Sandy-gram

[#1]

Today I was screwing around at work, procrastinating on the things I really SHOULD be doing, and decided to google AAA (of course, that was after googling myself, dwarf goats and a recipe for peanut brittle.) I was a little surprised because I don’t work for:

a)  The Association of Autonomous Astronauts or... 

b)  the American Anthropological Association...though that would probably be cool…

c)  or even the American Academy of Audiology..again, probably pretty cool…

While these are legitimate organizations and, I must admit, I kind of  gravitated toward the autonomous  astronauts,  it makes me wonder about things that use similar names (particularly  in food) to give their own products credibility.   

 

(Note to mom: You didn’t fool anyone with the Cocoa Crunchies cereal…they are NOT the same as real life Cocoa Krispies…)

Now that I’m a mom myself, I have to confess that I sometimes buy “Surefire Cola” rather than Coke…or “Merry Girl Ice Cream Sandwiches” rather than the expensive brand name. But what’s in a name? Granted, some branded products may be better than non-branded or store products. But, oftentimes my wallet does the talking and I’ll go for the unbranded stuff. But not always.

The other day, I was looking at tuna fish. The cheaper one had a pretty poorly drawn tuna on the label and was called something like “Nell’s tuna fish”.

I wanted to track down the store manager and ask, “Who the heck is Nell…and why is she selling tuna fish?”  But I didn’t. I went for my ol’ friend Starkist. Am a tuna snob? No…I just don’t like to veer too far away from the tried and true. 

In my book…

• Lars Potato chips – okay, that’s pretty close to Lays.
• Puffsberry dough – yep
• Hints ketchup – why not?
• Nell’s tuna fish – no way!

 But back to the organization I could have belonged to in an alternate life…the Association of Autonomous Astronauts…while it may be cool in space, when I break down, I think I'll call the earthbound AAA for a tow.  And if someone shows up in a space helmet, I may have to start googling again.

How about you?  Are you a brand loyalist...or do you waver?

[#2]

How about the American Armsport Association?  You can wrestle those gaters you're so enamored with! 

[#3]

There are several things (tuna included) that I stick with the tried and true brand names.  I have ventured some into the unknown aka store brands and have actually found some not so bad.  But mayo and tuna - no adventure in me there.  If that makes me a mayo snob or a tuna snob, so be it - blame my mother as she only used these brands as well.  If it was good enough for her then it certainly is good enough for me. 

[#4]

Most things are as store brands. My 12th grade economics teacher taught us that sometimes big brands manufacture off brands. Her example was that Publix soda is actually manufactured by the Coca Cola company... Strange truths! So before not completely trusting a store brand at least give it a try you may be surprised! and save money!

[#5]

I guess I'd have to research alternative brands, and check the labels carefully for ingredients and nutrition info, etc. I confess I tend to stick to name brands for things that are perishable and potentially sources of food poisoning (the above mentioned tuna and mayonnaise are terrific examples) and generic brands for things that are not (detergent, flour,sugar, etc.). The exception is stuff like milk and eggs, which I always buy local.