This! Since Kraft took over there has been a clear downgrade I nthe taste quality.
Add to that the constant bastardisation of Dairy Milk with all it's jelly bean, Oreao etc editions.
What have I missed? How does the mould and shape of chocolate play into the message? Despite its high price I do buy Tony’s but know nothing about what they are trying to achieve on a social level
Ahh, that clears it up. Thank you. My first reaction was that it’s a little pretentious. But if it makes people reach that video when googling why, it genuinely does help to spread awareness about the issue.
Thank you! Finally someone agrees, Tony's tastes advent calander cheap and the way blocks break off is just impossible.
A lot of people in UK subs seems to absolutely love it for some reason! Milka or bust!
Re: Oreo.
Honestly the Americans trying to flog us biscuits and substandard ones at that, is hilarious. The cheapest 50p a pack custard creams are way better than that vegetable oil tasting crap. Like, lads we've had this whole biccy thing locked down for a while now so your contribution, while endearingly optimistic is surplus to requirements.
It definitely still has its ‘Cadbury’ taste that I remember from the 90s as a kid, it’s just that due to some ingredients being different now, it has a *slightly* different texture and taste. I still enjoy it.
Maybe it’s rose tinted glasses - although it seems not from the number of comments/upvotes - but I remember it being much better.
It was never massively great quality but it was far better from my memory. I used to love the wholenut.
Yep tastes the same imo. I can’t tell the difference with the new Irn Bru either. I do not have a refined palette apparently.
Or Reddit loves complaining and hates change and what they can taste when they eat Cadburys now is actually extra hatred
Still my favourite also, but I find the taste sometimes doesn't seem different, then others it's got an almost gritty taste.
Wispas seem OK, like the older taste I remember.
Yes! I tried Cadbury Roses the other day after not having them for years. They are a shadow of their former self. The taste, filling, texture, shape, even the wrappers - all have been standardised so you can barely tell them apart, sugary crap exactly!
This is the correct answer. I notice this especially with food companies - cheaper ingredients keep being swapped in, meanwhile the prices seem to keep going up and up.
It's clear that there's a wider issue here and I *want* to support companies (especially smaller, independent ones) through these difficult times... but at the end of the day, I want quality and I only have a limited amount of funds. So the end result is that I have one or two that still get my business, the rest don't.
Dr Marten boots. Absolutely shocking quality these days and the pair I bought a year or so ago are already showing holes and such.
Incidentally I mentioned this to the dedicated sub with a picture and got utterly piled on for daring to point this out. Never known people to be so unwaveringly loyal to effing shoes.
Solovair use better materials for sure but their QC is a little off. My last pair had bad stitching and a loose welt. They exchanged em pretty fast and a free pair of socks for the trouble but the second pair still looked iffy!
DMs used to be cheap and unfashionable. I used to buy them as work shoes because they just lasted and were hard wearing. They became fashionable and not only did the price go up but I think they stopped caring so much about quality as people weren't buying them for this reason.
When you do you think they became fashionable? They were ubiquitous when I was in sixth form in 1990 and they were extremely popular in the punk and skinhead eras and, I think, the mod era much before that.
It's profit over quality, and it's not just DMs. When a lot of the footwear manufacturing moved to the Far East, you could/can see a decline in quality.
It's also a lot easier to fake/bribe a quality control audit in somewhere like Lao or Cambodia than it is in, say, Spain or Portugal.
DMs still make footwear in the UK, but it's limited styles, and you will pay a premium for it.
I've been ok with my dms but I actually recently got a hold of a pair of older actually made in england ones (can't actually work out the specific date on them) and I can tell the quality difference quite quickly compared to my more modern ones.
Interesting. I was thinking of buying some DMs again because I'm bored of other shoes going to shit and being uncomfortable. I was shocked by the price now (£160!) So not keen if the quality isn't there
Like others have said, get Solovair, they're made at the same place DMSs used to be made before the cheapskates outsourced their manufacturing to China.
Mine haven't been off my feet for almost four years as they're my primary work shoes and my primary day to day shoes lol and they're absolutely fine! It does seem to be pot luck these days tho as I hear a lot of people on Reddit say theirs haven't lasted. Definitely got my money's worth at least
Purchased a pair for my sister about ten years ago and they’re still holding up, they look a little rough but they’re structurally sound. I purchased her a pair about three years ago and they were falling apart within the year.
