I know some people who insist that brand names are better. By and large, I disagree. Until now, I had only personal experience with this, but thanks to an article today, I now have independent media corroboration with my assertion.
Brand names may give us more peace of mind, but the cheaper stuff works just as well, and in exactly the same way. It's required to, by law.
This reference particularly refers to generic NSAIDs. The same thing can be held for other products. They must be safe, they must contain similar components, they just don't get held to inert or superfluous ingredients involved.
Before you get a hissy fit, not all generics are created equal. Some of Wal-Mart's generic products just don't taste the same as the brand name equivalents. That is because they contain propriety compounds or ingredients that cannot be placed into generics.
Where do generics come from?
In the case of much of the pharmaceutical industry, most of those drugs are made by companies in Canada and Europe. These companies pay zero for research and development, preferring instead to use industrial espionage to procure formulas, etc. They either hire people to work for the companies and steal the information or they pay people to pay a visit and steal what they can. When I worked in industry, they had me store some of their cutting edge R&D at my workstation when a competitor came to visit to protect it from them.
Some companies have special arrangements to save customers money. Some of the difference in price is for the brand name. Suppliers then order it direct from the manufacturer and have it placed in generic packaging. You can thereby buy the same oil filter from Wal-Mart under the Supertec brand that FRAM sells, but at a 20% discount because it doesn't have the FRAM label. They can sometimes get it packaged right out the door almost exactly the same at cheaper price and still make the same per unit because they don't have to pay royalties.
Not all generics are equal. From Mac n Cheese to Dr. Pepper to potato chips, the generics are not the same. Do they work? That is a matter of taste, but then again so is caviar...
1 comment:
I admit that I am brand loyal to a few things, but not because of the brand. I won't buy generic Cheerios because I have tried lots of generic and they just aren't the same. I buy Surf laundry detergent because I like the value, the scent and the performance. Again, I have tried many, many brands of detergent and Surf is just my favorite. But mac n cheese...even though they vary, pretty much all the same. I consider myself a frugal consumer, and by and large, it's generic around here. Except of course, when the commissary beats the generic prices! Gotta love the commissary!
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