Everyone is familiar with “cola wars”, pitting Coke against Pepsi, and we all know about the ongoing PC/Mac debates that can get as heated as an argument over abortion. There are also some markets that, while there are more than two main players, it seems that two sides in particular are often at odds with each other, such as Chevy and Ford drivers.
Funny thing is, there are lots of other products whose market is dominated by two main competitors, but yet people don’t seem to be quite so passionate about defending their choices and cutting down the other side for any reason, whether a valid reason or not. One example I thought of was saltine crackers, whose two main players are Nabisco (Premium) and Keebler (Zesta). Personally, I’m on the fence between these two choices because I like the crunchiness of Premium but I also like the softer, flakier texture of Zesta. What is your preference, and why?
What are some other examples of products with two dominant contenders, but yet don’t have people fighting against each other and defending their loyalties so fervently?
That cuts out video games (there seems to be a rivalry in every generation of systems), Internet browsers, video formats (Beta vs. VHS, Divx vs. DVD, HD-DVD vs. Blu-Ray).
One that fits your criteria off the top of my head would be comic books, with DC and Marvel dominating the mainstream market. There is rivalry, but it’s definitely more of a good-natured thing, and the two companies have often worked together over the years. There was a bit of fan rivalry when I used to read comics, but it seemed to be a small part of the market-- most people who read superhero comics read both companies’ products.
I live in Green Bay and people here get pretty heated about their paper products. There are the Proctor and Gamble people (Puffs, Charmin, Always, Tampax, Tide, Joy, Bounty, Pampers) and the Kimberly-Clark people (Kleenex, Cottonelle, Quilted Northern, Poise, Kotex, Huggies). Growing up, my family always bought P&G because my grandpa worked for P&G. My childhood best friend’s dad worked for KC. One day she was doing the potty dance (you know what I mean) and my mom showed her to the bathroom. She said that her daddy told her to always use Northern… and we had Charmin!
(I’m marrying a man whose father works for P&G… he was very happy I was raised in a P&G household!)
Within about 100 miles, there are currently 24 paper mills, which employ about 50,000 people. There’s a good reason to be brand loyal because there’s a lot of competition!
Adidas vs. Puma. Not just by their customers, but the two company presidents hated each other’s guts. They both had factories in the same town with a river in between, and “crossing the river,” was the sign of a traitor. And the two company presidents were brothers: Adolf and Rudolf Dassler. They hated each other with a burning hot passion.
pretty much, it really does take blood to make a good solid hatred. it seems that the worse fights happen between relatives in the town my mom lives in there are two families with similar last names, the great grandfathers were brothers, and had some argument and the hatred continues to now, some 100 or so years later. I believe it had something to do with some facet about the catholic church [maybe who got to sit in the pew donated or something like that, I was told once and really dont remember] I think that is holding a grudge a bit too tightly!
I would like to hear from people with babies, what about diapers? You see lots of commercials for Huggies and Luvs and Pampers but I don’t hear a lot of fighting.
In the early '90s, there was definitely a Patagonia vs. The North Face thing going on. (Wearing the EMS or L.L.Bean house brands was a one-way ticket to dorkville.)
As the proud owner of a baby, i will make the point that the best diapers are from the dollar store, or target of all places. We tried huggies once, and half the pack was not usable because they were glued wrong, we assumed it must have been a simple mistake and tried them again when our usual brand was out of stock…exact same thing. Luvs leak, Pampers are too expensive.
It’s complicated. Keebler bought Sunshine Biscuits (the maker of Hydrox) in 1996, and in 1999 introduced a reformulated product called Droxies. Two years later, Kellogg’s acquired Keebler. In 2003, Droxies were taken off the market.
Last August, Kellogg’s brought back Hydrox for a limited run to honor the centennial of the cookie, which debuted four years before Oreo’s emergence. Hydrox is apparently not currently available, but could be brought back at the manufacturer’s whim. Then there’s the rumor that the Famous Amos chocolate sandwich cookie (a Kellogg’s product) may be “Hydrox reborn”…
I generally don’t think people need to defend any product which they could reasonably own a competitors product at the same time. Who cares if you prefer zesta or premium? I can afford to stock both boxes of saltines at the same time. I however cannot afford to buy a PC and a Mac or a (Chevy & Ford, Toyota & Nissan) at the same time so I will justify my expensive purchase to myself by convincing myself that I, either got the deal of the century or that I bought the best I could afford.
The only exception I see to this is the ‘cola wars’ where it used to be very irksome as a coke person to eat at restaurants with pepsi products since you would order a coke, and get some horrible brown beverage that does not taste like what you expect.
I was going to say that the farm and garden supply stores Farm and Fleet and Fleet Farm around here were born of a similar family feud, but Wikipedia tells me I’m wrong. Interesting that both were formed in 1955 though, in similar locations in Wisconsin. Someone was cashing in on the name, anyway
in the town my mom lives in there are two families with similar last names, the great grandfathers were brothers, and had some argument and the hatred continues to now, some 100 or so years later. I believe it had something to do with some facet about the catholic church [maybe who got to sit in the pew donated or something like that, I was told once and really dont remember] I think that is holding a grudge a bit too tightly!