Pet food recall catches brands with their product down

The poison pet-food disaster could be the end of the not-really-premium brands.

Menu Foods' recall of its toxic dog and cat food opened up a big can of worms for marketers. Consider this from one company's Web site:

Maximum nutrition for your dog's maximum health -- that's what you can expect in every package of MAX. Whether it's dry or canned, treats or biscuits, MAX formulas contain natural ingredients with vitamins and minerals. Our formulas are made from real chicken meal and lamb meal for guaranteed great taste. Chicken meal is made from the best parts of the chicken and does not include chicken by-products (no chicken heads, feet, or intestines). These less expensive protein sources can be difficult to digest. We don’t use ground corn either. Instead we use rice and wheat, which are easier for a dog's body to assimilate.

All true, no doubt, but when the recall hit 95 different brands it became clear that these claims were also true for brands that cost a lot less. This confirmed a suspicion long-held by many consumers that premium brands are just the same product in a prettier package.

Pet food sellers face a huge problem now: How are they going to convince consumers to buy a brand when everyone knows that all the glop is exactly the same? Even if any of the allegedly premium brands do start selling a canned product that's actually different from the Acme brands, who will believe them?

But this  should concern more than those responsible for feeding Fifi & Fido. What if the marks, er consumers, smarten up? What if they figure out that all those flat screen TVs actually come off the same assembly line? That will mean that brands will actually have to differ in fact and not just in look.