As early as I can remember, my mom would look at the expensive name brands in the grocery store and say, “Oh, we don’t need that. We’ll just get the generic brand, it’s all made in the same factory.” Now, at the ripe old age of 20, I can see why she didn’t want to pay the extra few dollars for the name, but I always wondered, what’s the real difference?
What’s the big DIfference?
In terms of name-brand and generic, we first have to look into the biggest market, the generic drug products. When going into a CVS or Target, we are often confronted with these off-brand medicines and question what is best for our specific needs.
Here’s what you need to know: The U.S Food and Drug Administration, the FDA, explains that generic medication is supposed to perform at the same bioequivalence (meaning safety, strength, quality, etc.) as a pre-approved name-brand drug. Additionally, generic brands consistently use the same active ingredients, not always the same inactive ingredients, as name brands. This is important to keep in mind as the FDA states that they do extensive testing to ensure a generic medication meets the same quality as the name-brand. On top of that, the FDA addresses the differences in pricing. They explain that since the testing to ensure the safety of the original patent was already done, the generic brand uses less work to create the medication, therefore producing a less costly product.Â
Then what’s a dupe Vs. Generic?
In juxtaposition, we have material items that created the generation of dupes. This means you have to be careful because there is much less of a connection between what the name-brand produces and what the generic brand produces. That being said, many companies make similar products in the rise of consumerism and growing online trends.
The formulations can often be similar in the cosmetic spaces. These spaces are still vetted by the FDA, and most dupes are commonly regulated through copyright laws, but there is not extensive cross-testing like there is in the medical sphere. I often am a dupe lover, especially with cosmetics brands such as E.L.F Beauty, but an informative way to know what the differences in products are is to do your research! For example, look into TikTokers and beauty product developers, The Lipstick Lesbians, to understand formulations on dupes versus brand-name products.Â
All this being said, the big difference lies in what you buy. If you’re looking to save some money on the OTC cold medicine, then it’s safer to assume that you’re getting more or less the same product. If you’re buying a bag off Canal Street during a girls’ trip to NYC, then yeah…the quality is definitely not the same as the name brand.
My take: save the dollars, but don’t always expect the same outcome or identical performance. Â
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