What are some examples of fancier, expensive, boutique versions of things that are worse than the mass market version?

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Cineplex popcorn is so cynical! It’s like movie theater popcorn simulacrum. Just bags and bags of grainy old popcorn that fulfills some idea of pleasure, without any of the pleasurable elements of popcorn. No crunch, no deliciously cloying butter flavor, just styrofoam with salt and flavorless oil.

Microwave butter popcorn < air pop with butter < movie theater style popcorn > fancy cineplex popcorn > artesianial flavored pre-popped kernels in a bag.

rb (soda), Sunday, 12 November 2017 18:17 (six years ago) link

I'm not sure I understand the categories there ("crisps" guy over here) but yeah "fancy" popcorn is a letdown

Although reading that over again, cheapo salty popcorn (which is the norm here everywhere you go) > popcorn with I can't believe it's not butter on it imo

The Suite Life of Jack and Wendy (wins), Sunday, 12 November 2017 18:26 (six years ago) link

there isn't a percent profit on earth bigger than the one on multiplex popcorn

difficult listening hour, Sunday, 12 November 2017 18:32 (six years ago) link

the average greasy diner burger is better than anything more fancy but mass-market burgers = mcdonald's which are clearly inferior (though i like them fine).

new noise, Sunday, 12 November 2017 18:33 (six years ago) link

To the first post - I'll happily pay a premium for flouride-free toothpaste. And, to quote Andy Warhol, 'A Coke is a Coke and no amount of money can get you a better Coke than the one the bum on the corner is drinking.'

Yelploaf, Sunday, 12 November 2017 18:39 (six years ago) link

there isn't a percent profit on earth bigger than the one on multiplex popcorn


Oh yeah movie popcorn has a famously insane markup but I don't begrudge them since that may have kept cinemas afloat at times when ticket sales were at their lowest, also I don't buy food when I watch a film because that is for mugs

The Suite Life of Jack and Wendy (wins), Sunday, 12 November 2017 18:40 (six years ago) link

KETCHUP!!!! Heinz has perfected it y’all, no need to bother.

Jeff, Sunday, 12 November 2017 18:43 (six years ago) link

Coke and ketchup otm

Number None, Sunday, 12 November 2017 18:45 (six years ago) link

I don't buy food when I watch a film because that is for mugs

i know some ushers who'd like you

difficult listening hour, Sunday, 12 November 2017 18:51 (six years ago) link

wait did someone just out themselves as a fluoride conspiracy theorist

mh, Sunday, 12 November 2017 18:51 (six years ago) link

xp I aim to please - we don't really have ushers here tho

I go to the cinema fairly frequently tho & can sit still for 2 hours without needing to chug strawberry laces constantly or whatever, because I am not six. I'm glad that the ppl who choose to do so pay inflated prices on the whole

The Suite Life of Jack and Wendy (wins), Sunday, 12 November 2017 18:59 (six years ago) link

we don't really have ushers here tho

well whoever's job it is to keep roaches from crawling across the projector lens like the tingler.

i unexpectedly stopped being able to eat popcorn without becoming violently ill around age 25 for some ominous reason so now i just drink sprite at movies. when i did get multiplex popcorn tho it was always gone before the end of the trailers. maybe that has something to do with it.

difficult listening hour, Sunday, 12 November 2017 19:06 (six years ago) link

haircuts, sometimes

Chuck_Tatum, Sunday, 12 November 2017 19:09 (six years ago) link

poutine

mh, Sunday, 12 November 2017 19:11 (six years ago) link

I think Coke and ketchup are the only two of these I can really get behind so far. Being a snob is more fun for me than being a reverse snob.

.oO (silby), Sunday, 12 November 2017 19:13 (six years ago) link

yeah, i bought a fancy poutine last week, it was a mess

i would extend to brunch in general: low-end cheap brunch = good, high-end cheap = good, then things get incrementally worse the more you spend

Chuck_Tatum, Sunday, 12 November 2017 19:14 (six years ago) link

brunch is a great pick.

