Food Theory: Yes, The Knock Off Is BETTER!

In Canada, there’s a no name brand called “no name” and they have the funniest packaging ever. Like their version of coke is just a yellow can that says “cola”, it’s hilarious 

Former food manufacturing employee here; can confirm that we had four different labels slapped on to the EXACT SAME PRODUCT coming off of our processing line, two of which were for the same brand! They all had different marketing spins, too- one was "farm fresh", one was "all natural", you get the gist. All for the exact same product, no change in anything from the ingredients to the machine settings.

As an Ex-chef, when I cooked, I used 100% generic EVERYTHING, we (the restaurant) did have an issue were people insisted on a brand name cheddar cheese; however, when that very cheese as low in supply we switch it with generic and NO ONE ever knew the difference (yes we adjusted price). But to this day I do buy generic for my large party with my family, you honestly can't tell.

I live in the UK and whenever pringles changed the recipe for their sour cream and onion flavour to something honestly disgusting I started buying a knock off brand, the fact I got something for less than half the price and I tasted pretty close to how I remember just shocked me

This is why I love Aldi so much, pretty much the same stuff but cheaper

i still remember having a "hol-up" moment working at walmart's stock room. started unpacking some crates of cereal, and noticing the generic and kelloggs brand ones all had the same product, batch and factory info on them. the literal only difference was the cardboard box.

Yeah as a poor, I have always bought generic brands and have always loved them. At this point I actually prefer and seek them out in the store. I get mad when they're not available because I have to "settle" for the name brand 😂

In my experience, the store brand "toaster pastries" actually have significantly more filling than Kellogg's Pop Tarts. They're also about a third of the price.

7:20, i'd actually be really interested in seeing an episode like that about skewing blind taste tests

Very nice. You just confirmed that the generic brands are literally the same in every way, and they're cheaper because the studies showed that people tend to trust big name brands more than the "knock off" versions. Wonder how many people are going to save more money now, because of this video.

Fun fact, I used to work at a factory that made oil filters. The only difference between an expensive Jaguar oil filter and a cheap Frahm Filter is the color of the paint.

Here in the UK most off brand items come from the same factory as the branded ones. I used to work in a Candy/sweet factory and all the store brand candies were also made there, we literally just changed the packaging they where being packed into. You are often buying the exact same product at a cheaper price if you get the off brand version.

As someone who grew up poor, I almost always buy generic. There are certain things like doritos where the generic taste nothing like the name brand and isnt accepted, but for the majority, generic works fine.

I'm surprised MatPat didn't mention another reason why the younger generations are buying generic more often: the power of the dollar. We are all painfully aware that minimum wage does not have the same buying power that it did 25 years ago. When you're living at or below the poverty line, as is the case for many of us nowadays, you simply cannot afford the extra 60 cents for the brand name. That 60 cents needs to be spent on fuel to get to work or transport your kids. Growing up in the 90's, I was raised by a single mom with an excellent job. We bought name brands pretty much exclusively. Today, I would rather save 30 cents here and there buying generic because I need to cut where I can to make sure I can purchase the essentials across the board.

As someone who worked as a stocker at a grocery store. People always went for off brand because from what they told me “It saves me money plus it tastes exactly the same”. 😂

I remember the first time I bought Hydrox cookies thinking I was getting a cheap knock off Oreo only to have my mind blown by how much I loved them and how they tasted better. Later I found out the real history of the two cookies.

I find it ironic that Matt says “Are we drinking the Kool-aid when we should be drinking the Flavor-aid” considering Flavor-aid was the actual drink used in the Jonestown Massacre, not Kool-aid.

In a few cases, the generic brands will use less artificial/processed ingredients than the name brand. Great Value in particular has ingredients that are less artificial. My family found this out when shopping for ice cream. The Great Value ice cream uses milk, cream, and sugar as their first few ingredients, while some brands use high fructose corn syrup or coconut oil so the ice cream is less hard when very cold. We tend to prefer food that is cheaper and you can pronounce all the ingredients in the first couple lines.

As an Aldi employee, I'd love to see a theory done about the company growing even though the majority of their products are private label and the stores are severely smaller!

I have worked in factories where they would package a name brand and then package the same thing with a generic label. I have told people about it and they would say that the factories had to change some thing. I would tell them that it was the same thing. Of course, they wouldn't believe me. I call it, "everyday brain washing." 😀