Generic v. Name brand?: Polling the people
This morning while I was wrestling a very pissy 15 month old, Husband comes into the nursery and says, “Hey! I have something for you to put on your blog.” Lordy.
“What’s that?” I say. Meanwhile wishing he’d just contend with his son who recently decided I’m chump change and his father is King of All That’s Better Than Mom.
“You should talk about name brand things versus generic!”
(Blank stare from me.)
“You know that deoderant I used earlier in the week? Well, that was a store brand and I was stinky by 2pm. The other stuff is fine through the day and I’m not rank.”
And there you have it: one man’s experience with Old Spice deoderant v. jenky store brand.
I’ve been mulling it over all day and have decided to not do a review today, but simply put it out to the masses for you to tell us what’s been better in your experience: generic or name brand?
Leave your feedback in the comments section and be sure to mention a specific product and let us know whether you thought the generic or name brand version was better.
clarabella
Hmm. I think this goes both ways. Sometimes there’s really NO difference between the name brand and the generic, but there are some things I won’t go generic on, like diapers. Oh dear lord, the trouble I’ve had with generic/store brand diapers. (I know many people are fine with store brand diapers; I think my son has an inordinately large bladder.)
I buy generic mostly when it comes to basics: cleaners, paper towels, toilet paper, cotton swabs, wipes, etc. But there are a lot of things, especially personal hygiene things where I won’t compromise: shampoo, deoderant, etc. I do try and buy as many baby products generic as possible, with, of course, the exception of diapers. I think a lot of the baby things, like Johnson & Johnson products, are over-priced because you’re paying for that name. The store-brands of the baby washes/shampoos/etc. are sometimes half the price of the brand name.
Last thing: I used to always buy generic OTC medications like cough syrup, allergy stuff, cold medicine, cause that stuff is PRICEY, yo. But I did notice it wasn’t always as effective as the name-brand. So, I took the advantage of asking my future-brother-in-law who is also a future-pharmacist why that is. He told me that name brands patent their formulas & often use the most effective filler or binder (forgive me if I’m not making the most sense; I’M not the pharmacist), so while generics can use the same ingredients for the most part, they may not use the same binder, which may cause different effectiveness. So now I just go ahead and shell out the $ for the name brand, since it’ll work better/faster & most of the time, I had to go back and buy it anyway after the generic didn’t help.
(Sorry for the epistle. This is something I think about a lot.)
September 4th, 2009 @ 2:59 pm
Green
I am happy to save money buying Safeway (supermarket) paper towels rather than Bounty. They pick up quickly and have nice designs.
However. I talked to my eye doctor about using generic saline with my contact lenses and he strongly urged me to find somewhere else to cut my budget. I pushed a little, saying I’d compared ingredients and they were exactly the same. He explained that while the ingredients are the same, the strengths are not always equal.
My friend used drugstore brand lavender baby wash on her baby and it worked just as well as J&J lavender baby wash.
September 4th, 2009 @ 5:49 pm
Martha
Clarabella’s comment made me think of cotton swabs: I ALWAYS buy Q-tip brand. I will not compromise on this, after having bought the bendy, ouchy, not enough cotton on the end kinds.
I will skimp on body wash (Softsoap actually has some pretty good stuff) but not shampoo.
September 4th, 2009 @ 7:40 pm
Bridget
Napkins, paper towel, and some food items I will buy generic. Makeup, toothpaste, shampoo, and other beauty products no, I have to have name brand. I experienced something similar to T. I have been using Lady Mitchum deoderant for over 10 years. They were one of the first companies to come out with a deoderant that doesn’t leave white marks on your clothes. But one day I decided to switch because I read somewhere that your body can become immune over time. So I switched to some no name brand thinking why not save money at the same time. I used it once, it failed, and I went running to the store to get my Lady Mitchum back.