Doctor Casino, Sunday, 12 November 2017 19:19 (six years ago) link

I'm in favour of banning cinema popcorn at any movie below a certain volume threshold since seeing Solaris. It's okay at King Kong or whatever, but some movies should not have to compete to be heard over nonstop popcorn munching.

jmm, Sunday, 12 November 2017 19:34 (six years ago) link

I must have posted this before, but the boutique snack at my local arthouse is WASABI PEAS. Like well done, you have found the snack that is not only crunchier than popcorn, it's louder than literally all snacks. Dried fucking peas, my god. Let's just go the whole hog, like, I'll have one for last year at marienbad and some m&ms and a fucking vuvuzela

The Suite Life of Jack and Wendy (wins), Sunday, 12 November 2017 19:43 (six years ago) link

I've had some pretty great artisanal/boutique ketchup, though the difference in quality between it and mass produced ketchup isn't as big, as stuff like bread, popcorn, chocolate ... many things ... but the fancy (lol) ketchup is no worse than the store brand "fancy ketchup" at the supermarket.

sarahell, Sunday, 12 November 2017 19:55 (six years ago) link

fancier version tends to be not as good as the cheaper version: fried chicken

sarahell, Sunday, 12 November 2017 19:57 (six years ago) link

Strongly disagree with that one.

louise ck (milo z), Sunday, 12 November 2017 20:20 (six years ago) link

peanut butter

ryan, Sunday, 12 November 2017 20:20 (six years ago) link

Car audio systems.

I don’t know what it is, but my Toyota Echo’s sound is so much better, punchier, and more fully-defined than what I’ve heard from fancier systems.

never have i been a blue calm sea (collardio gelatinous), Sunday, 12 November 2017 20:26 (six years ago) link

cats
dogs

A True White Kid that can Jump (Granny Dainger), Sunday, 12 November 2017 20:39 (six years ago) link

peanut butter cups

A True White Kid that can Jump (Granny Dainger), Sunday, 12 November 2017 20:41 (six years ago) link

fancier version tends to be not as good as the cheaper version: fried chicken


Yes, otm.

Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Sunday, 12 November 2017 20:50 (six years ago) link

Is there a flouride conspiracy? If so, I'm unaware. I thought it was well established and known that ingesting flouride is bad. Then again, I use activated charcoal toothpaste that stains my sink black, yet leaves my teeth sparkly white. Anyway, back to topic, I'll say most vinyl pressed these days is no better than or inferior to the digital source. Plus, LPs are like $25-40! I still buy CDs tho.

Yelploaf, Sunday, 12 November 2017 21:34 (six years ago) link

Hot sauce, too. I prefer Crystal (under $2 a bottle) to most probiotic, small batch, whatever artisan types.

Yelploaf, Sunday, 12 November 2017 21:37 (six years ago) link

Consider me dumb, but isn’t activated charcoal too abrasive for the tooth enamel?

rb (soda), Sunday, 12 November 2017 21:39 (six years ago) link

I don't know. I hope not. It was an impulse buy at the co-op. On my second tube and doing fine.

Yelploaf, Sunday, 12 November 2017 21:41 (six years ago) link

Is flouride American for fluoride?

kinder, Sunday, 12 November 2017 22:05 (six years ago) link

I like Bud and Coors but to say there aren't like hundreds of really good craft beers (most of which just have a couple completely different taste and purpose) is some contrarian bullshit

Universal LULU Nation (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Sunday, 12 November 2017 22:09 (six years ago) link

and there are craft beers that try wacky ingredients and flavors but also 80% of the market is pretty down the center IPAs, Porters and ales that are not particularly adventurous

Universal LULU Nation (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Sunday, 12 November 2017 22:11 (six years ago) link

The best cranberry sauce is the canned-shaped glop

ur-oik (rip van wanko), Sunday, 12 November 2017 22:18 (six years ago) link

Healthcare

Gary Synaesthesia (darraghmac), Sunday, 12 November 2017 22:19 (six years ago) link

