Given all the effort that consumer product companies put into their branding and package design, I was fairly shocked at what I saw in my local CVS store. Basically, the CVS-brand products featured packaging that was nearly identical to the name brand products. They copied the colors, text styles, and more — everything but the product name itself. In fact, I almost picked up the CVS version by mistake, even when the name brand was right next to it.

CVS is a big company with a high profile, so I’m sure they did their due diligence from the legal side of things before deciding to launch such a widespread copycat strategy. But just because something is legal doesn’t mean it’s ethical or good for business. Personally, I feel like they’re trying to trick me with their sneaky house brand items. And I bet other customers feel the same way. So, while I’ll continue to shop there, I’m certainly not going to try their private label products. And since those items typically carry a higher margin than name brand products, CVS is the one that loses out.