# Well-known brands that aren't megacorps? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 26, 2009, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-brands-that-arent-megacorps/487524 "2009-02-26T17:17:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-brands-that-arent-megacorps/487524/1 "2009-02-26T17:17:03Z")
This [thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=508252) lists a bunch of corporate connections that are invisible at the consumer level. When you buy Ben & Jerry’s ice cream you’re buying a Unilever product. When you buy Jif peanut butter, you’re buying a Proctor & Gamble product. When you buy Heinz ketchup you’re buying a Promark product. Most products are either formerly independant brands that were bought up by some megacorporation or are house brands that never had any independant existence. And a few are flagship products like Pepsi, which is just one of dozens of different brand names its parent company owns. What are some well-known products that aren’t examples of this? Products that are still manufactured by a company that has the company name on all its labels? ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-brands-that-arent-megacorps/487524/2 "2009-02-26T17:33:22Z")
To the best of my knowledge SC Johnson is still owned by the same family as it was 100+ years ago. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-brands-that-arent-megacorps/487524/3 "2009-02-26T17:34:24Z")
Kraft and their other brands. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-brands-that-arent-megacorps/487524/4 "2009-02-26T17:35:36Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > To the best of my knowledge SC Johnson is still owned by the same family as it was 100+ years ago. Yup. They’re clients of ours. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-brands-that-arent-megacorps/487524/5 "2009-02-26T17:38:11Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Yup. They’re clients of ours. 🙂 Stop that:D ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-brands-that-arent-megacorps/487524/6 "2009-02-26T17:39:09Z")
McIlhenny, makers of [Tobasco](http://www.tabasco.com/tabasco_history/mcilhenny.cfm). ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-brands-that-arent-megacorps/487524/7 "2009-02-26T17:39:55Z")
> [@ultrafilter](#): > > Kraft and their other brands. Does that count? For quite a while it was owned by Phillip Morris and only recently spun back to owning itself. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-brands-that-arent-megacorps/487524/8 "2009-02-26T17:44:26Z")
Hershey’s is the perfect brand for what you’re looking for. It’s never been a subsidiary of any other company, although it has purchased other food companies and subsumed them under the Hershey’s umbrella; e.g. Reese’s peanut butter cups were originally made by the H. B. Reese company, and Twizzlers licorice was made by Y&T. Hershey stock endows the Milton Hershey School, so the company will likely never be a takeover target. Robin ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-brands-that-arent-megacorps/487524/9 "2009-02-26T17:46:12Z")
McDonalds. While they have owned other restaurant chains they haven’t branched terribly far beyond this industry. ---
**Author:** ![Dog80](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6bbea6/32.png) [@Dog80](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dog80)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-brands-that-arent-megacorps/487524/10 "2009-02-26T17:57:30Z")
In the automotive world I would say that Toyota, BMW and Mercedes-Benz satisfy the criteria. While they might own other smaller companies, (for example Toyota owns Hino, a truck company and Denso an electronics company) they don’t go for multiple brands offering more-or-less the same product like GM, Ford or VW. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-brands-that-arent-megacorps/487524/11 "2009-02-26T18:30:09Z")
TABASCO® was going to be mine as well. Another is the WD-40 line of lubricants. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-brands-that-arent-megacorps/487524/12 "2009-02-26T18:39:15Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > > [@ultrafilter](#): > > > > Kraft and their other brands. > > Does that count? For quite a while it was owned by Phillip Morris and only recently spun back to owning itself. How is Kraft not a megacorp? According to the Wikipedia article, it owns: \* A1 Steak Sauce \* Africana Romania \* Ali Coffee \* Alpen Gold chocolate (Poland, Russia) \* Arrowroot biscuits \* Athenos Mediterranean food products \* Back to Nature \* Baker’s \* Balance Bar \* Better Cheddars \* Boca Burger \* Bonox \* Breakstone’s \* BullsEye Barbecue Sauce \* California Pizza Kitchen (grocery store items) \* Calumet Baking Powder \* Cameo biscuits \* Capri Sun \* Carte Noire \* Charada (Peru) \* Cheese Nips \* Cheez Whiz \* Cheezels (Malaysia) \* Chicken in a Biskit \* Chips Ahoy! \* Christie (Canada) \* Claussen \* Clight \* Club Social crackers \* Cool Whip \* Corn Nuts \* Coronita (Peru) \* Côte d’Or (Belgium) \* Country Time powdered drink mix \* Cracker Barrel \* Crystal Light \* Daim (Sweden) \* Dairylea (Europe) \* Delissio (Canada) \* DiGiorno \* Easy Cheese \* Eden processed cheese (Philippines) \* Estrella Potato Chips (Sweden; Finland) \* Field (Peru) \* Fig Newtons \* Filipinos (Spain; Portugal) \* Freia (Scandinavia) \* Fruit2o \* General Foods International \* Gevalia (Sweden) \* Grape-Nuts \* Grey Poupon \* Handi-Snacks \* Honey Maid \* In-A-Biskit (Australia) \* Jack’s Pizza \* Jacobs (Europe) \* Jacob’s biscuits (Malaysia) \* Japp (Scandinavia) \* Jell-O gelatin \* Jet-Puffed Marshmallows \* Kaffee HAG \* Kenco (UK) \* Knox gelatin \* Knudsen \* Kong Haakon (Norway) \* Kool-Aid \* Kraft BBQ Sauce \* Kraft Caramels \* Kraft Macaroni and cheese \* Kraft Dinner (Canada) \* Kraft Easymac \* Kraft Mayo \* Kraft Bagelfuls \* Kraft Peanut Butter \* Kraft Singles \* Kraft Sandwich Spread \* Kraft TiGer Biscuits (Malaysia) \* Lacta (Brazil) \* Lefèvre-Utile Biscuit Co. \* Lunchables \* Maarud Potato Chips (Norway) \* Marabou (Sweden) \* Maxwell House \* Milka (Switzerland, Germany, rest of Europe) \* Miracle Whip \* Miracoli (Germany) \* Mostro (Peru) \* Nabisco \* Nabob (Canada) \* Nilla \* Non-Stop (Scandinavia) \* Nutter Butter \* O’boy (Scandinavia; Estonia) \* Onko coffee \* Oreo \* Oscar Mayer \* Grated Parmesan cheese \* Philadelphia cream cheese \* Pigrolac \* Planters \* Poiana (Romania) \* Polly-O cheese \* Premium (a Nabisco brand of saltine crackers) \* Pretzels \* P’tit Québec \* Prince Polo \* Pure Kraft Salad Dressings \* Ritz \* Royal baking powder \* Seven Seas \* Shake 'n Bake \* Simmenthal canned meat \* Snackabouts \* SnackWells \* South Beach Living \* Starbucks (grocery store items) \* Stove Top stuffing \* Suchard \* Svoge (Bulgaria) \* Taco Bell (grocery store items) \* Tang \* Tassimo T-DISCS. \* Teddy Grahams \* Terry’s chocolates \* Terry’s Chocolate Orange \* Toblerone (Kraft Foods Switzerland) \* Tombstone \* Triscuit \* Trakinas \* Twist \* Twisties (Malaysia) \* Vegemite \* Velveeta \* Wheat Thins ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-brands-that-arent-megacorps/487524/13 "2009-02-26T18:42:50Z")
Carmex ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-brands-that-arent-megacorps/487524/14 "2009-02-26T18:42:57Z")
> [@Dog80](#): > > In the automotive world I would say that Toyota, BMW and Mercedes-Benz satisfy the criteria. While they might own other smaller companies, (for example Toyota owns Hino, a truck company and Denso an electronics company) they don’t go for multiple brands offering more-or-less the same product like GM, Ford or VW. Toyota has Scion and Lexus which are essentially the same idea as Big-three style branding. They also in many ways run the “Toyota Trucks” brand as a different marque. Mercedes is the same general idea where they sell a huge variety of vehicles with entirely different marketing strategies, etc but usually keep the same brand. Of course, they also had the Chrysler and Dodge brands to sell cheap cars under for a while too, but that didn’t quite work out. I think BMW is a the only real example of an actually independent car company-- they sell about as many cars as an average division of a major car company, but are independently owned and more or less focus exclusively on cars and motorcycles. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-brands-that-arent-megacorps/487524/15 "2009-02-26T18:48:33Z")
> [@MsRobyn](#): > > Hershey’s is the perfect brand for what you’re looking for. It’s never been a subsidiary of any other company, although it has purchased other food companies and subsumed them under the Hershey’s umbrella; e.g. Reese’s peanut butter cups were originally made by the H. B. Reese company, and Twizzlers licorice was made by Y&T. > > Hershey stock endows the Milton Hershey School, so the company will likely never be a takeover target. > > Robin It was, actually - not that long ago (2002). Apparently Nestle put in a bid for the company. I don’t recall what ultimately happened (my brother who still lives in Harrisburg claimed the PA state legislature was thinking of stepping in, but I have no idea what they could have done). I know there were some antitrust concerns though. Apparently the thinking on the part of the trustees was that their duty was to the well-being of the school, and they seriously considered that selling off the company (and pursuing other investments) was the way to go. Good thing they didn’t, actually, with the stock market the way it has been lately - most people can still afford to buy the occasional Hershey Bar no matter how tight things are! Cites: [http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1695188.html](http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1695188.html) [http://www.thefreelibrary.com/NESTLE+MAY+BUY+HERSHEY+TRUST+WON'T+BAR+WHAT'S+POTENTIALLY+THE](http://www.thefreelibrary.com/NESTLE+MAY+BUY+HERSHEY+TRUST+WON%27T+BAR+WHAT%27S+POTENTIALLY+THE)…-a089832555 [http://www.confectionerynews.com/The-Big-Picture/Nestle-Cadbury-still-linked-to-Hershey-buy](http://www.confectionerynews.com/The-Big-Picture/Nestle-Cadbury-still-linked-to-Hershey-buy) Arguably Hershey could be considered a megacorp, with the various brand lines they’ve acquired (Scharffen Berger, Schmidt, etc.). ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-brands-that-arent-megacorps/487524/16 "2009-02-26T18:49:29Z")
Zamboni ---
**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-brands-that-arent-megacorps/487524/17 "2009-02-26T18:56:11Z")
I don’t know how well-known the brand is, but [Ferrara Pan Candy Company](http://www.ferrarapan.com/), maker of Lemonheads, Jawbreakers, Atomic Fireballs, etc., is still owned by the 3 families that founded it. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-brands-that-arent-megacorps/487524/18 "2009-02-26T19:06:17Z")
Well-known among musicians, anyway, [Rickenbacker](http://www.rickenbacker.com/) has always been it’s own dog. They also are high quality, reasonably-priced guitars, made in America. Heck, they [were the first to put the electric guitar into production](http://www.rickenbacker.com/history_early.asp) ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-brands-that-arent-megacorps/487524/19 "2009-02-26T19:09:13Z")
[Newman’s Own](http://www.newmansown.com/)- not a megacorp and charitable to boot. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-brands-that-arent-megacorps/487524/20 "2009-02-26T19:16:02Z")
> [@Harmonious\_Discord](#): > > Carmex Yes! Still only has about 100 employees and is family run. I remember a few years back in 96’ when 4 of their employees died in a car crash while going out for lunch and the entire company was devastated. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-brands-that-arent-megacorps/487524.md?page=2)