No matter how many lists you make, it’s difficult to go on a trip without having to purchase at least one or two things after you get there. In my most recent experience, I needed to buy a particular skin care product that had somehow leaked out and evaporated during the trip. So, I set out to find a replacement at the grocery store.

The name brand version was quite expensive, and I noticed they had a store brand option right next to it. The list of ingredients was identical, so I decided to give it a try. I can’t vouch for the quality of the store brand, since we haven’t actually opened the bottle yet. However, I did notice something curious about how the retailer is marketing it.

Specifically, the name brand version comes in a pump top bottle, while the store brand is just a twist or snap off design. If the retailer went to all the trouble to mimic the ingredients and package colors of the more popular version, why didn’t they emulate the pump part, too?

As far as I know, there’s nothing notable about the pump; it’s probably a generic part that dozens of companies include on their bottles. But for whatever reason, the people designing the store brand opted not to mimic that one aspect of the name brand product. This seems like a missed opportunity. Even though I ended up buying the store’s version based on the list of ingredients alone, I bet a lot of other customers would look at the bottle and quickly dismiss the store brand as functionally inferior, all because the familiar pump top is nowhere to be found.