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jasongw t1_jbd84d4 wrote

I don't see it as any of those factors. I just see it as lazy, failed attempts at being creative. "Look at me, I can spell a word wrong but it still sounds the same, see how clever I am?"

It's not clever. It's lazy. It's cheap. It's dumb.

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AllYouNeedIsATV t1_jbdhesl wrote

I see it as it fake only because that’s what all vegan products do. Mylk chocolate is the one I always remember.

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gonesnake t1_jbdt5yq wrote

And many consumers aren't stupid. We all know names like that are attempting to imply specific positive qualities (a detergent called "Brite" or "Shur Grip" adhesive)and are trying to make it easy to remember by just using a phonetic sound alike yet at the same time something with a unique spelling for trademark purposes.

Anyone can sell comfy socks but only WE sell the original Kumphie Sox™

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asdaaaaaaaa t1_jbe6j4m wrote

> Anyone can sell comfy socks but only WE sell the original Kumphie Sox™

I can imagine the cheap rip-offs will have interesting names/spelling though.

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alphabitserial t1_jbehaw2 wrote

Vegan products are required to do so by law, and the meat & dairy industries are still pushing back against that, trying to suggest that they be named, for example, “breaded soy and pea protein chunks.” The argument from vegan food companies is that consumers understand how to use “vegan chicken tenders” more easily and that the (quite prominent) vegan labeling is enough. I personally agree with the vegan companies there.

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Sliptallica92 t1_jbe2o9e wrote

Mylk is actually an outdated way of spelling milk in English, long before vegan proudcts were a thing. Now it's used for any plant-based milk since the spelling had been updated.

−10

mikebaker1337 t1_jbe57ip wrote

I also assume they got beaten to the real spelling by a different copyright or something else implying a knock off of someone else's IP. Not always true I know but that's where the monkey brain goes.

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jasongw t1_jbglghc wrote

I'm sure that's true sometimes as well. I am not saying there's one and only one reason, just that me often than not when I see these silly intentional misspellings, there's just no good reason for it.

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TossedDolly t1_jbej4xb wrote

Sometimes like in the case of Lyft it makes communication easier. If you're name is a common word you probably should come up with a weird spelling or pick a better name.

1

jasongw t1_jbgls9e wrote

I guess, but I'd definitely lean more towards "pick a better name" :)

1

dblack246 t1_jbcvmdv wrote

Burger King used to have (or maybe they still do) a sandwich called the "Chick'n Crisp". The unconventionally spelled food item promoted my wife to joke "We never said there was chicken in this."

That observation dissuaded me from buying one.

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andygchicago t1_jbdivqx wrote

Any time I see a meat intentionally misspelled I assume it’s for legal reasons because it’s plant based

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[deleted] t1_jbehsqr wrote

[deleted]

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mitom2 t1_jbftc6g wrote

in Austria, horse is the best meat, especially for our national to-go-food
"(pferd[e])|leber|käs|semmel".

pferd[e] = horse[s]
leber from laiber. laib = loaf
käse = cheese (it has the size of a cheese-loaf, before sliced)
semmel = kaiser.

don't be confused by the käseeberkässemmel, where cubes of Emmentaler cheese are added, before the leberkäs is baked in the oven.

both the leberkässemmel (without "pferde"), and the käsleberkässemmel are made from pork. confusing, but delicious.

ceterum censeo "unit libertatem" esse delendam.

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HammerTh_1701 t1_jbge3t0 wrote

The longest German word ever coined was a law meant to prevent exactly that.

Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz - the law to transfer the duty of monitoring the labelling of beef

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DocFGeek t1_jbecofn wrote

Actually a real thing in US food labelling laws. Look into the difference between "Krab" and "Crab".

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DaStalkingBiscuit t1_jbefis3 wrote

It's a thing in Europe too. Atleast my country. Tbh, while I find laws like that kinda dumb, I also find the creative ways companies get around it kinda hilarious

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Extension-Ad-2760 t1_jbehb5t wrote

Why are they dumb though? This study shows that the consumers can see through the ways companies try to get around it

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DaStalkingBiscuit t1_jbeqlfh wrote

That's not what the article is about. I've never blamed vegan substitutes for not being legally able to call themselves 'chicken substitute' etc.

Laws that prevent misrepresentation of your product are good, but I feel like your should be allowed to explicitly state that your product tries to mimic something else.

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Sparktank1 t1_jbd1szc wrote

Made of only baby chicks. Hence Chick part.

When all the male chicks get culled, they get a top hat and cane to do a little dance before they get turned into sandwiches.

