It isn’t? Yes, the graphics are identical, because why would Kroger bother spending money on a graphics artist to make two different packages? They don’t care.
The ingredient list on the front is very clearly not the same and tells you exactly what’s in it.
Companies likely also don’t hire “artists”, they get their marketing department to do this, and those are hired anyway. Might as well put them to work.
Man, I once woke up and couldn’t figure out why my coffee was total shit one morning.
Turns out, the clearly stated HALF AND HALF I bought the day before was the fat-free version.
The label was exactly as different as the pic. Same color, same logo, fine print in a color that made it look like a bullshit swirly design along the edge of the color box below the title of the product saying fat free
HALF AND HALF HAS TO HAVE FAT OR IT ISNT FUCKING HALF AND HALF. You gonna fuckin whip non-fat half and half? Hell no you’re not, the shit that makes it whip ain’t in there
The company is counting on you mistaking the garbage product that is most likely some form of repurposed industrial waste and nearly free for them to produce, for the thing you’re actually looking for. I mean Christ, invert the colors. Grab a different clipart. Any fucking goon with an iphone could edit those labels enough to be easily distinguishable in 15 seconds, counting the time the thing takes to ‘airdrop’ it
Maybe you carefully scrutinize each package before you buy it, making sure you’re not buying something almost identical to the other package which has different ingredients, but most people don’t have time to do that when they go shopping. And companies know it. Don’t defend deceptive practices.
Do you really check every single time? Have you never grabbed what you thought was a product you’ve bought before only to take it home and realize what you grabbed was something different but with similar packaging?
I sure as hell have. Even with OTC drugs. I’ve grabbed what I thought was one type of Tylenol while I was in a hurry and it turned out that Tylenol had put out something else in really similar packaging.
I really don’t think people should have to look at the ingredients of a product, even an OTC drug, every time they buy it just to make sure it’s the same one they’ve bough the last 5 times.
I sure as hell have. Even with OTC drugs. I’ve grabbed what I thought was one type of Tylenol while I was in a hurry and it turned out that Tylenol had put out something else in really similar packaging.
But the brand name is an umbrella that covers lots of different products. Tylenol is a great example because there are so many different types of Tylenol out there with different dosage, different forms (capsules, pills, tablets, gel coated versions of those), and with different combinations of other ingredients. It’s something that is important to get right and check every time.
Especially with cold medicines, where different combinations of decongestants, expectorants, cough suppressants, and fever reducers are often sold in the same drug. You can’t just rely on brand names, because those will sell a bunch of different products under that brand. There’s like 5 kinds of Mucinex and 5 kinds of Robitussin, and that’s not even getting into the different flavors or children’s versions.
The problem here is that oral phenylephrine is itself an ineffective drug that was only grandfathered in because it was commonly used before the FDA was created. It shouldn’t be sold at all (and the FDA is in the process of revoking its existing approval).
I really don’t think people should have to look at the ingredients of a product, even an OTC drug, every time they buy it
I disagree. You just never know how things change, including things like reformulations, like when infant Tylenol was reformulated to a lower concentration. This stuff changes and consumers need to be on top of it.
Expecting consumers to be the ones to figure these things out has never worked. I can’t believe you don’t know that. That’s exactly how so much homeopathic crap gets put on drugstore shelves.
If you’re asking for a big fundamental rework of the labeling requirements that already require the labels to prominently print the active ingredient on the front, and have a standardized Drug Facts label (including active ingredients, inactive ingredients, dosages, use, side effects, contraindications, etc.), then this example isn’t a good one. All the different Tylenols, Robitussins, Mucinexes, Advils, and NyQuils out there are probably a better example of what you’re talking about, but those are also clearly labeled.
Or if you’re advocating for, like, an end to over the counter drugs, and requiring a prescription for everything, then I guess that’s a position. But bypassing a doctor is going to require a little bit of effort from a doctor consumer, and simply reading a label isn’t, in my opinion, a huge ask.
“Why is the packaging the exact same”
It isn’t? Yes, the graphics are identical, because why would Kroger bother spending money on a graphics artist to make two different packages? They don’t care.
