>Not a beer drinker myself, but I recall back in my university days of folks talking about the generic no-name brand that some grocery chains carried (literally no-name -- stuff that came in plain package with big block letters stating contents -- so in the case of beer it was simply labelled with "Beer"). Generally most folks said it tasted terrible. I did try the cola -- it was one of the worst-tasting colas I'd ever tasted. I guess the generic potato chips were made pre-stale so that it didn't matter how long they sat on the shelf.

Was that Ralph's by chance? I worked at their home office in Compton (the better part, LOL) at the time they came out with the Plain Wrap line. They even had a flag on the roof saying Flag. I had a T shirt saying Shirt. It was a stroke of genius -- a lower priced generic with brand appeal of its own.

The Plain Wrap items were not as inferior as you describe. Not top of the line, but not rotten either. The cost savings were due to low R & D, marketing, and distribution expenses.