Generic brand
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Generic brands of consumer products are distinguished by the absence of a well-known brand name. They may be manufactured by less prominent companies, or sold by supermarkets as their own brand (hence the frequently used term "store brand"). Generally they imitate more expensive brands, competing on price. Generic brand products are often of equal quality as the branded product, and many are made on the same production line. However, the quality may change suddenly in either direction with no change in the packaging if the supermarket changes the supplier for the product.
In the early 1980's, generic products in the United States had plain white labels with blue or black lettering, or yellow labels with black lettering, describing what the product was (ie: "Yellow Cake Mix", "Tuna In Water", "Chocolate Flavor Syrup", "Deodorant Soap") with little other information, save for any ingredients and preparation information required, but no brand name at all on the front panel. This was during a sharp economic downturn when many consumers were placing more emphasis on value than on brand loyalty.
Some supermarket chains had their own "brand" of unbranded items. Examples: Pathmark had a subdued version of their company logo incorporated into the small red and white band at the bottom of the label, with the words "NO FRILLS". A&P had their generic products with white labels with green ink, and their "A&P" logo was replaced with "P&Q" (presumably standing for "Price and Quality").
This style can be observed in the 1984 cult film, Repo Man, in which all of the consumable products in the movie have the old-style blue and white generic packaging, especially the beer cans (labeled "Beer"). Reportedly, this was out of necessity, since a proposed sponsor for the movie, who would have used "product placement" sponsorship, cancelled in mid-production.
Also, In 1982, the punk rock group Flipper made light of this concept with an album entitled Album - Generic Flipper, with generic black on yellow artwork. In 1986, Public Image Ltd. released an album entitled Album, featuring generic blue on white artwork. Marvel Comics also produced a novelty one-shot comic entitled "The Generic Comic Book" (complete with a black and white all-text front cover) in which a hero undergoes a stereotypical origin (in this case, exposure to glow-in-the-dark novelties gives him increased, but not superhuman, strength) and then dons a costume made entirely of white, off-the-rack clothing items such as a football helmet.
Today, such stark package design is no longer used. Generic products today usually bear the name of the store or supermarket where they are sold, or the name of the distribution company that supplies that store. A variation on generic labeling that is now common in the United States is private labeling: brand names owned by the store that sells the product, that are not the same as the name of the store. For example, supermarket chain Safeway, Inc. sells contract-packed dairy products under the Lucerne brand, while the Kroger's line of supermarkets sells products under several names, ranging from the top quality Private Selection [1] down to the budget-driven line FMV (For Maximum Value) [2].
Membership-based "warehouse club" stores have begun their own contract-packed generic brands. The Wal-Mart owned "Sam's Club" sells products under the name Sam's Choice (a reference to company founder, Sam Walton), Costco sells products under the name Kirkland Signature (a reference to corporate home office location, Kirkland, Washington), and BJ's Wholesale Club sells products branded Berkley & Jensen.
Patents may prohibit generic brand manufacturing. In the specific case of drugs, new drugs are almost always patented and therefore generic versions of drugs may only be made legally in most of the world when the patents expire. As with other generic products generic drugs are much cheaper due to both competition and the fact that research and marketing costs do not need to be factored in.
Sometimes generic brands are referred to as house brands or home brands. In the United Kingdom they are often referred to as own brands.