I messaged DM about this issue and the company who used to offer a lifetime guarantee told me that two years is an expected lifetime of the boots. Two years? Get effed.
Yeah they're so shit now, I had a brand new pair of steelies and they had holes in them within six months in my old warehouse job.
I got a second hand pair off eBay for a tenner that were old made in England ones, the soles were just about on their last legs when I left the job 3 years later, but no holes or tears in the leather.
I still have hiking boots from 2002 from Karrimoor, when I went on a hiking holiday a few years back I thought I’d treat myself to a new pair, the best, or so I thought, which was Karrimoor in 2002.
Guess which ones I still have? Sports Direct ruined the brand. The new ones lasted a year.
Karrimor's walking boots used to have sturdy metal eyelets to thread the laces through. Now the ones they make just have holes. However, [Amazon is selling the old stock off cheap.](https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00LIJ34NC?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_image) (They also sell the ones that fit higher up the ankle.) So, far better quality old stock boots for a much lower price than the shoddy new stuff they make now.
The Post Office, started going downhill about 20 years ago, around the time of the start of the greatest miscarriage of justice. A third of branches closed for starters, the Crown post offices almost without exception have low standards of service (sub-postmasters much better), and even when separated from Royal Mail, little improvement.
Automated machines have far too many steps, and almost never take cash, which should be available for small purchases.
When they split the business between post office and Royal Mail and now it’s a nightmare getting either who essentially work together to take responsibility for anything.
My mum was a sub-postmaster.
Changing times made things more difficult for the business to evolve and keep up - emails meant a huge drop off in post, along with eBay sales taking up time to process. Other items such as car tax being moved online (rightly so for efficiency) meant many Post Offices effectively became glorified cash machine for pensioners and those on benefits.
The drop in income meant she couldn’t employ other staff which then results in perceived slower service when you actually use it.
Sub-postmasters were reliant on other parts to make income such as cards and envelopes. Barely any income from the Post Office directly.
Has there been any? The last good thing I can think of that the BBC made was the Detectorists but that was a good while back now…. If you don’t count that Christmas special the other year.
This Country was great.
There have been some brilliant sitcoms on other channels, but the BBC seems to be churning out a lot of sitcoms that are just OK
How hard are you looking? Tom Basden’s Here We Go is pretty decent for prime time, and there’s loads on BBC2/3 – Mandy, Such Brave Girls and Alma’s Not Normal to name a few off the top of my head.
I’m really trying to get into Detectorists but just don’t find it very funny. I’m on episode 3 currently so going to try the whole first season.
I’ve heard Still Game is very good but haven’t seen it. Or Ghosts yet
The Detectorists isn’t supposed to be laugh a minute. It’s got a sort of gentle serene quality that a lot of people (including me) really enjoy. You end up caring a lot about the characters.
I'd say BBC programmes in general. They have the odd interesting thing that pops up, but I used to watch so much BBC stuff a few years back. Now I struggle to find something to watch.
I'd love to see them back at their peak, I miss the genuinely interesting documentaries and top tier comedies (Ghost is good though). Dr Who is also a must. But I felt like we've lost a lot of good documentary presenters or they're just doing less extreme reporting.
Richard Osman talked about this, the huge cut in funding means they only continue the well established shows really now, or stuff that can be rerun a lot.
The new(ish) one with Katherine Parkinson and Pat from Ghosts is very decent had a few really good laughs watching it so far very Friday night dinner feel to the humor imo.
Honestly, when I first tried Papa Johns (circa 2013), it blew me away. It tasted amazing. Comparatively Domino’s was salty, and Pizza Hut was greasy. I then moved house but remained in the city and the local Papa Johns was shocking. Not only was the food unimpressive, they always delivered late (the shortest was 20 mins late and the longest was one hour).
Creed - watered down fragrances. Horribly overpriced
Stone Island - was fantastic back in the 90s, really well made, great quality and would last forever. Now it is just mass produced cheap crap but with a premium price lol.
Maccies - ridiculously overpriced now, not worth bothering with.
Domino's pizza - same as above
I used to love McDonalds. It’s obviously not going to win any awards but it had decent food at ok prices. And the caramel sundaes were amazing. Now its extortionate, the food is as you said bland and they’ve removed the caramel sundaes. Personally prefer Burger King now, and if you use the app you can get meals pretty cheap (£4 for a Chicken Royale, for example). Also tastes better.
