I went to CVS yesterday to buy new toothpaste and some hair gel because I was running out. I’ve used Got2b (their site takes forever to load) for a while now because the “glued” line tends to hold up fairly well through out the day. I looked around for the hair products, saw the yellow bottles (which has changed shades of yellow over the past few months several different times…that’s a whole different marketing disaster in itself) and simply grabbed one. Unbeknownst to me I hadn’t grabbed Got2b at all, but rather the CVS brand “spiking glue”. It even says down at the bottom “Compare to Got2b Spiking Glue“. I of course responded to my discovery this morning with a “WTF is this?!” I’m not quick to diss the new gel without trying it, so I tried it but unfortunately it lacks the “stickiness” and thicker consistency that I’ve come to appreciate with the Got2be Spiking Glue. Now it’s a big deal, I bought the wrong crap and it sucks. I know it’s my fault because I didn’t look close enough – but is that what it’s come to?? Having to make sure this is the right stuff and not some cheap knock-off? Isn’t that why brands create brand-images? To help you say “Oh there’s my toothpaste!” because you recognize the box it comes in?

What’s the point of all of this? They look exactly the same minus a few differences!! This of course never bothered me with other products until I accidentally selected the wrong one (all the offbrand medicines etc.). I even use Wal-itin instead of Claritin because I can get 60 Wal-itin for the price of 5 Claritin and they work just as well. But the differences are so small that I couldn’t tell the difference until I got home.

Is Got2b getting some compensation from CVS for their marketing scheme? I know on Gas station perfumes is says “compare to such-and-such-perfume”. What’s the rule on copying someone elses work, marketing, and advertising and re-branding it? Is it ok as long as you give credit?