What brands are Canadians most fanatical about?
For the most part, when choosing a product, consumers will travel the path of least resistance.
If something’s better, they’ll ditch the old one. If something’s cheaper, they’ll pass over the rip-off. Brand loyalty, this is all a long way of saying, is not what it once was.
But while it’s one thing to swap out a Whirlpool dishwasher for a Maytag, or an Energizer battery for a Duracell, there are some brands shoppers simply will not vacate.
So, which brands are Canadians the most fanatical about?
Business Insider just released a list of 16 brands that boast the most brand loyalty.
*Bing: How companies fight for your brand loyalty
Some we disagree with. Supermarket chain Wegmans is named, for instance, and while we can’t speak for Americans, in Canada you don’t often hear any grocery store that isn’t Whole Foods talked about with such blind reverence.
In any case, there are the usual suspects we must discuss – the brands that not only have loyal customer bases but passionate fans. The brands that inspire not just shopping habits but lifestyle habits, too. These are brands that you can tell certain things about their supporters without knowing anything else about them.
There are only a handful: Apple, Lululemon, Harley-Davidson come to mind.
In Canada, you would add Tim Hortons, too.
But are there any other “cult” brands, names that inspire shoppers to use products while also living and thinking and consuming a certain way?
What brands are you fanatical about? What do you love about them?
By Jason Buckland, MSN Money
Posted by: Ron Joyce | Jun 28, 2021 7:09:54 PM
Why Canadians are fanatical about Tim Horton's is beyond me. It is fast food that is mass produced on an assembly line, spiked with MSG to cause "legal" addictions, then it is frozen and shipped to stores where it is reheated and served. It is for fat asses who hate themselves.
Posted by: Pappou Peter | Jul 1, 2021 2:05:03 PM
The last time I had a coffe in Tim Hortons I realy got sick I,m alrgic to MSG That was three years ago
Posted by: Roger | Jul 1, 2021 5:03:49 PM
MSG in Tim Hortons coffee? Give me a break. I doubt it was the coffee that made you sick. Get a life.
Posted by: C J | Jul 3, 2021 1:33:58 PM
Hahahahahaha. MSG in coffee. That's a good one. Anyone who buys these brands is a sucker. Not a true canadian.
Posted by: joe smith | Jul 3, 2021 3:16:39 PM
Don't buy coffee from Tim Horton. The chain is so cheap on sugar and cream, you must ask for it. It tastes terrible anyway.
Posted by: emma | Jul 3, 2021 7:28:23 PM
all u people are 2 critical and if people like tim hortons then let them! gee, people have different tastes! gosh! aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!! u people drive me crazy! wh at the hell is wrong with you!!!!!!!!!!! seriously, msg in coffee? what the hell! ocer paranoid little freak uch!
Posted by: Brian | Jul 3, 2021 8:29:26 PM
If you are a Smoker, then Stay Away from Tim Hortons.
Some stores now have No Smoking signs on outdoor tables.
They must be the same idiots as the Ottawa city council that Banned
smoking in Campsites, yet 20 camp fires are OK to have ! :-/
Posted by: Terry | Jul 3, 2021 8:45:49 PM
True, Tim Hortons are the Anti Smokers. They were the 1st place to ban smoking in their
restaurants here, long before cities & governments did.
The only reason they started this is because they came up with Drive-thru windows.
Years ago, it was Smokers that filled their restaurants, then they threw them all out.
If not for smokers, Tim`s would never have succeeded as it did.
Now they have joined the Anti-Cigarette Bandwagon to try to stop people from smoking outside ? Maybe their overpriced coffee got their heads.
*** Enough of these Control Freaks ! ***
Posted by: RS | Jul 3, 2021 10:55:57 PM
I've been working at Tim's for just about 10 years. I've seen the changes in products, but I will vouche that although our products do arrive at our stores frozen, they are not pre-cooked. They will go bad very quickly if they are not handled properly. The muffins, donuts, cookies, etc are all prepared in different locations across Canada and shipped to stores in their zone. From the time the doughs are prepared and then frozen, they must be shipped to the stores within 24 hours and then the stores themselves have up to 2 weeks to keep the pre-shaped dough frozen before the product must be disposed of. We also dispose of freezer burnt products or anything that appears less than appealing. Once the product has been prepared for sale, it has an expiration of 8-12 hours (depending on what it is) and the store can actually have its food establishment license revoked for not following this guideline.
Yes, if you don't ask for cream and sugar, you don't get it, but that's because (unlike other Coffee chains) we prepare your coffee FOR YOU. I've worked in 8 different locations across Canada, and a customer can always come back and ask for more cream and sugar or request as many single serve packages as they like and we will happily oblige. On top of this, if a customer does not order their coffee black, we are required to ask if they would like anything in their coffee. If your local store is not doing this, you should be talking to the franchise owners regarding substandard service.
Yes, some owners out there do encourage corner-cutting to save themselves a few extra dollars, and that is never acceptable. But it's rare. Don't judge the whole chain on the actions of a few. Caffeine itself is an extremely addictive substance and you don't need to add anything to it to become addicted. There is a light vanilla coating on the inside of all Tim's cups that keeps them stronger against the liquids longer, and adds a mild flavor to the drinks. That's why, even though you might be using a Tim's perc with Tim's coffee, the taste doesn't always match up entirely.
Give it up with the conspiracy theories, folks. Tim's is a good, Canadian company that offers fair products for a fair price and the menu is becoming increasingly healthier with each passing quarter. Prime example - I took my niece to Starbucks. She spent $12 on a coffee and a piece of cake. I went to Tim Horton's, bought my daughter a large frozen lemonade (all natural lemon extract, if I might add) and a muffin, I bought myself a large tea and a bagel, and my mother in law an iced capp and a bagel and it came to just under $10 and that was without any employee discounts (we only get discounts while we work).
Tim's has my business over these big-box chains every day of the week.
Posted by: Dana | Jul 5, 2021 10:49:38 AM
Whoever says Tim's is overpriced is out of their mind!
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