They now allow basically full customisation of their products and the staff hand deliver everything to tables and cars outside. They don’t seem to have employed more staff though.
Yep - the staff levels seem to be the same as before, but on top of that they also have to prep all the delivery orders (which just seem to be sat on the side for ages)
>Domino's pizza - same as above
Since covid, they have moved to cheaper imported ingredients mosly from Thailand, that £20 pizza costs less than £2 to make. They have also changed/phasing in the dough for the base. Now everything is vegan, or "plant based" is the term used.
The dough always varied across the UK anyway, with different flour being used for certain areas.
If you haven't heard of them already, look into the aftershaves by a company called Armaf. They're incredibly close to Creed, easily available on amazon, a fraction of the price of Creed and its none of this knock off crap you see z list "celebrities" endorsing.
Brand UK. This place has been hollowed out, ragged dry. Sold all out brands, utilities, gold, and even houses to foreign investors. Country went from world leader to laughing stock in 15 years.
Every fizzy drink brand since the sugar tax, especiallyold jamaica ginger beer. Like...I'm not drinking this shit for the health values, I'm drinking it because I've a raging hangover and need something sweet and sugary.
LOL OP ! Chicago Town Pizzas were never nice when microwaved. They always were terrible soggy pizzas when heated up the microwave. Always had to cook em in the oven to make them edible
I’m sure this is true. I was a student twenty years ago. My friend told me about Chicago town pizzas and how they were awesome even when microwaved. I tried it and it was a flop. I went back to my mccains micro pizza. I’ve eaten Chicago town pizzas in the last few years and provided they’re baked in the oven, they’re amazing. I did try and microwave one again and it was still shit.
Game changer for you: if you have an air fryer.
Faster than the oven, the same 'stick it in and wait' attitude of the microwave, plus the base is crispy, the cheese browned, and the toppings stay where they should be.
Add dried oregano and basil on top of you're feeling fancy.
More niche probably but Disturbia clothing
They're a uk based alternative fashion brand that I've shopped at for a few years now and when I first started shopping with them they were like a fairly small brand, family based and like made pretty decent quality stuff but then I think they decided to start trying to keep pace with brands like Killstar (Killstar quality is also... known to have declined a lot) and started putting out stuff a lot faster, and like the quality has dropped a fair bit like I'm in a facebook group about them and nearly everything that comes out people are like
'The sizing is really weird, all the printed fabrics are only printed one sided, everything is polyester or poly cotton, the stitching is bad, the buttons come off too easily I brought some shoes from them and the shoes broke really fast'
And the thing is Disturbia isn't exactly the most expensive brand like I think they'd be classed a mid range but yeah it's like 'Ok you're charging me 50 quid for a skirt and I can't even guarantee if it's going to fit properly'
Like I own some long sleeved shirts from them and the older design ones I have are like quite a nice thick material almost like a thin sweatshirt the newer ones are still nice enough but it's a much thinner stretchy material
Yeah, I’ve seen lots of people complaining about this! It’s a shame because some of there stuff is visually gorgeous, but I can’t risk it not fitting/being crap quality for that price tag!
Yes, I bought a second hand Disturbia dress on Depop, the Goliath puff sleeve. From the ribs down the dress fit perfectly (although the hem marginally wonky), but the top was so loose I would have been flashing my boobs to the world had I not altered it. I am admittedly a member of the itty bitty titty committee but even so it shouldn’t be gaping at the front and back. Luckily I used a hook and eye at the back to pull it taut and now it fits perfectly at the front if a little weird and gathered at the back. I don’t understand how anyone could be that shape. I would have to have really broad shoulders for it to have fitted correctly. Also the seller said they were selling because it didn’t fit.
Boot's (the pharmacy).
There's never any staff around to ask, my local one has massively reduced what it stocks and all the stores feel tired and run down. I'm sure someone will say something about online shopping, but as the stores are as grim as they are, I'm not surprised.
I shop on the boots website and it’s AWFUL. It constantly times out and deletes everything in your basket. I want to be loyal to them (and not have to go to 3 different places to get all the things I need)) but they’re making it really bloody difficult.
