Buyer Beware: Bed Bath & Beyond's Sunscreen Switch

It's that newly balmy time of year again when The Shophound is reminded to stock up on sunscreen, and as much as we can gripe about Big Box stores, we have to admit that vastness of Bed Bath & Beyond's Harmon drugstore department does have a relatively unmatched selection. We were halfway to the register, however, when we discovered that the Neutrogena sunblock in our hand was not in fact the brand name item it appeared to be, but a cunningly designed, generic private label lookalike found sitting alongside the genuine article on the shelf. Coincidence? Perhaps, but the Coppertone Sport product in our other hand proved to be yet another impostor.

Isn't Trovata in the middle of suing (and re-suing) Forever 21 over exactly this sort of thing? "Trade Dress", we believe it's called.
Legally speaking, this is something for attorneys to pursue if they so desire. We're just reminding you to check the labels before you check out. (Misleading packaging and display strategy aside, the brand name prices were still $2 cheaper at BB&B than at Rite Aid, for what it's worth.)
Happy sunning.

Comments

[gemmifer]

That is unbelievable! The Neutrogena knockoff is so close to the real product that I could see myself easily not realizing I bought the generic until I got home with it. Generics are perfectly fine, but by law they should have to clearly differentiate themselves from the brand name products.

[k]

They do that at CVS for everything, nearly every product has a CVS brand counterpart and they look alike and they're right next to each other.

[Dena]

thats crazy and severely misleading. You need to be careful...

[Full Tilt Rakeback]

Wow thats pretty scary stuff, especially on a product such as this!