Made By vs. Distributed By: What's The law?

What’s the deal with consumer products which are branded, but only “distributed” by the firm whose name is on the label? Aren’t you (the consumer) supposed to be able to twll who actually made the product?
I ask because I’ve been noticing this disclaimer on all kinds of stuff-from toothpaste to shoe polish. Instead of “Made By”, the label will say “Distributed by”. Dammit-I want to know who I am dealing with, how can Proctor & Gamble label something made in China with their trademark and seal-and then sneak in this “distributed by’ stuff? GM is guilty of this-their low-end Chevrolet car is made in China (by “Chery motors”)-and GM passes it off as a Chevrolet.
What’s the law on this?

The law is clearly that this is okay as long as they avoid any false designations.

Would you feel better if P&G (or Chevy) set up their very own plant in China, rather than using a third party OEM? I’m not sure I would.

Did you know Sam Adams beer is (or was) brewed at locations other than a “Sam Adams brewery?”

Now, a little research can reveal how your favorite company sources stuff that it “distributes.”

Your remedy is that by distributing it in the U.S., P&G, or Chevy, is assuming the liability if Shoddy Chinese ManuCo Ltd. poisons your toothpaste or substitutes balsa wood struts for your roll cage. Presumably they will take active steps to prevent that from happening in the first place. Which is not to say that if Boeing started importing Antonov-built jets and selling them under its brand that I would not assiduously avoid flying on such vessels.

No they don’t. The Chevy Aveo is a rebadged Daewoo Kalos, which is from South Korea and is owned by GM. GM’s China plants make them for the Chinese market.

I don’t think any of GM’s cars are made by Chery. The Chevy Aero is made by Daewoo, and marketed in Korea as the Kalos. GM sued Chery, claiming they stole some of Daewoo’s designs.

ralph124c, this is a straightforward questyion with a clearly factual answer.

Stop dropping your General Questions into Great Debates.

If you are bright enough to work a computer, you should be bright enough to read the Forum descriptions (and polite enough to follow them).

Moved.

[ /Modding ]

I see it as a debate, really. There seems to be no fixed meaning to barnd names, anymore. Care to debate this?

Seemed like it was phrased as a question to me. What is there to debate-- Whether or not it’s legal or not to not state who manufactured a particular item?

Sure there is, it just doesn’t mean much. A company owns the rights to a brand name. That’s about it.

Many products you buy with a particular brand name are designed, sourced and distributed by other companies (licensees) with the original company having minimal involvement.

Some companies just buy up brands for the sole purpose of licensing, without any real operations other than the administration of the brands and royalties.

Of course there is fixed meaning to brand names. The government directly regulates content by mandating “made in” or “distributed by” tags, and indirectly does so by enforcing trademark law so that imitation brands can’t be slipped by unwary consumers.

There is no debate that the branding laws are tougher and better enforced today than ever before in history.

I am sure that a firm like P&G values its name enough to insure that the stuff it distributes is of good quality. But what about GM? They buy a sh*tbox deathtrap car in China, and slap the Chevrolet brand name on it ("distributed by GM). What are you buying in that case?

You’ve been told in other threads that this isn’t true. The cars you are referring to are Korean cars produced in plants owned by GM.

How do you know the quality of any car you purchase? They all have to pass the same crash/safety tests to be sold here; and everyone is free to read up on those test results. Beyond that, why does it matter if the car is made in Korea or the US?

Hey, he was told in this thread that it wasn’t true. But why should he let a good rant be interfered with by the facts? :smack:

What are you buying ever?

A company that owns the rights to use a brand name can produce or have produced any product that falls within the parameters of the contract regarding the usage of that brand and slap that brand on it.

GM could sell the rights to the brand “Chevrolet” to a company in Mexico for any sales in Europe, and that company can have cars designed by a company in Zimbabwe and produced by a different company in Sweden and distributed by a different company in Australia and the product would still have the name “Chevrolet” attached to it.

Brand tells you very, very little about the operational details of how a product is designed, developed or distributed.

Ive been watching this for over 3 years now, and I can tell you that FOOD, made in USA, is made & distributed here.

A Brand name food, that is processed in China, only says: Distributed by (usual saying from some small town USA); no mention is made to where its processed!

I have been checking the labels for a while now, and I can tell you for a FACT, that other Countries (france, germany, scandinavia, etc., everyone BUT “CHINA”), states, Distributed by small town USA, & also says, MADE IN, and PROUDLY names the Foreign Country!

I believe that China has been doing DRY RUNS, on our Dog/Cat Foods that KILL/ SICKENS our PETS…the 2nd one that made the news, is happening now with Jerky Dog Bites, made in CHINA! (Oct 2013).

China would LOVE to have America, they are already taking over Canada! THIS is just my observations, no real facts yet, and Im afraid their will NOT be a warning when CHINA decides to POISON our FOODS.

reported

Moderator Action

Due to this thread’s age and its somewhat unclear nature (question vs debate, etc) I think it’s best to just shut this down. Anyone wishing to discuss this topic further is welcome to do so, but if you do choose to open a new thread, please choose a forum appropriate for the topic, and please choose the question/topic carefully to clearly indicate what aspect of this topic you are discussing (i.e. GQ for factual information related to labeling, GD for whether or not companies should do this, the Pit for expressing anger/outrage against the practice, etc).

Thread closed.