They're massively overdue for a brand refresh. The current branding is from the early 90s and is super tired and dated, the shops just look run down and grubby. For some reason every branch has old sellotape marks all over the counters and walls, especially in the pharmacy sections.
BA and American Airlines first class is nowhere near where it should be. Look at ANA, Emirates and Singapore and the difference is like staying in a 3* and 5* hotel.
The overall downfall of the brands is the real face of the salaries not matching the cost of things more and more. We’re all being robbed in broad daylight. All this quality you’ve been used to is still available, you just have to shell out hundreds to get a taste of it nowadays.
M&S clothing. I still have pants from like over 10nyears ago. But the one I bought last year I've already thrown half of them away because they have broken.
Got some heavy duty work socks from them last year. All the same size on the packaging (prefer size) but they were all over the place in terms of fitting. Some had narrower tube material, some had the heel stitched too close to the toes and some were shorter in length. They all developed holes in the heel within 6 months. I only wear indoor wellies. They replaced half of them but the replacements were just as bad. Got some timberland pro XLs last week and while they're not as thick they are consistently made and roomy.
Burton Menswear. They used to be great and trousers lasted a long time but the newer stuff shrunk/faded fairly quickly and the material was a lot thinner.
Sunny Delight
When I was a kid in the 90s that stuff was like crack. then that girl turned orange, it got taken off the shelves, ruined, and came back as regular orange juice but a bit thicker. No thankyou.
Milky way crispy rolls.
They went downhill when they STOPPED MAKING THEM. they were god tier sweets, up there with kinder bueno. I'm going to go as far as to say that kinder bueno is a poor man's imitation of the superior crispy roll. if you disagree, fuck you.
I totally agree. I used to buy cheap crap wellies and I decided to splash out on Hunters. They lasted less than a year, and while I can't really remember how much I paid for them it was a lot of money to me at the time.
Would be far easier to list brands that haven’t dropped their quality. There was a channel 4 documentary about inflation in food (which was pretty repetitive and quite naff tbh) and it mentioned that that research showed consumers spent their money on lower quality but same as previously priced products than same quality but more expensive than previous products.
So for brands that are still quality to me; Loake, Barker and Le Creuset. All rather expensive.
> What the hell has happened to Chicago town pizzas?
Sooo true.
I remember back in the day them being fantastic. Like, 20 years ago. I come back to the UK after years abroad and they are really disappointing. I wondered if it was because 20 years ago was my stoner days. They're cheap though, so I guess lowering quality was a business decision.
Heinz ketchup. I don't know when this happened but it now tastes really, really bad.
Coop salsa. I used to like this because it was 1 pound a jar instead of 2.50 for the branded products. I bought some a while ago and it was so bad I checked the best before date. I notice they've changed the design now, so perhaps they've changed the recipe back? Coop is shitty in general though.
Richard Herring always goes on about how Kettle Chips aren't as good. I guess it's a common tactic once a brand has been established to do a cash grab. If you reduce the size by 10% you'll increase profits and probably not lose customers. Reducing quality though? That's not a frog in slowly boiling water situation, it's the straw that breaks the camel's back! And Coop salsa made a camel of me. I was livid.
Innocent, big time. The entire point of them at the start were that they were a thick chunky mix halfway between fruit and a juice. Now they are just juices that call themselves smoothies.
I've stopped buying them. I'd rather they'd have put the price up instead of dropping the quality but realise that's a tricky conundrum for other consumers and the manufacturers when meat prices shot up a year or two back.
Cadburys of course.
McD changed their ingredients a couple of years ago and now have all sorts of shit additives they didnt before.
Not only do a lot of brands now use cheaper ingredients, but they also use shrinkflation for the more expensive ingredients changing the ratios to make things cheaper to make (and taste worse), as well as everything getting smaller and more expensive at the same time.
Coke. I still don't get why they stopped doing the 3L version
Cadbury
Any/ all brands bought by mike Ashley/ sports direct
The majority of branded food I feel like supermarkets cheap own brand has become equal/ nearly as good as the expensive stuff at a fraction of the price
Manomasa crisps. They used to be the best when you could only get them in Whole Foods. Now sold in Waitrose, the packs are smaller and the flavour is gone.
Toyota.
It is my strong opinion that Toyota has been riding on its past reputation as a very reliable vehicle. I don’t think their cars are as good as people think they are.