Is there a flouride conspiracy? If so, I'm unaware. I thought it was well established and known that ingesting flouride is bad.

lol

louise ck (milo z), Sunday, 12 November 2017 22:30 (six years ago) link

I use charcoal to make draw murals of communist utopias, then brush my teeth with fluoride.

calzino, Sunday, 12 November 2017 22:33 (six years ago) link

Shampoo, moisturizer, face cleansers, that kind of stuff

ur-oik (rip van wanko), Sunday, 12 November 2017 22:42 (six years ago) link

I like Bud and Coors but to say there aren't like hundreds of really good craft beers (most of which just have a couple completely different taste and purpose) is some contrarian bullshit

― Universal LULU Nation (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Sunday, November 12, 2017 5:09 PM (thirty-one minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

oh totally, but the worst craft beers are literally undrinkable results of production mistakes that bud and coors will never make, and they hit the market with a craft markup.

call all destroyer, Sunday, 12 November 2017 22:43 (six years ago) link

and does anyone still think Advil or Bayer or Tylenol are superior to the generic or is it just my mom

And lol paracetamol tbrr

ur-oik (rip van wanko), Sunday, 12 November 2017 22:45 (six years ago) link

lol

Fluoride is a known toxic substance, so, yes ingesting it is bad. If you look at the instructions for using fluoride toothpaste, they specifically tell you to spit it out and swallow as little as possible. Fluoride toothpaste is not recommended for children too young to understand how to spit it out.

As for fluoride in water, the theory is that the amounts of fluoride ingested via treated water are minimal enough to be harmless to one's system, or else the harm done is small enough that the benefits outweigh the harm. The same was once thought true of lead in gasoline and paint. That turned out to be wrong. Fluoride is still innocent until proved guilty, but this approach is not a guarantee of innocence.

A is for (Aimless), Sunday, 12 November 2017 22:45 (six years ago) link

and does anyone still think Advil or Bayer or Tylenol are superior to the generic or is it just my mom

And lol paracetamol tbrr

― ur-oik (rip van wanko), Sunday, November 12, 2017 5:45 PM (one minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

it's just your mom

call all destroyer, Sunday, 12 November 2017 22:47 (six years ago) link

Big branded clothing obv

Le Bateau Ivre, Sunday, 12 November 2017 22:54 (six years ago) link

and does anyone still think Advil or Bayer or Tylenol are superior to the generic or is it just my mom

OK this one is just consumer dumbness. Theyre all paracetamol. The brand matters not. Doesnt stop some brands re-branding stuff though. In Aus recently some co got pulled up by the ACCC for selling all these differently boxed paracetamols for "arthritis", "period pain", "Migrane" and they were like $5 more than the regular one in the same brand. All of them were just regular old 500mg paracetmol tablets.

GENERICS ARE GOOD.

Stoop Crone (Trayce), Sunday, 12 November 2017 22:58 (six years ago) link

Have we said trainers/sneakers yet? As in the difference between these £400 designer trainers and a pair of Adidas

Fox Mulder, FYI (dog latin), Sunday, 12 November 2017 23:00 (six years ago) link

Well that applies I think to most clothing dunnit. Unless its like hand-tailored by tibetan monks or something.

Stoop Crone (Trayce), Sunday, 12 November 2017 23:01 (six years ago) link

I think I started a thread on that concept but I don't think it's quite what this thread is dl?

Gary Synaesthesia (darraghmac), Sunday, 12 November 2017 23:02 (six years ago) link

Ooh another one is fish and chips in the UK. Fancy places that charge for ketchup sachets and stuff give small portions and the food is no better than your local shop

Fox Mulder, FYI (dog latin), Sunday, 12 November 2017 23:02 (six years ago) link

toilet paper

fuck you, your hat is horrible (Neanderthal), Sunday, 12 November 2017 23:05 (six years ago) link


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