First, how do you know what the “instant assumption of most people” is? And second, just because they think the person was buying the cheapest option doesn’t mean they think that’s a bad thing. I might well think “He bought the cheapest option, and good for him.” I don’t think price necessarily correlates with quality.
Agreed. That is my go-to chip. Every bit as tasty as Ruffles with less mess.
If your officemates actually complain to you that you should have bought a more high-class version of the food (which they already approved the general idea of), and this was an actually spoken complaint, as opposed to some grumbling that they didn’t say directly to you, what else is going on in your office? Do they tell you that you should be dressing more fashionably? Do they say that you should move to a better neighborhood? If stuff like that is what’s going on in your office, you need to complain to your HR office. That sort of belittling of officemates is wrong and maybe illegal. Does your contract for your job state anything about food or fashion or neighborhoods? They have no business harassing you about things irrelevant to your job.
If you’re worried about the fact that you don’t cook anything, consider bringing an additional item that you don’t have to cook. I don’t cook anything for potlucks, but I often bring a fair amount of food. There are other things that don’t require cooking. What about bringing cheese or grapes or olives or pickles?
From the OED
Perception, 2: the way in which something is regarded, understood, or interpreted:
Hollywood’s perception of the tastes of the American public
we need to challenge many popular perceptions of old age.
So the usage was correct.
Nor was the poster denying that advertising shapes our perceptions. That is after all the point of advertising. In my case, my experience with chips is there are some discernible differences between brands, and I have preferences. These are not always for the most expensive or artisanal ones, but they are rarely the Walmart ones. In some cases, I can tell the difference. Pringles are not potato chips, but they are a fine snack on their own.
I always hated office potlucks. In 36 years I’ve NEVER brought a homemade dish. Early on, I hit on bringing either the paper goods or the soda. Both cheap and easy - and needed. If anyone looked askance as a result - fuck 'em.
Of course, I long ago decided the best solution was to have a “conflict” that I just couldn’t make the potluck, so I didn’t have to bring anything. Funny how those conflicts just always happen to coincide with whenever they schedule an office party…
If I gave a shit, my complaint would be with the couple of people who act like an office party is an excuse for them to take the whole fucking day off to decorate the room, set things up, clean up after…
When did office parties become a competition? I think the idea of a ‘party’ is something that people go to to enjoy themselves, not to judge other people. You bring what you can afford or what you are capable of making. Also, just because something is homemade doesn’t mean it doesn’t taste like ass.
And this, my friends, is why I never participated in work pot lucks* (or Secret Santas). I never brought and I never ate. I would get too much anxiety over making some sort of faux pas over something that I didn’t understand. If I did go, I guarantee I wouldn’t even notice, let alone judge someone over, what someone brought.
*ok, there were a few times where the assembly line and test workers would have one. I was the manufacturing engineer who worked with them. They liked me and would insist that I would join to the point that it would have been rude not to do so and it was filled with amazing homemade Mexican and Vietnamese food.
There were a couple of well known leeching chow hounds who could sniff out a pot luck from across the building who would invite themselves to all of them. Those people never contributed and were assholes.
Slight hijack, Pringles are not gluten free but Lay’s Stax and the Great Value chip-in-a-can are gluten free.
I once worked in an office where brands were specified - Corona beer - and box wine was prohibited.
I had a revelation when I brought a salmon to a potluck of about 20 people and someone else brought 3 slices of “olive loaf,” you know, that crap that might be thinly sliced bologna with olives and pimentos in it. Everyone scarfed the salmon before I could even get a piece. In general, I’m not fond of office parties, or parties, apart from left wing ones, and even then I’m pretty fussy. Unlike Dinsdale, I’m happy some people enjoy such things and don’t begrudge them the work day spent on such frivolity. I do seem to share with Dinsdale some scheduling conflicts, more’s the pity
I think that someone who’s struggling financially should go for a homemade option that would require a bit of effort, but less money. There are lots of dishes the OP could have prepared, rather than buying store-brand potato chips. Here’s one example:
But if he doesn’t have time to cook an inexpensive dish to share with his colleagues, and all he can afford are store-brand snacks, then no dish is better than a pathetic dish. But that’s not apparent from the OP. He doesn’t indicate that he was struggling for the extra $10 to buy name-brand products. He was just trying to save money, and provide a low-cost product at a party where presumably many others contributed higher levels of cost and effort. That’s being a cheapskate at the expense of his colleagues, and to re-answer the original question, yes he is a jerk.
I often win the chili competitions at my girlfriend’s office parties. Last time (pre-covid), I smoked all the various meats before cooking. Smoked them well. Turns out that not everybody likes that.
I think we can gather from this that – if your office party comprises enough attendees – at least one of them will be judging you.
But I wouldn’t sweat it. Your odds are pretty good, here 
Asuka bought six bags of chips, four jars of salsa, one jar of jalapenos, and one jar of chees sauce. How much would that cost? It sounds to me like it’s as least as much as it would cost someone to buy the ingredients for a dish they would cook. I don’t think Asuka is being a cheapskate.
Honestly, I actually prefer a lot of the storebrand chips, Walmart included, to Lay’s.
I expect Asuka’s chips + accoutrements will be happily scarfed down by everyone there. I’d rather eat those than another green bean casserole or macaroni salad.
Damn straight I would!
At home, we’re quite content to have a £10 bottle of wine. If we have guests, we’ll go around £25 a bottle, or more if there’s something we’d like to try. In restaurants, we go for that same level, even though we’re paying 3-5 times the price for the equivalent bottle of wine. Why are we paying so much more for what is essentially the same product? We’re paying for the wine as an accompaniant to the meal, and for the service the staff provide with the meal.
I don’t want to mind-read the OP, but I’ve got the idea that he wants to metaphorically serve £5 bottles of wine to his colleagues, when the standard should be at a minimum of £10, and he should be being generous and paying for the £25 bottles of wine. If he can’t afford the £25 bottles of wine, that’s fine. But I’m thinking he’s trying to get away with serving £5 bottles of wine, even if he can afford to pay more.
Because that’s what you do? There’s nothing wrong with a six-dollar bottle of Barefoot Moscato, and that’s about £5. We drink it (we doesn’t include me anymore, though, since I gave up wine), and we serve it to our guests. Everybody loves it.
Send the next batch over!
I’ve found that if I have questions about the sort of wine that should be brought it’s best to discreetly ask the potluck sommelier.
Band name.