cheaper store brand.

We've found many store brands that are just as good as national brands. And many others that we stay away from. And we have some preferences for one store-brand over a different store's brand.

[Max Rockatansky]

Dr. Pepper is good in small quantities.  It starts to taste funky to me if I drink too much of it.  For some reason I like to mix a small amount of it with Coke from drink fountains.

[LilianaUwU]

my taste buds must be broken because I don't like Dr Pepper.

yeah

Dr. Pepper is good in small quantities.  It starts to taste funky to me if I drink too much of it.

I definitely drink too much of it. I may have drank 38 cans since last Friday...

For some reason I like to mix a small amount of it with Coke from drink fountains.

Satan, is that you?