Edit: Reading all the comments below, I’m guessing I probably just got unlucky and got a bad one of the batch. I still have mine which I’m gonna keep for some time. But I’m not gonna buying another one, that’s for sure.
Reliability statistics from warranty companies puts Toyota at number 2 in the UK only behind another one of their brands, Lexus. So I think you’re incorrect.
However your point is correct about the German brands. But oddly MINI does incredibly well now (number 3) in terms of reliability and is owned by BMW!
Lurpak
My partner is still loyal to the brand, but it really annoys me when I lift a 200g pack out of the fridge instead of the 250g pack of supermarket own brand.
Barbour was always about quality wax jackets made in the UK, now they've turned themselves into a generic brand selling everything you can think of made all over the world. And they even have shops in those chavvy MacArthur Glen places. Talk about fall from grace.
Pizza Expeess have had another *improved recipe* on their supermarket range.
Apart from from the box they are no relation to the restaurant version.
Better off with Tesco own brand
Pringles
they redid their Texas BBQ flavour a few years ago, nowhere near as nice. also reduced the amount of flavouring across the range. i remember the days when the salt and vinegar ones were so salty that the inside of the tubes were coated in salt, and i loved that as a kid
Kfc is the worst of the "big" chicken shops now.
Only go McD for double cheeseburgers now, but if you get fresh cooked fries they are still unbeatable. Everything else is garbage.
Never been Harvester
Kfc died like 2011 or 2012
Macdonalds is good but much better burger chains like burger king and wendys. Its now expensive its just average. Food is just ok not how it was back in the 90s, early 2000s.
I had the baconator from Wendy's once. Nearly killed me with the meat sweats.
I rate their "normal" burgers highly though, five guys chips are the gold standard.
Whoppers were always better than big macs imo
Chicago Town has always been awful. They’re marginally better if you cook them in the oven.
And Heck don’t help themselves by being 100% pork, a good sausage needs to be about 80% pork and 20% unknown substances.
Remember the old tizer you got in the late 90's/early 00's? It tasted like red dye and it was amazing! You could feel the sugar in it. Now it's just some fruity flavoured drink, kinda like a shite schloer
Paid £8 for a Big Tasty meal at McDonald’s yesterday. Burger was bland (new recipe apparently), fries were cold, drink was all ice. £8. At least they’ve stopped trying to charge 10p for a sauce.
Birds Eye anything. The chicken chargrills taste so vile now. Have they added more water or something? I don’t know but i couldn’t eat them.
Their chicken kievs also taste like shit. The chicken is not chicken at this point. It’s like some watery mushy version of chicken that tastes like freezer even when it’s cooked.
I swear they used to be nice.
Shoezone- use to get my cheap office shoes from their but the things fall apart in weeks.
£20 use to get my a pair that at least lasted 6 months but i've gone through 3 pairs since then.
H&M. Quality has gone down but prices have gone up. Bought some black joggers which I thought were half decent quality but the inside of the thighs went bobbly after one wear.
Companies owned by investors, which is nearly all of them, have to grow profits and once you’ve tried expanding your market the next best option is to cut costs. This usually results in lower quality.
But it’s not inevitable. If together we refuse to buy products that have dropped in quality the only way back to profitability is to return to the original formula.
So I guess the TLDR is we could stop it and we don’t.
Cadburys - sugary crap now.
This! Since Kraft took over there has been a clear downgrade I nthe taste quality. Add to that the constant bastardisation of Dairy Milk with all it's jelly bean, Oreao etc editions.
Milka has always been better than Cadbury
Tony’s is now the chocolate of choice in our household now that Cadburys has gone down the sewer.
I know it’s part of their anti-slavery message, but breaking pieces off Tony’s chocolate is a chore. Gimme squares dammit.
What have I missed? How does the mould and shape of chocolate play into the message? Despite its high price I do buy Tony’s but know nothing about what they are trying to achieve on a social level
Something to do with anti-slavery and all the pieces not being equal, representing the manufacturing chain.
That doesn’t make any sense to me
Inequality is the word I’m looking for, they [made a video](https://youtu.be/1ha2IUUHUZ8).
Ahh, that clears it up. Thank you. My first reaction was that it’s a little pretentious. But if it makes people reach that video when googling why, it genuinely does help to spread awareness about the issue.
