Call me a cheapskate, but I’ve found that generic products typically are just as good as the name brand counterpart. But, there are a few exceptions.
Oreos: I’ve never found a generic version of Oreos that didn’t taste like eating cocoa power and grit.
Cola: store brand soft drinks tend to be okay, but the Coke and Pepsi knockoffs always fall way short of the real deal.
What are your examples?
Cola’s one of them. Anything other than Pepsi, or, in the right mood, Coke, is to be avoided. Other sodas, I frequently prefer the off-brands (unless it’s Mt Dew or Dr Pepper, where there is no off-brand equivalent), especially ginger ale.
Nacho chips are another…every off-brand version I’ve ever had has had really terrible chips (though the flavouring is often ok).
Many generic products are differently packaged name brands.
[QUOTE=Mitch Hedberg]
I had a Mr. Pibb, Mr. Pibb is a replica of Dr. Pepper… but it’s the bullshit replica, cause dude didn’t even get his degree.
[/QUOTE]
Agreed.
Mr Pibb isn’t sold up here. And being a Coke product, I wouldn’t call it an off-brand version. (It looks like we MIGHT be able to get Dr Thunder, though…I’ve never thought to look for store brands at WalMart. That is an off-brand Dr Pepper.)
Virtually all of the Costco (Kirkland) brands are as good as - or better - than name brands. At least the ones I’ve tried.
mmm
I’ve found generic liquid dish detergent is more water than the name-brand equivalent. What’s the point of half the price if you have to use 3 times as much??
I tend to avoid store brand ice cream also, opting for premium brands. Some things, you just don’t skimp on…
Disposable razors – always buy Gillette.
Whilst Coke Zero is the pinnacle, many store brands are much superior to Pepsi.
I won’t buy non name brand ketchup, mayo or brown sauce, although there are several acceptable brands. Also any frozen pizza has to be Chicago Town. Other than that I’m pretty much generic all the way.
I’ve noticed that I pretty much need Kraft mayo. There are other name brands that are okay, but the generics never taste good.
Generic Fruity Pebbles (aka Fruity Dynobites) don’t taste like the real thing–because they are better.
My non generic is shorter:
I must have brand name tooth paste, mouth wash, dog food and dog treats.
Other than those I will try anything generic; so far my experience has been good.
Strongly depends on the product. Safeway store brand ice cream is as good or better then the brand name stuff - I buy what is cheapest, but am happy with the generic. On the other hand their store brand microwave popcorn sucks, with large numbers of burned or unpopped kernels. Orville R in big boxes from Costco is perfect.
If you look at generic frozen veg their quality in terms of size and quality of the pieces is not up to those of brand names. My wife used to work for a brand name vegetable cannery. They canned generic equivalents, but usually at the end of the season when the quality wasn’t as good as what they canned for themselves.
At least you have your priorities right!
I buy premium cat food because they have less grain. One advantage is that less grain means smaller deposits in the litter boxes. Yeah, I’m lazy. I used to buy expensive cat treats until I realized that they were just as happy with a few pieces of Friskies.
Ketchup must be Heinz. Not Hunts, not store brand, only Heinz.
breakfast cereal is another where only the original will do.
I’ve noticed that there now seem to be different tiers of generic/store brands. There’s one tier which is nearly identical to the originals (most walmart and giant eagle store brand products), and somewhat cheaper. The product, packaging, and names are clearly designed to imitate specific products, and they’re usually placed right next to the brand name stuff on store shelves.
Sometimes there is a mid-tier off brand. It’s not designed to imitate any existing products, and is in the middle of the pack in both quality and price.
Then there is a lowest tier “Valu-Rite” or similar brand. It does not seem to be a mockup or imitation of anything, and is near the bottom of the barrel in quality and pricing. You find this a lot in dollar stores and low end grocery stores.
The only drug I have noticed - Catapres TTS transdermal patches are better than some of the generic brands of clonidine patches. The generics were twice as large and fell off easy. Anything else, generic all the way.
Soda of the same “tier” is all the same to me, sorry. I don’t mean that they taste identical, but they are all good in their own way.
That’s because many of them are the name brands. E.g. their French vodka is basically Grey Goose, the rum is I think Cruzan. You can tell when they are made in city X and that’s the only game in town, even if Costco doesn’t outright state it. At the very least, they are made in the same factories with the same standards.
Another vote for dish soap.
Costco (Kirkland) brands are often name brand products with a Costco label. Two examples:
Costco jeans are made by Lee.
Costco laundry detergent is made by Tide.
HEB (Texas store) ice cream is better than name brand - 1905 vanilla and Poteet Strawberry are topnotch… Actually,HEB branded is excellent,Hill Country Fare is generic,Central Market is prime and usually organic or rare or handmade or all of the above.
Some HEB sodas/pop/coke is made with sugar,no high fructose…
C&H brown sugar - I would never have thought that something as basic as brown sugar would have quality issues, but the generic tasted like artificially brown-sugar flavored sand.
Flonase prescription nasal spray - I’m fine with other generic medications, but the generic Flonase doesn’t work for me, even though I’ve tried several different manufacturers.
The Dr Pepper knockoffs are usually still pretty good, but none is as good as the real thing. I refer to the knock-offs as “Non-accredited doctor”.
I’ll agree with the OP about Oreos. It’s hard to make a chocolate cookie that’s actually bad, but none of the others are as good as Oreos.
The Aldi brand of black tea is surprisingly good, better than Lipton’s… but Stash and Twinnings are cheap enough that you might as well get them anyway.
I’ve only once ever found a cereal that attempted to mimic Life. It tasted like cardboard. And Honey Nut Cheerios has many imitators, but most of them are completely blah.
And finally, the only mustard I ever buy is stadium mustard, and it comes in only two brands.