What do you guys have for beloved classic brands that used to be really good but have really gone downhill?

For me, it's the TastyKake Baking Co out of Philadelphia. I grew up eating their pies and snack cakes like Peanut Butter Kandy Kakes and Butterscotch Krimpets, etc. They USED to be large, very high quality and just head and shoulders above any Drake or Hostess product out there. Then they began to have a lot of financial trouble and sold to some baking company in Gerorgia around 10 years ago. The quality has taken a dramatic downward dive and everything is so much smaller and cheaper looking and tasting now. It's to the point where I've written them off which hurts a lot!

I wrote this up on Yelp after the final straw, the last Krimpet I ate which SUCKED:

Krimpets? Wasn't that discussed on an episode of Billions?

The classic monster cereal.

Fruit Brute was a favorite of mine as a kid and they re-issued them during Halloween. Tasted totally different. Same for Count Chocula.

Craftsman
GM
Ford
Chevy
Bridgeport

Black and Decker
Porter-Cable
DeWalt

Levi's

quote:

Originally posted by BillF:
Levi's

That was my first thought, too, and I'll add Gillette.

quote:

Originally posted by newtoSig765:

quote:

Originally posted by BillF:
Levi's

That was my first thought, too, and I'll add Gillette.

Oh, holy CRAP yes, Levi's. Junk. One pair of jeans would last me several years. The last few pairs I bought, the belt loops ripped right out of them. Trash.

Timberland
Justin
Craftsman
Echo
Sperry
Sony
Land's End
Burger King

Coke

They still make the good stuff in Mexico with real sugar

 
Craftsman, for sure. Lots of others, too.
 

RCA, Westinghouse....

As much as I hate to be "that guy", I gotta be honest here. Pretty much all of the American companies that were once great, have been outdone by foreign companies over the years. There isn't much left of "American quality" these days. In fact, there are certain categories of products that I would consider to be absolute junk if made here.

quote:

Originally posted by Lord Vaalic:
Coke

They still make the good stuff in Mexico with real sugar

and I still buy it at the supermarket here, in glass bottles.

It is required whenever we have tacos or fajitas. It's a guilty pleasure.

quote:

Originally posted by newtoSig765:

quote:

Originally posted by BillF:
Levi's

That was my first thought, too, and I'll add Gillette.

And that was my immediate first thought also. I bought 2 pair a couple of years ago and the belt loop pulled loose from the pants the first time I wore them. The material is so thin there is just no material to sew to...after that pair broke I looked closer and there were only 5 belt loops on the jeans....Eddie Bauer jeans have 7 and much thicker material.

Black & Decker power tools (already mentioned). If I want cheap Chinese shit I might as well go to Harbor Freight. HF doesn't market or price as anything other than Chinese shit, and some of it actually works, so there is no hypocrisy.

Armour (both their Hash and Beef Stew taste like something put together by a mad chemist).

Levis is funny. The old pairs wouldn't die and they aged really nice. Last pair I had wore out in less than a year. Clue I'm older and less active than I was so the jeans should last fore ever.

Craftsman tools were once a reference tool for the home user.

Craftsman tools used to be good enough for professional use. That's what all my wrenches and sockets are.

York Peppermint Patties - just bland. In 2009, production of the York Peppermint Pattie moved from Reading, Pennsylvania to Mexico - surprise we have our crappy taste reason. There are a lot of snacks and candy that just taste bad, in the effort to cut costs they are cutting the reason for eating them - FLAVOR.