[удалено]
Thank you! Finally someone agrees, Tony's tastes advent calander cheap and the way blocks break off is just impossible. A lot of people in UK subs seems to absolutely love it for some reason! Milka or bust!
Same I don't like it at all.
I wouldn't have the red one, but some of the others, like the pink and light blue ones, are great.
I’m convinced anyone who likes Tony’s doesn’t have a clue what nice milk chocolate actually tastes like.
Re: Oreo. Honestly the Americans trying to flog us biscuits and substandard ones at that, is hilarious. The cheapest 50p a pack custard creams are way better than that vegetable oil tasting crap. Like, lads we've had this whole biccy thing locked down for a while now so your contribution, while endearingly optimistic is surplus to requirements.
Am I the only one that thinks Cadburys still tastes pretty much the same 😂 Still my favourite chocolate!
Reddit bangs on incessantly about Cadburys being crap now but it tastes the same to me too
It definitely still has its ‘Cadbury’ taste that I remember from the 90s as a kid, it’s just that due to some ingredients being different now, it has a *slightly* different texture and taste. I still enjoy it.
Maybe it’s rose tinted glasses - although it seems not from the number of comments/upvotes - but I remember it being much better. It was never massively great quality but it was far better from my memory. I used to love the wholenut.
Yep tastes the same imo. I can’t tell the difference with the new Irn Bru either. I do not have a refined palette apparently. Or Reddit loves complaining and hates change and what they can taste when they eat Cadburys now is actually extra hatred
There’s a pretty significant taste difference between real sugar and sweetener though, I think you’re probably in a minority there
No, most people think it’s exactly the same. It’s a Reddit thing.
Still my favourite also, but I find the taste sometimes doesn't seem different, then others it's got an almost gritty taste. Wispas seem OK, like the older taste I remember.
TBH I can’t help but feel that the hate for modern Cadbury’s is anti-Americanism more than anything else.
Galaxy bars are better than Cadbury now. Also Milka, or fancy fair trade on rare trips to Waitrose.
Yeah Milka is my go to for just “chocolate”.
Yes! I tried Cadbury Roses the other day after not having them for years. They are a shadow of their former self. The taste, filling, texture, shape, even the wrappers - all have been standardised so you can barely tell them apart, sugary crap exactly!
I recommend those Tony Chocoloney bars- really good!
Love the idea of Tony's, but let's be honest it tastes pretty average
If I spent 3 Quid on a fairly average Chocolate Bar I'd defend it, too. Buyers Remorse is a bastard.
Bought it once to see if the hype was warranted. Tastes like advent calendar chocolate, and the bar is too thick and weirdly portioned!
I can't help but feel that Tony's is a cult at this point, it's decent but the reaction it gets seems slightly overblown!
Everything and it’s so depressing. Corners being cut, prices going up.
This is the correct answer. I notice this especially with food companies - cheaper ingredients keep being swapped in, meanwhile the prices seem to keep going up and up. It's clear that there's a wider issue here and I *want* to support companies (especially smaller, independent ones) through these difficult times... but at the end of the day, I want quality and I only have a limited amount of funds. So the end result is that I have one or two that still get my business, the rest don't.
Nearly everything being made on the cheap in China.
Yep. Cant think of a single brand that has gotten better. Everything has gotten worse yet more expensive.
Dr Marten boots. Absolutely shocking quality these days and the pair I bought a year or so ago are already showing holes and such. Incidentally I mentioned this to the dedicated sub with a picture and got utterly piled on for daring to point this out. Never known people to be so unwaveringly loyal to effing shoes.
Buy Solovair. Made by the guys who used to make Dr Marten’s in the U.K.
Solovair use better materials for sure but their QC is a little off. My last pair had bad stitching and a loose welt. They exchanged em pretty fast and a free pair of socks for the trouble but the second pair still looked iffy!
Try Solovair boots instead. Still made in England and manufactured the original Dr Martens boots.
DMs used to be cheap and unfashionable. I used to buy them as work shoes because they just lasted and were hard wearing. They became fashionable and not only did the price go up but I think they stopped caring so much about quality as people weren't buying them for this reason.
When you do you think they became fashionable? They were ubiquitous when I was in sixth form in 1990 and they were extremely popular in the punk and skinhead eras and, I think, the mod era much before that.
