Generic Claritin, Butt Ugly Package Almost Works

Today my nose has been running like a faucet so I decided to pick up some Claritin. Kroger makes a generic brand and the packaging was so horrible I almost didn't buy it. Literally this is one of the most brilliant examples of ugly generic packaging ever.

It has a hideous muted pastel rainbow going across the front of it, mixing terribly with whatever colors are underneath it and clashing completely with the yellow on red text boxes.

As a graphic designer I know that you don't charge by how good the design is. Anyone who can afford to carry their own brand can have nice packages if they choose to. Unless they just don't want the product to look appealing.

Which is exactly the case. It seems counterintuitive that a store would want to undermine their own brand until you think about it. The generic Claritin, made by Kroger, is $5. The real thing costs at least twice as much, which means more profits. In this case the ugly packaging is a marketing ploy to get me to buy name brand if I can afford it, by making me think it's not as good or won't work as well.

Well, so far... it does.