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Sterlod t1_jbdi9ft wrote

Well a lot of other slaughterhouses aren’t giving male chicks the creative outlet, the only thing they have is their choreography, are you implying we take that away from them?

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dghammer t1_jbebolg wrote

A guy I worked with years ago, when the web was new, insisted that the reason KFC started calling themselves KFC was that they no longer served real chicken....he told me this the first time I met him and he said he learned this on the internet. The dude was a nutter.

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jereman75 t1_jbewtrn wrote

This was a popular meme back then. Like in the ‘90s maybe. It was said that they were serving lab grown meat or something.

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dghammer t1_jbmd17q wrote

That’s what he told me…I knew he was mental.

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andygchicago t1_jbdisrr wrote

Unconventional spelling in general is obnoxious. Kaytlynn? Cydnee? I will judge your parents hard

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EnnuiDeBlase t1_jbe7j5o wrote

Meanwhile not a single reference in this thread to beff or loobster.

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Reddit_Repartee t1_jbecjlj wrote

The Hungry Heifer burned down in 1990, so most people here never got a chance to taste their loobster...

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SmuckSlimer t1_jbdvkfw wrote

Changing the spelling of the same name has been human tradition for thousands of years.

−40

stevealonz t1_jbdy992 wrote

Oh ok I guess it's not annoying then

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Decuriarch t1_jbe1thn wrote

I think you just triggered one of those cool and original parents.

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Atomic_Wrangler2 t1_jbd9x7c wrote

Bothers me a lot less than made up words like “nutraceutical”. To me grift just drifts off that word.

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closefarhere t1_jbdcaa2 wrote

One that irritates me is “Xlear” xylitol nasal spray that is pronounced, you guessed it, “clear.”

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needtofigureshitout t1_jbforoq wrote

So any portmanteau? Microsoft? Verizon? Velcro? Podcast? Cosplay, internet, brunch, botox, email, electrocute. Must be pretty annoying seeing all these made up words everywhere. You know all words are made up, right?

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Atomic_Wrangler2 t1_jbgw94g wrote

If one invents something. Like Velcro or the internet, you get to name it. Labeling some food a “nutraceutical” is just an attempt to grift buyers into seeing it as medicine.. which it isn’t.

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needtofigureshitout t1_jbh1s3o wrote

Food has been considered medicinal for at least 2000 years. Dietitians exist for this purpose, to treat conditions through food based therapy in a clinical setting.

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geoff199 OP t1_jbblgr0 wrote

From the Journal of Marketing: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00222429231162367

Abstract:

An increasingly common strategy when naming new brands is to use an unconventional spelling of an otherwise familiar word (e.g., “Lyft” rather than “Lift”). However, little is known about how this brand naming strategy impacts consumers’ beliefs about the brand and, ultimately, their willingness to support it. Across eight experimental studies, we demonstrate that in general, consumers are less likely to support unfamiliar brands whose names are spelled unconventionally compared to brands that use the conventional spelling of the same word. This occurs because consumers perceive the choice of an unconventionally spelled name as an overt persuasion attempt by the marketer, and thus view the brand as less sincere. We demonstrate these effects are driven by persuasion knowledge using both mediation and moderation and show robustness by employing different types of unconventional spellings. Our studies suggest that, while marketers may choose unconventional spellings for new-to-the-world brands with the goal of positively influencing consumers’ perceptions, doing so may backfire. However, we also find that unconventionally spelled names do not produce a backfire effect when the motive for selecting the name is seen as sincere. Further, unconventionally spelled brand names may even be desirable when consumers are seeking a memorable experience.

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PlauntieM t1_jbeexzp wrote

Malk, now with vitamin r!

^*contains ^no ^milk

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kds1223 t1_jbftyt2 wrote

I've always been partial to Melk, myself. It has twice the daily serving of Vitamin Z and no pesky nutrients to worry about!

3

ShameNap t1_jbco8na wrote

Wait, you don’t want a Krab Kake ?

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Brainsonastick t1_jbdiqif wrote

Okay, when you do it with food, it just sounds like they can’t legally call it a crab cake because it has no crab in it.

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Lee1138 t1_jbdsnhx wrote

I suspect decades of basically training the population to think this is why it's bleeding into other areas

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other_usernames_gone t1_jbe14ru wrote

It's like when an Indian restaurant says it's a "meat" curry.

I know they mean lamb but I'd prefer the reassurance of it saying so.

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[deleted] t1_jbeho8t wrote

[deleted]

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robothelvete t1_jbek2fc wrote

How is that different from basically any other meat?