And has anyone ever tried generic floss? Talk about a let down unless you are into floss that shreds as you are using it. Nope, it’s got to be the fancy schmancy stuff for me. :-)
September 5th, 2009 @ 1:32 pm
melinda
In general I’m a fan of the Target generic line of products — but 2 to avoid at all costs: Target band-aids, and the Target version of Swiffer wet cloths.
September 5th, 2009 @ 7:18 pm
Swistle
Oh, man, I have an opinion on EVERYTHING. A few examples: (1) I like Oil of Olay, but not the Walmart/Target versions of it. (2) I like brand-name diapers better than store-brand, but I think the store brand is worth the price difference. But not at night, when I’ll only use the brand. (3) I PREFER the Target store-brand toilet paper to the brand. (4) I buy generic medicines whenever they’re available. (5) I don’t like generic Cheez-its AT ALL. (6) Generic chocolate we need not even discuss.
September 5th, 2009 @ 8:15 pm
Taryn
Oh my word. The time I’ve spent contemplating this issue is ridiculous. I’d be rich if I could have been paid to think about all this. I’ll begin by saying that my daughter can only tolerate Similac formula, not Target, not Costco, just Similac. It KILLS me to spent that much money, but it’s her health and development. I just feel like, if Costco can make it for 33 cents/oz, why does it cost Similac 88 cents/oz? HOW DIFFERENT CAN IT BE FOR PETE’S SAKE!?!? IS THERE GOLD IN THE SIMILAC?
Anyway, we will do Target diapers with no problem and drugs, etc., but my husband and I have created an elaborate list of things that must NOT be generic (or Aldi): deodorant, Bandaids, Kleenex, eggs, hot chocolate. I could go on but won’t.
September 8th, 2009 @ 9:02 am
NGS
Oh, we have opinions in this household. I know it’s unpopular on the Internet to say so, but I need Charmin toilet paper. Yes, there is a different and I swear that my butt has felt the aftereffects of generic toilet paper and been unhappy.
We have some dietary restrictions in our house, so we’re more name brand conscious about food (everything from chicken stock to pasta sauce to our freaking crackers have to be a certain “safe” brand), but we’re not ridiculous about it. I don’t think. I have non-designer clothes. Oh, and kitchen utensils. Why do people need wooden spoons and spatulas from the fancy cooking stores? (Although we got a fancy $40 non-stick skillet and it has been life changing, so I probably wouldn’t skimp on cookware.) Dollar store, people. Also, dollar store for wrapping paper, gift bags, and greeting cards.
Okay. I think I’m finished now.
September 8th, 2009 @ 7:51 pm
tiff
I’m a big fan of almost EVERYTHING from Aldi’s. (The only thing we’ve gotten that we didn’t like were potato chips.)
Anyway… Name brand vs. Generic — I read somewhere that some companies assume that someone is going to eventually knock off their products, so they do it themselves. Some of the stuff that’s packaged as Generic is actually the same name brand stuff, just in different packaging.
September 9th, 2009 @ 10:29 am
samantha jo campen
I heart Target brand anything and yes, even diapers. I hate that they changed them and now have blue and green POLKA DOTS all over them but whatever. Funnily enough the only thing Target brand I don’t like is their pantyliners. Other than that I’m all over it.
September 20th, 2009 @ 7:48 pm
Condo Blues
Typically I compare the ingredients lists of generic and name brand items. If it’s the same I go with the cheaper option. The weird thing is, sometimes I like the store brand much better than the name brand or sometimes the store brand works better for me than the name brand. Of course, most of the time the opposite is true. Aldi’s salsa I could inhale in one sitting. The name brand salsa? Not so much.
October 1st, 2009 @ 4:29 pm
Jess
For me it doesn’t really matter if it’s generic or brand. I always check the ingredients. If the product contains toxins like parabens, sulfates, PEGs, artificial fragrances, petrolatum, I would not buy it, no matter how cheap they are. I care about my and my family’s health more then a price tag.
October 1st, 2009 @ 6:23 pm