Branded In The USA

There's a lot to be said for brand loyalty. Have you used Dial today? Don't you wish everyone used Dial? In the Rock 'n Roll standard, (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction, Mick Jagger sang, "When I'm watchin' my TV, And that man comes on to tell me How white my shirts can be..." Those lyrics reflected the reality of advertising that exists even today: to pound the name of the products into the consumers' brains so they cannot forget them.
....Do you squeeze the Charmin toilet tissue because you want soft "tp" to wipe your rear end? Or do you like me, squeeze it, all the while imagining the package is Mr. Wipple's head? Their message, so many years ago was so indelible that to this day I know the name Charmin. (For the record, I prefer Angel Soft.)
....They say Maxwell House coffee is good to the last drop, but is it really any better than the last drop of Folgers? It all comes down to consumer preference when trying to explain brand recognition. "Well he can't be a man 'cause he doesn't smoke The same cigarettes as me..."
....Some people vote either Democratic or Republican for no other reason than that's how their parents voted. So it is when they buy their consumer goods. How droll! (Excuse me while I run to the store to pick up some Ipana toothpaste, Barbasol shaving cream and a jar of Ovaltine.)
....In a nutshell, all of us succumb to brand loyalty in one form or another. I am no exception. My favorite brand? Why, Generic of course! I suppose that makes me sort of generic, doesn't it? Generic products are actually made by "branded companies." For a fee, a larger company allows a small outfit to package their product under another name. Indeed, some conglomerates package and sell their own "generic products."
....Genuine touched upon the subject of brand loyalty in his 5/22 post, "Service With A Smile."

Before I started composing this piece, I was thinking about products that I haven't seen advertised in a long time. I wondered if they even still existed.

....What I learned was that many of the "old" products I remember as a kid are in fact on the shelves of some stores. Just as I remember them, there are apparently others who remember them also. Some of those people are still buying these products. Yes, it's the name recognition syndrome in effect. Despite the fact that the manufacturers of these products no longer spend dollars to advertise them, there is a core of brand loyal consumers who use them.
....They still make Quisp cereal! You can still buy Barbasol shaving cream and Burma Shave. I saw Brylcream (a little dab'll do you.) on a shelf just last week. I was surprised to see that Barcolene could still be found in the cleaners shelves. Two things I couldn't find were Hydrox cookies and Friends' Baked Beans.
....I did find confirmation that Sunshine stopped making Hydrox several years ago. it was the original sandwich cookie. It was copied by a larger company under the name of Oreos. The power of brand recognition spelled doom for Hydrox. The advertising money spent on Oreos gave birth to the notion that Oreo was the original and Hydrox the cheap knock-off. If you ever had Hydrox cookies, then you know that they were far superior to Oreos. This was a classic example of "nice guys finishing last."

Don't click that browser, this Blog will return after a brief word from the sponsor, Blog Snacking Cookies.

You know, I sure could go for a Moon Pie and a bottle of NeHi Grape soda pop. ...And a Zero candy bar. How about a Boyer Mallow Cup?

No.640