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[deleted] t1_jbenz1z wrote

[deleted]

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robothelvete t1_jbeuxvg wrote

> Most people I know who eat meat still have a moral qualm with lamb

Really? That's not an experience I share. Have they ever wondered why it's called "chicken" and not "hen" or "rooster"?

1

[deleted] t1_jbf09vx wrote

[deleted]

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robothelvete t1_jbf55sw wrote

Is it? English isn't my native language and this is one of many weird things about it I didn't know.

Anyway, my point is: all we eat is essentially juveniles, no matter what we call it.

−1

CheesyDutch t1_jbgx87c wrote

But is it really always meat from baby sheep? In my native language we call it 'sheep meat'.

I've also visited a farm where they slaughtered their own sheep and that was an animal that was a couple of years old. I must admit that I found the taste of that meat pretty strong and not so pleasant but I'm generally not really into lamb anyway.

1

killercurvesahead t1_jbihvmj wrote

In English the young animal and its meat are both called lamb, but the mature animal is a sheep and its meat is called mutton.

1

TheHalfwayBeast t1_jbe254j wrote

Crabsticks are usually several kinds of fish mashed together. I still eat them.

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Wild-Caterpillar76 t1_jbde8uu wrote

Nothing makes me more angry than a florist with a “bokay’s sold here” sign

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maikeru44 t1_jbe0nts wrote

This broke my brain, and I couldn't spell bouquet correctly for like a full minute.

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TossedDolly t1_jbeixg9 wrote

That's not trying to be cool, that's putting your 1st grade teacher on blast.

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Em_Adespoton t1_jbctqmn wrote

This is likely because we have laws attached to the real spelling of a lot of words; if you call something Milk on the label, there are requirements for what’s in the container. If you call something Milq, you can put anything you like in the container, and it usually signifies that there’s been a substitution for something the FDA would be unwilling to call Milk.

Krispy Kreme, for example, often isn’t crisp and contains no cream. I have a theory on why they’re called donuts instead of doughnuts too….

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andygchicago t1_jbdizw5 wrote

This article is discussing company names, not product descriptors. Krispy Kreme can be called “Meat and Potatoes.” Plenty of “Maple” brand companies that make syrups with no maple in them, for example.

Also, I’m pretty sure that even if they called the individual doughnuts crispy, they aren’t going to get in trouble because they aren’t crispy.

“Cheeze” or “Chik’n” are legally required terms for plant based foods, though.

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DontDisrespectDaBing t1_jbdudpu wrote

I see it as a tacit nod that the product is a synthetic/not real version of the real thing. First that comes to my mind is the frozen bag of chicken “wyngz”. Immediately skeptical of the product bc it’s pretending to be something else/it’s not

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blanktester t1_jbezj5a wrote

Wyngz is specifically recognized by the USDA to be something "wings" made of chicken meat that isn't exclusively (primarily?) wing meat. There's some other rules about it but yes, those aren't real wings.

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elusiveoddity t1_jbdy074 wrote

I always associate those unconventional spellings as cheap knockoffs, like Suny for Sony or whatever. And this was before the days of Amazon and the flood of drop-shipped items that play with english words.

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TomMatthews t1_jbdmx3c wrote

Is there many brands people consider honest, down to earth and/or wholesome?

Even ones you like you know you’re lucky if one of them is true

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movetoseattle t1_jbdn0jg wrote

Love Krusteaz baking mixes . . . but it took me years to even try one because of the kitschy K!

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Jolly-Lawless t1_jbeeagg wrote

I fkn hate that name - krusteaz sounds like a skin infection, the spelling is so far removed from a known English word/phrase.

I only recently realized phonetically it was probably originally Crust-Ease. Which makes perfect sense for a mid 20th century baking mix.

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awidden t1_jbd6cdd wrote

So we tend to think less of misspelled words in brand names. I'm not surprised.

We think less of people who can't spell correctly, and don't recognise the difference between "its" and "it's", etc.

Or if they use a weird slang.

At least after the first 20-some years of our life most of us do. :)

I think it should have been obvious to the brands a long time ago. But then these things are created by people who work in marketing, and those aren't always the sharpest tools in the shed.

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tornpentacle t1_jbfctvo wrote

Of course they aren't. I don't know that I've ever seen more than a handful of ads that actually piqued my interest in my life.

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Hm_Maybe_ t1_jbdi0re wrote

Seriously, who trusts a donut shop? I only give my money to a true doughnut shoppe.

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qu1x0t1cZ t1_jbdnped wrote

I feel validated. I hate brands that mess around with spelling and syntax. I don’t even have a particularly strong grasp on grammar but it bugs me when people intentionally get it wrong in some awful grasping attempt to look down with the kids. Examples in the UK include Phones4U that I refuse to buy from on principle and a shopping centre chain called Intu which ruined the original branding of our local centre when they took it over.

