After three attempts Im still not happy with the thread title.
In MSPMS there are people who are waging war about Mayonaise vs Miracle Whip. I have had people passionately argue the case for one or the other. Me? Well I don’t really care. Both are fine. I can tell the difference, but Im not really worked up about one versus the other. My ex refused Miracle Whip, my current will use the trademarked tangy zip kind only. Whatever.
My brother is this way about Coke Vs Pepsi. He will often order “Cola” or “Brown Pop” because to him, yes he can tell the difference, but he doesn’t really care one way or another.
When I ate peanut butter I had no crunchy vs smooth affliation. (Now I can’t eat the stuff, but that’s another story.) Sometimes I would eat one for months, then switch. Other times I would have a jar of each in my fridge.
So I’m curious, what other food stuff or brand vs brand debates rile some people but leave you shrugging and saying “Whatever?”
PS. Im not asking you to say “I don’t like any kind of item X regardless of brand…” we have lots of threads for those.
Pretty much any electronic one. Like, some people get SO passionate about computers and cameras–I don’t know, they all seem the same to me.
Most margarine tastes the same to me, too.
I know some people get het up about the different kinds of ginger ale. Like, isn’t one of them the “bad” kind? Seagram’s? Canada Dry? Actually some people think all of that stuff is the BS kind and that the real kind is something made with real ginger or something. I’m a philistine, any kind of ginger ale I buy in the stores is fine.
Believe it or not, being a religious conservative or conservatively religious or whatever Christian…
Catholic or Protestant- meh (I’m Protestant but I can happily attend Catholic Mass & get as much out of it except for not being able to take Communion),
I am concerned with major doctrines (the stuff covered in the Creeds), pro-life/conservative family values, pro-Israel & not being anti-Charismatic, but I can make myself at home in any Trinitarian socially-conservative ok-with-Charismatic-stuff church
I thought I liked Coke over all private label colas, then tried a blind taste test with Safeway’s house brand Go-Cola, and was amazed that I picked it. Still hate the other store brands. (Actually liked RC Cola best, but haven’t seen it in years)
Some people can tell chili brands apart, and I just tolerate all of them equally.
Some people fuss over which spice or which oil or which vinegar even is in their Italian dressing, but I don’t care.
Some people say the national brand of butter tastes better. What?
Some foodies try to make out like different salts are useful. Nope.
Some people swear that some brands of gasoline are better and I’m sure they are nuts.
My brother even pays double for the national brand of windshield wiper fluid. Fool.
To me, all religions are pretty much the same if they believe in a higher power. I realize this might be the ultimate passionate issue for most people. I just dont get what the big deal is. You get into a version of heaven, its oppoents go to a version of hell, you worship something you cant see.
I really don’t get people who stick to one make of car their whole life. My father was this way about Chrysler. Wouldn’t buy anything but for like 50 years. Then there’s the whole Ford vs. Chevy debate. When I’m looking for a car, almost everything else is more important in my decision than which company made it, and where in the world they’re located.
I’m weird about soda. Pepsi all the way unless it’s cherry flavored, and then it’s Cherry Coke only. Don’t care:
Brands of: mayo, ketchup, mustard, cars, computers, most electronics (don’t like Apple stuff though), bras, panties, and toothpaste.
I’m sure there are tons of others but that’s a start
You might be thinking of the difference between ginger ale and ginger beer. The beer version is much more gingery/spicy. I can see some people not liking it and fans thinking the ale version is weak sauce.
I don’t give a toss if a stereo is a cheapy from Wal-Mart or some mega-high end audiophile’s wet dream. All I’m listening to is the music, and it sounds fine to me on either.
If a car is reasonably reliable and comfortable, it’s just fine with me. I don’t need to feel I’m in some ultimate driving machine to be happy.
audio/visual quality. I would still be listening to cassettes and watching video tapes if I weren’t married to the earliest of early adopters. He’s always showing me the next big thing and going “Doesn’t that look/sound amazing!” and I’m always like “It looks/sounds the same to me”
It took a long time in my life to reach this point, but deli mustard versus “regular” mustard now matters very little to me. I mean, they both taste really good to me, and there’s obviously a big difference in taste, but I just don’t have a strong preference.
My kids get passionate about brands, I go meh. How can they tell that the white grape juice is Welch’s or Old ORchard? OR the cottage cheese is Country Fresh or Breakstones? Lets not go into one liking large curd and the other prefers small curd!
In my house all white bread’s are not created equal, Wonder Bread is not preferred over Pepperidge Farm’s. Vlasic dill pickles can get picked out of a line up with lesser dills.
I even hear them get all passionate about how Lucky Charms has downsized the marshmallow stars and they don’t approve.
Microwave Popcorn too(an abomination imo), orvilles is not as good as popsecret.
Snapple is preferred over Lipton but Arizona’s Arnold Palmer 1/2 & 1/2 is the bomb.
Of course, in some cases, the person may not be genuinely passionate, but might just be playing around.
I can definitely taste a big difference between brands of ginger ale. Canada Dry is kind of lame and not gingery enough. I like Schweppes and Seagrams a lot better.
I find that some cottage cheeses have very distinct flavors. Plain yogurts, too. I think it might be the enzymes that they use or something.
What I can’t understand about all these things is why some people seem to care so much whether you have a preference or not and what it is. I don’t put ketchup on my hot dogs, but I don’t care if you do.
But let my brother see you put ketchup on a hot dog and you’ll never hear the end of it. (I like to think he’s just joking, but I’m not entirely sure.)
Yeah, I LOVE ginger ale but all three equally. I really have never tasted a difference. I’ve never done a blind taste test, but I’ve never thought, “Needs more ginger. Or hmmm, needs less.” I remember a friend of mine in a store when we were looking for some saying that one was the lame brand–might have been Canada Dry. And I remember saying, “Really? Ginger ale varies? Interesting.”
I wonder if some of these things are based on the variations between people’s ability to taste certain flavors. (Leaving out super-tasters, of course)
Because now that I think about it, foods where I have strong brand preferences often have tart and/or vinegary elements to them. Like the cottage cheese or yogurt. And I strongly prefer Hellman’s mayonnaise to any other brand. Not sure how ginger fits in there, but it might be related.
In contrast, some people are really picky about chocolate. I’m not. I can definitely taste differences between different types and quality levels, but not enough to care which brand of chocolate I have as long as it’s of decent quality.
I couldn’t give a crap about big-screen, flat screen, whatever-screen, high-def TVs. I can see why some people prefer one computer over the other, especially if it’s something they use a lot and need specific functionality, but I couldn’t care less about what type of TV I have as long as I can see the screen. One of our friends comes over and constantly bitches about the size of our television, which is a now-modest (used to be huge) 27 inch. He’s never watched a movie or even turned it on at our house, so I have no idea why he cares.
Other things I don’t care about: one type of “gourmet” beer over the other (I just don’t want to drink watery beer), clothing brands, others’ musical tastes and different baby gadgets.
The only thing I really get worked up about is running shoes. You’ll take my Brooks Adrenalines from me when you pry them from my cold, dead hands.