Brand Loyalty

5 June 2010

I don't know about you, but if someone gives me the fixings of a sandwich, which includes a jar of white stuff that has the word "Miracle" in it, I'll leave my sandwich dry, just bread and meat and maybe a bit of onion and tomato. The spread that goes on my bread, or into which I dip my artichoke leaves, or what I mix if I'm going to make potato salad has to be Best Foods (Hellman's east of the Rockies). I might, if I absolutely have to, use some other brand of mayo, but nothing satisfies my taste buds but Best Foods. It was what I was raised on, that taste of home.

When people ask about brand name loyalty, I say that I pretty much don't care, one way or another, but when I think about going through a supermarket or looking for something specific to purchase, I realize that I do have some strong brand loyalties.

Take English muffins, for example. I was raised on the nooks and crannies of Foster's sourdough English muffins, which may or may not have been available outside of San Francisco. They no longer exist, unfortunately, and haven't for decades, and I had to make do with all sorts of definitely unacceptable brands until Thomas' came along. Thomas' English muffins have the nooks and crannies that hold in all that good butter, just like Fosters did. Never cut an English muffin in half. You have to pull it apart to create nooks, create crannies, create goodness.

If it's peanut butter, it has to be Skippy, preferably creamy. There was a time when I succumbed to pressure and bought Jif but it just didn't have the Skippy flavor and when the kids weren't around any more, I went back to buying Skippy again. We use a lot of peanut butter in this house. Rarely sandwiches, but more a quick spoonful as a snack, and very definitely to wrap a pill in to make a dog take it unquestioningly! (Of course, I don't think the dog cares what brand of peanut butter is wrapped around her pill!)

I will eat other yogurt, but Yoplait is the only kind I actually buy, usually strawberry flavor. It's one of the few "low calorie" things that I actually prefer over its higher calorie counterpart. Oddly enough the creamier yogurts don't appeal to me (which is a total contradiction in everything I've ever felt about my food likes and dislikes!)

I haven't had carbonated beverages in a long time, probably not in years. Not from any sort of religious or dietary principle but just because I prefer to drink water. But in the days when I actually drank carbonated beverages, the only one I really liked was diet Coke. Not regular Coke, it has to be diet coke. And don't offer me any Pepsi either. If my choice is Pepsi or nothing, I'll take nothing. Some people say there is no difference, but I really can taste the difference. If the opportunity arises, and if I'm at an A&W, I might have a rootbeer float, but I don't like the stuff without ice cream floating in it (I also don't like any other sort of root beer but A&W).

My dentist has me using a prescription toothpaste (Prevident), but if I am buying off the shelf, my choice has been Colgate for years. I just like the taste of it. I don't like peppermint flavored toothpastes. I'm a little less wedded to my toothpaste than I am to other things, but I think it's mostly force of habit that keeps me buying Colgate.

When it comes to shampoo, though there is only one and that's Prell. I don't know how many years I've been using Prell, but probably all of my married life, at least. There were periods of time when you couldn't seem to find it anywhere, so if I happened across it in some oddball store, I would buy several bottles of it so I didn't run out, but now it seems to be back in the mainstream again, so I'm a happy camper.

I'm sure there are other name brands to which I'm wedded, but these are the biggies that come to mind. Basically, I don't care about most brand names and go for the lower priced item, but when it comes to mayonnaise, it has to be Best Foods!

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On Saturday I am attending the 50th anniversary celebration of my high school graduation. It's going to be a Mass and luncheon in San Francisco and I'll be seated with my freshman homeroom teacher, Sister Louise, whom I am very anxious to see again. She was always one of my favorites.

I was going to take the computer with me because I'm spending the night at my mother's, but in anticipation of photos and perhaps some video to add to a report on the event, I will wait and write it after I get home, so the next entry of this journal is going to be posted late.