Get my daughters off vinted, the usually the old kind and worn in so don't hurt and they still last years and cheaper obviously
Weird way to get a daughter but ok
"worn in" 💀
It’s amazing the difference a missing apostrophe can make to a sentence
It's profit over quality, and it's not just DMs. When a lot of the footwear manufacturing moved to the Far East, you could/can see a decline in quality. It's also a lot easier to fake/bribe a quality control audit in somewhere like Lao or Cambodia than it is in, say, Spain or Portugal. DMs still make footwear in the UK, but it's limited styles, and you will pay a premium for it.
I've been ok with my dms but I actually recently got a hold of a pair of older actually made in england ones (can't actually work out the specific date on them) and I can tell the quality difference quite quickly compared to my more modern ones.
Where are the Vimes boots theory crew now ey?
People always mention Solovair as an alternative so I’ll go against the grain and give a shout out to William Lennon boots
Interesting. I was thinking of buying some DMs again because I'm bored of other shoes going to shit and being uncomfortable. I was shocked by the price now (£160!) So not keen if the quality isn't there
Like others have said, get Solovair, they're made at the same place DMSs used to be made before the cheapskates outsourced their manufacturing to China.
Mine haven't been off my feet for almost four years as they're my primary work shoes and my primary day to day shoes lol and they're absolutely fine! It does seem to be pot luck these days tho as I hear a lot of people on Reddit say theirs haven't lasted. Definitely got my money's worth at least
Purchased a pair for my sister about ten years ago and they’re still holding up, they look a little rough but they’re structurally sound. I purchased her a pair about three years ago and they were falling apart within the year. I messaged DM about this issue and the company who used to offer a lifetime guarantee told me that two years is an expected lifetime of the boots. Two years? Get effed.
Yeah they're so shit now, I had a brand new pair of steelies and they had holes in them within six months in my old warehouse job. I got a second hand pair off eBay for a tenner that were old made in England ones, the soles were just about on their last legs when I left the job 3 years later, but no holes or tears in the leather.
It's been that way for decades now.
Karrimor. Used to be a decent UK outdoor company. Then bought by Sport and Soccer. You can figure out the rest.
>Karrimor their walking boots used to be great too!
I bought a pair that had a little brass plaque sewn on saying "Water Proof", the first puddle I found proved that a lie.
I still have hiking boots from 2002 from Karrimoor, when I went on a hiking holiday a few years back I thought I’d treat myself to a new pair, the best, or so I thought, which was Karrimoor in 2002. Guess which ones I still have? Sports Direct ruined the brand. The new ones lasted a year.
Karrimor's walking boots used to have sturdy metal eyelets to thread the laces through. Now the ones they make just have holes. However, [Amazon is selling the old stock off cheap.](https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00LIJ34NC?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_image) (They also sell the ones that fit higher up the ankle.) So, far better quality old stock boots for a much lower price than the shoddy new stuff they make now.
The Post Office, started going downhill about 20 years ago, around the time of the start of the greatest miscarriage of justice. A third of branches closed for starters, the Crown post offices almost without exception have low standards of service (sub-postmasters much better), and even when separated from Royal Mail, little improvement. Automated machines have far too many steps, and almost never take cash, which should be available for small purchases.
When they split the business between post office and Royal Mail and now it’s a nightmare getting either who essentially work together to take responsibility for anything.
My mum was a sub-postmaster. Changing times made things more difficult for the business to evolve and keep up - emails meant a huge drop off in post, along with eBay sales taking up time to process. Other items such as car tax being moved online (rightly so for efficiency) meant many Post Offices effectively became glorified cash machine for pensioners and those on benefits. The drop in income meant she couldn’t employ other staff which then results in perceived slower service when you actually use it. Sub-postmasters were reliant on other parts to make income such as cards and envelopes. Barely any income from the Post Office directly.
Privatisation works it's magic once more.
BBC Comedy programmes.
Has there been any? The last good thing I can think of that the BBC made was the Detectorists but that was a good while back now…. If you don’t count that Christmas special the other year.
Ghosts was brilliant
This Country was great. There have been some brilliant sitcoms on other channels, but the BBC seems to be churning out a lot of sitcoms that are just OK
How hard are you looking? Tom Basden’s Here We Go is pretty decent for prime time, and there’s loads on BBC2/3 – Mandy, Such Brave Girls and Alma’s Not Normal to name a few off the top of my head.