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BeneficialElephant5 t1_jbfooyn wrote

Intu is vile, everything they touch turns completely soulless. They took over the MetroCentre and removed all the plants and fountains and turned it into a clone if every other drab shopping center.

2

freddy_guy t1_jbfvful wrote

You're inferring intent. It has to do with trademarks and product packaging regulations, nothing more.

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TiddlyhamBumberspoot t1_jbdta3v wrote

There are supplements called Juce because they’re not allowed to call it Juice - something seems icky about it

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victorix58 t1_jbe89rn wrote

The science of capitalism. How wonderful that we are perfecting our knowledge of how best to lie to "consumers" with advertising. What a wonderful world. A little bit closer to true satire every day. Like living in the movie Idiocracy.

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ItsASeldonCrisis t1_jbe8dmh wrote

Ever since I realized that "krab" meat generally means crab-colored whitefish slurry, I don't trust any alternate spellings.

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linkdude212 t1_jbdc14f wrote

That is interesting: it is certainly how I feel. However, I know many people who would not know that one is misspelt and therefore I am uncertain if they would feel negatively toward the one that was misspelt.

3

nosnowtho t1_jbdz5qp wrote

Purposely misspelt names seem more American to me (Australian) and more dishonest.

3

MIkeR1988 t1_jbeeatc wrote

Where’s the study that explains why new startups that just add -ly to words make me want to throw a chair though a window?

Latest I saw was an add for “Remitly”. Come on

3

WoodenSporkAudio t1_jbcj668 wrote

Average consumers don’t consider it’s for SEO, I guess.

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TrooperCam t1_jbdct3i wrote

Someone get the CEO of Klear Kanteen on the line stat!

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Levitins_world t1_jbe74it wrote

So does that mean n00bmaster69 isn't an honest, down-to-earth and wholesome guy?

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hermeez t1_jbed7e7 wrote

Yea I think all those Chinese products on Amazon with weird names fall under this category.

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Rainbow_mama t1_jbee2rg wrote

I just think it’s stupid when things are spelled like that and I avoid it.

2

jmite t1_jbehbfg wrote

Who doesn't trust the Pure 'n Kleen water company?

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AuntieEvilops t1_jbf9p5v wrote

The irony of this being posted on a site called "Reddit."

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eflowb t1_jbfnstc wrote

I hAtE INteNtIonaL MispElLliNgS!

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RalphPhillips089 t1_jbfdhqn wrote

The backwards R in "Toys R Us" screwed me up all the way til Grad School.

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goliathfasa t1_jbftsbt wrote

“Y’all no bein’ no hippity hop brands with the names spelt all funny?”

2

MichaelScarn1968 t1_jbfvp5v wrote

How is being viewed as “less honest” seen as positive????

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1

HalfHourTillBrillig t1_jbdge4f wrote

'sensational spelling' is what this phenomenon is called. and it sucks.

1

Prymu t1_jbdlqae wrote

Now I have another's argument in the eternal gnome vs kde war

1

that_noodle_guy t1_jbe0466 wrote

For me it's an indicator ur trying to stand out with your name/branding becuase the product itself doesn't stand out on its own.

1

Inter_Mirifica t1_jbeb602 wrote

Is marketing really science ?

1

SocDemGenZGaytheist t1_jbefu0o wrote

Yes, the scientific study of how to manipulate people effectively. I call it the dark side of psychology.

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mandozombie t1_jbedkic wrote

It also makes one question the product makers intelligence

1

ramdom-ink t1_jbeinu5 wrote

Kleenex and QTips enter the ChatGPT

1

ramdom-ink t1_jbeiy12 wrote

Saxx underwear w/ the “ball park” feature is too Cleve by half…

1

dinosaurs_quietly t1_jbevsh7 wrote

It’s even more upsetting to me when the pronunciation is slightly wrong. I’ve wasted a couple hundred dollars on overpriced yeti products just because RTIC doesn’t include the c sound in “arctic”.

1

smheath t1_jbgn5zf wrote

The C isn't pronounced in all dialects.

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Thatguynoah t1_jbgv7s4 wrote

Wonder if we respond the same way to people names?

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Suspicious_Diver4234 t1_jbidlcu wrote

Agreeing with the findings, this kind of unconventional spelling of words can certainly make the consumer less trusting of the product and the brand. Having an honest, transparent vibe becomes all the more important when launching a new product.

1

ProgressiveOverlorde t1_jbkxg5q wrote

trust me, I have these products
klenex

pepshi kola

kornflaeks

aappo ifone

1