In the late 1970s, a brand started in Canada that was the store brand for all the Loblaw-based supermarkets. That brand was called "No Name" to denote that it wasn't like Kraft or Hershey or whatever, this was not a name. (I'm not sure if everywhere calls the in-store brand or a generic brand a "no name brand" but we call all store brands in Canada "no name brands" by default, this is the official No Name brand)
They are also known for being less expensive, sometimes lower quality, and very very simple, but recognizable branding style.
Over the next few decades, this just became a part of Canadian grocery shopping. If you shopped in a Loblaw grocery store (Real Canadian Superstore, No Frills, Independent, etc) you will see the iconic plain yellow packaging. And that was what it was. A plain yellow box just saying what the product was. Eventually the product was labelled in French as well.
In the 90's they shifted to add images to the packaging to just make sure people knew what they were getting, (even though some people, me included, felt it was a bit less fun than getting a box of cereal that just said 'cereal').
So now in grocery stores, we see this:
This is a genuine product. There are hundreds of different kinds of products that look like this. And in Canada, everyone likely has at least one No Name product hiding in their pantry. Because, come on, baking soda is baking soda.
Recently, the company who owns this brand has decided to play with the popularity. There are now funny yellow things you can buy that just describe the thing.
These are jokes for Canadians, basically. Using the iconic branding in a silly, cheeky way, making fun of itself.
So! Just to go back and make sure you understand...
And this is a Canadian inside joke:
I highly recommend googling No Name Brand. Thank you for attending my TED talk.
sources: my trip to the grocery store today, canadian humour, wikipedia
dededos
theartofmadeline
germansingergirl
snowghoul
gummygunk
yousharknotpass
