Generic brand
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Generic brands of consumer products (often supermarket goods) are distinguished by the absence of a brand name.
They may be manufactured by less prominent companies, or manufactured on the same production line as a 'named' brand. Generics brands are usually priced below those products sold by supermarkets under their own brand (frequently referred to as "store brands" or "own brands"). Generally they imitate these more expensive brands, competing on price. Generic brand products are often of equal quality as a branded product, however the quality may change suddenly in either direction with no change in the packaging if the supplier for the product changes.
Jewel Companies is credited with selling the first supermarket Generic Brand product line in 1977 [1] - no name or pictures on the packaging - only what the contents are, a UPC code, and the required product information in a white package with a avocado-green stripe. These first generics even cut out such extras such as the flip top on soda cans, requiring a can opener to open them up the old-fashioned way.
Jewel followed this idea up by reusing some former small store locations, converting them to a concept called No Frills in several Chicago area locations. The last such store they opened, called Magna in Rockford, Illinois, tried selling a limited number of store brands and discount name brand merchandise. They closed all these stores after only a couple years at most; Magna opened and closed last.
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 (i.e.: "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. In the U.S. industrial Midwest, a region especially hard hit by the recession, generics became a common sight in supermarkets and discount stores.
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").
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[edit] Comparison to Store Brands
Today, such stark package design is rarely used. Lower priced products today usually bear the name of the store or supermarket where it is sold, or the name of the distribution company that supplies that store. A variation on this that is 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 [2] down to the budget-driven line FMV (For Maximum Value).
Sometimes store brands are referred to as house brands or home brands. In the United Kingdom they are often referred to as own brands.
Membership-based "warehouse club" stores have begun their own contract-packed 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.
[edit] Generic Drugs
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.
[edit] Generic Products in Popular Culture
The generic 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"). Other products in the film include "Drink" and "Food - Meat Flavored". Reportedly, this was out of necessity, since a proposed sponsor for the movie, who would have used "product placement" sponsorship, canceled in mid-production.
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. The cassette and CD versions of this PiL release were entitled "Cassette" and "Compact Disc" respectively. A promotional poster for "Album" had similar artwork, bearing the legend "Poster".
In 1984, 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 young man undergoes a stereotypical origin, turning him into a superhero. In this case, exposure to glow-in-the-dark novelties gives him increased, but not superhuman, strength. He then dons a costume made entirely of white, off-the-rack clothing items such as a football helmet. In keeping with the 'No Name" theme of generics, the superhero of this single-issue book is never named. [3]
