You have yet to show that the products the OP brought were inferior to the products asked for. In what way are Great Value Chips inferior to Frito Lay Chips, not including a higher price and much greater advertising budget?
For chips and dips I think you did okay, basic but okay. I would’ve subbed a bag of pretzels in there for a potato chip. Maybe a bag of popcorn too.
Like with presents, it’s the thought that counts.
Kid Cheesesteak is in Boy Scouts, and one of the responsibilities is for the scouts to cook for their fellow scouts when camping. I’m trying to encourage him, when it’s his turn, to take that responsibility seriously, to be thoughtful of what others would want to eat, and not just pick the easiest, cheapest or his own favorite foods.
You were thoughtful in providing a wide variety of foods, in sufficient quantity. The fact that you spent the least possible money is a possible knock, but I’d say you did alright.
Not everybody thinks this way; and to some of us, this attitude looks like snobbishness.
Some store-brand products are exactly the same as their name-brand equivalents (made in the same factories) but in different packaging. Other times, there is a noticeable difference.
In my experience, Wal-Mart’s store-brand chips are perfectly good. Name-brand chips often have an extremely high markup, so that, unless you find them on sale, you’re paying a lot for what you get.
Whether I would bring store-brand products to a potluck or party would probably depend on whether I believed or knew from experience that they were just as good in quality as the name brand. And that can depend on the product.
Good lord. Someone buys 6 enormous bags of chips and four jars of salsa for a potluck, and you’re focused on their trying to save a few dollars?
Has 2021 been such a good year for you that you’ve got energy to be pissed off over this kind of thing?
Very much a preference by the consumer but Frito Lay employs much stricter quality control measures to ensure consistency in their product. Open a bag of Frito Lay chips and they will be a roughly consistent size, shape, and color.
Open a bag of Great Value Chips and you’ll find many more burnt chips, green chips, broken odd shapes, inconsistent salt and oil levels on each chip, etc.
Again, very much personal preference and most will say “a chip is a chip, just eat them” but there is a difference.
It’s possible that your contribution would have been the only thing I would have eaten at your potluck. Generally, I’m not a big fan of what other people make, as I’m a very picky eater and often people put weird things in their dishes (like…ugh, hard to even say this but like…vegetables! Unreal, right??).
So, no…I don’t think you were a jerk, FWIW.
Good lord. You think a person who’s struggling financially owes it to you to bow out of a celebration so you don’t suffer the indignity of eating a store-brand chip?
Not at all.
When we have a potluck, people don’t care if you don’t buy a brand name. In your case, buying from Wal-Mart means you got more than you would have. And it sounds like you didn’t just bring a single bag of chips.
Open a bag of much more expensive gourmet “hand crafted” chips, and guess what you’ll find?
I used to put a lot of effort into my potluck contributions, but people in my group were bringing things like a box of donuts or a bucket of KFC or Papa John’s Pizza. So I figured store-bought stuff was perfectly fine and If I was feeling particularly lazy I would just give the KFC/pizza person some money towards whatever they were getting.
My only criticism with the OP’s list is the lack of sour cream & onion dip.
I’d like to interrupt this thread for the greatest office potluck story of all time, the Insulted by Cheap Ass Rolls! (#2 in the article). The comments are hilarous.
And its recent followup where a coworker of Ms Insulted by Cheap Rolls fills in the details.
Bang 'em in bowls and no-one is any the wiser and no-one will care.
If this is the sort of do where stuff is getting served in the bags and dipped straight out of the jars then I think it is also fair to say that no-one is going to be too sniffy.
I bet you’d complain if the Sancerre was served in paper cups as well.
Not bringing in something home-prepared/cooked means that much less office exposure to potential food poisoning.
Tasting notes of Spanish olives, Brie and fine-tooled Corinthian leather, no doubt.
Two-thirds of the bag is air? 
I once made my own tortilla chips for a potluck because someone had jokingly suggested that I do it to go with my homemade salsa.
Everyone agreed that they were very tasty and also that I really should’ve just bought a bag of chips.
Perception. It’s quite likely that Great Value Chips are inferior to Frito Lay Chips, due to the amount spent on the product, Someone would have to do a blind taste test to make that determination. But the instant assumption of most people on seeing that someone bought a Walmart store-brand product is that the person was buying the cheapest option. And if the OP’s co-workers are making an effort on their gathering, while he’s trying to get by with buying the cheapest option, then the OP is being a jerk to his colleagues.
I’m not pissed off, just judgmental. That doesn’t take very much energy at all. Probably about the same amount of energy you spent in composing your post.
Assumption, based on PR.
I personally cannot remember ever in my life judging anyone harshly for offering me off-brand snack chips.
And thinking more about this matter I have never paid attention to, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone show up to a potluck (and I have been to more than my share) with six bags of Lay’s or Doritos. Perhaps if they’re bringing one or two bags, but anyone buying more than that will pretty much always go with the store brand IME.