It started many decades ago, when low-rent importers and manufacturers bought the rights to out-of-business brand names, then started slapping them on all kinds of cheap junk and advertising them on TV. Even though it had its own store at the Mall of America, "As Seen On TV" is a red flag, not a badge of honor.
Think Crosley record players, or different anti-itch powders, and such.
Some managed to be just-good-enough to crawl back into becoming a real brand with real manufacturing. But some remained just junk, only to disappear again.
Or, in other cases, the manufacturer of cheap Chinese junk will contract with a well-known American brand to put their brand on the junk and offer it as a discount to the American company's existing customers. Readers' Digest clock radios is a good example.
Looking through Goodwill will reveal dozens of these brands, and their junk just before it hits the landfill.
Think Crosley record players, or different anti-itch powders, and such.
Some managed to be just-good-enough to crawl back into becoming a real brand with real manufacturing. But some remained just junk, only to disappear again.
Or, in other cases, the manufacturer of cheap Chinese junk will contract with a well-known American brand to put their brand on the junk and offer it as a discount to the American company's existing customers. Readers' Digest clock radios is a good example.
Looking through Goodwill will reveal dozens of these brands, and their junk just before it hits the landfill.