The ingredient list on the front is very clearly not the same and tells you exactly what’s in it.
It’s still actively and deliberately misleading.
These two comments are incompatible. It can’t be, “they just didn’t hire another artist for a second package” as well as “deliberately misleading”.
What makes you say it’s deliberately misleading, rather than saving money?
It costs just about nothing to change a colour.
Companies likely also don’t hire “artists”, they get their marketing department to do this, and those are hired anyway. Might as well put them to work.
Man, I once woke up and couldn’t figure out why my coffee was total shit one morning.
Turns out, the clearly stated HALF AND HALF I bought the day before was the fat-free version.
The label was exactly as different as the pic. Same color, same logo, fine print in a color that made it look like a bullshit swirly design along the edge of the color box below the title of the product saying fat free
HALF AND HALF HAS TO HAVE FAT OR IT ISNT FUCKING HALF AND HALF. You gonna fuckin whip non-fat half and half? Hell no you’re not, the shit that makes it whip ain’t in there
The company is counting on you mistaking the garbage product that is most likely some form of repurposed industrial waste and nearly free for them to produce, for the thing you’re actually looking for. I mean Christ, invert the colors. Grab a different clipart. Any fucking goon with an iphone could edit those labels enough to be easily distinguishable in 15 seconds, counting the time the thing takes to ‘airdrop’ it
Maybe you carefully scrutinize each package before you buy it, making sure you’re not buying something almost identical to the other package which has different ingredients, but most people don’t have time to do that when they go shopping. And companies know it. Don’t defend deceptive practices.
I don’t know how you buy drugs but I pretty much exclusively look for the list of active ingredients and quantity.
Do you really check every single time? Have you never grabbed what you thought was a product you’ve bought before only to take it home and realize what you grabbed was something different but with similar packaging?
I sure as hell have. Even with OTC drugs. I’ve grabbed what I thought was one type of Tylenol while I was in a hurry and it turned out that Tylenol had put out something else in really similar packaging.
I really don’t think people should have to look at the ingredients of a product, even an OTC drug, every time they buy it just to make sure it’s the same one they’ve bough the last 5 times.
But the brand name is an umbrella that covers lots of different products. Tylenol is a great example because there are so many different types of Tylenol out there with different dosage, different forms (capsules, pills, tablets, gel coated versions of those), and with different combinations of other ingredients. It’s something that is important to get right and check every time.
Especially with cold medicines, where different combinations of decongestants, expectorants, cough suppressants, and fever reducers are often sold in the same drug. You can’t just rely on brand names, because those will sell a bunch of different products under that brand. There’s like 5 kinds of Mucinex and 5 kinds of Robitussin, and that’s not even getting into the different flavors or children’s versions.
The problem here is that oral phenylephrine is itself an ineffective drug that was only grandfathered in because it was commonly used before the FDA was created. It shouldn’t be sold at all (and the FDA is in the process of revoking its existing approval).
I disagree. You just never know how things change, including things like reformulations, like when infant Tylenol was reformulated to a lower concentration. This stuff changes and consumers need to be on top of it.
Expecting consumers to be the ones to figure these things out has never worked. I can’t believe you don’t know that. That’s exactly how so much homeopathic crap gets put on drugstore shelves.
If you’re asking for a big fundamental rework of the labeling requirements that already require the labels to prominently print the active ingredient on the front, and have a standardized Drug Facts label (including active ingredients, inactive ingredients, dosages, use, side effects, contraindications, etc.), then this example isn’t a good one. All the different Tylenols, Robitussins, Mucinexes, Advils, and NyQuils out there are probably a better example of what you’re talking about, but those are also clearly labeled.
Or if you’re advocating for, like, an end to over the counter drugs, and requiring a prescription for everything, then I guess that’s a position. But bypassing a doctor is going to require a little bit of effort from a
doctorconsumer, and simply reading a label isn’t, in my opinion, a huge ask.(Edited to fix mistake)
So, for the 50% of people who lack critical thinking skills or good eyesight, sucks to be them, right?