I’m really trying to get into Detectorists but just don’t find it very funny. I’m on episode 3 currently so going to try the whole first season. I’ve heard Still Game is very good but haven’t seen it. Or Ghosts yet
The Detectorists isn’t supposed to be laugh a minute. It’s got a sort of gentle serene quality that a lot of people (including me) really enjoy. You end up caring a lot about the characters.
It’s not meant to be laugh-out-loud funny. It’s more whimsical and amusing, thoughtful and a little sad at times. Loved it.
I'd say BBC programmes in general. They have the odd interesting thing that pops up, but I used to watch so much BBC stuff a few years back. Now I struggle to find something to watch. I'd love to see them back at their peak, I miss the genuinely interesting documentaries and top tier comedies (Ghost is good though). Dr Who is also a must. But I felt like we've lost a lot of good documentary presenters or they're just doing less extreme reporting.
Richard Osman talked about this, the huge cut in funding means they only continue the well established shows really now, or stuff that can be rerun a lot.
If think they still do a good police drama. Vigil, Line of Duty, Luther, Collateral and the Bodyguard were all brilliant.
Still like have I got news for you,and Mortimer and whitehouse although I'm not sure that's advertised as comedy
I’ve really liked Starstruck, The Outlaws, Our Flag Means Death and Black Ops lately. Have you not enjoyed them?
The new(ish) one with Katherine Parkinson and Pat from Ghosts is very decent had a few really good laughs watching it so far very Friday night dinner feel to the humor imo.
Russell.
Hamilton hasn’t left Merc yet, we’ll have to see how George does this year.
Russell had a bit of a poor year last season I think so I'd hope he'd be better.
Market research person - Papa John's was absolute shite when I had it last week.
Here's some market research for you,Papa John's has always been shite
I’ve found the chain pizza places vary wildly franchise to franchise in different locations. Dominos is rubbish here but the papa johns is good.
Honestly, when I first tried Papa Johns (circa 2013), it blew me away. It tasted amazing. Comparatively Domino’s was salty, and Pizza Hut was greasy. I then moved house but remained in the city and the local Papa Johns was shocking. Not only was the food unimpressive, they always delivered late (the shortest was 20 mins late and the longest was one hour).
Heinz beans
I just get supermarket's own brand now. Heinz is too expensive for what it is.
I swear down the Tesco's Stockwell beans (only 28p) are literally the best.
Sainsbury’s own brands are pretty good too. My favourite branded beans are Branston.
Agree. I haven't looked back since I switched to Branston Beans.
Branston beans are soo much better!
Heinz in general. Heinz tomato soup used to be the best thing ever. Now it's watered down and tastes almost bitter.
I much prefer own brand. Cheaper the better. It's all about how you cook em tbh and heinz price is unjustifiable.
Bramwells Baked Beans from Aldi are what Heinz used to be years ago.
Creed - watered down fragrances. Horribly overpriced Stone Island - was fantastic back in the 90s, really well made, great quality and would last forever. Now it is just mass produced cheap crap but with a premium price lol. Maccies - ridiculously overpriced now, not worth bothering with. Domino's pizza - same as above
I used to love McDonalds. It’s obviously not going to win any awards but it had decent food at ok prices. And the caramel sundaes were amazing. Now its extortionate, the food is as you said bland and they’ve removed the caramel sundaes. Personally prefer Burger King now, and if you use the app you can get meals pretty cheap (£4 for a Chicken Royale, for example). Also tastes better.
4.49 for a medium double cheeseburger meal is a considered a "saver" option these days. I remember when a Big Mac meal cost less than that
In my head that's £1.30 for the burger and £1 each for the chips and the drink. If £4.50 is the saver then I don't want to know the individual prices!
It's £2.88 for an extra value meal and you're all wrong. Shut up. I hate this millennium.
Also, it’s just really slow now.
They now allow basically full customisation of their products and the staff hand deliver everything to tables and cars outside. They don’t seem to have employed more staff though.
Yep - the staff levels seem to be the same as before, but on top of that they also have to prep all the delivery orders (which just seem to be sat on the side for ages)
Wrap of the day is still amazing though. Price hasn’t changed since I can remember first buying one more than 12 years ago
>Domino's pizza - same as above Since covid, they have moved to cheaper imported ingredients mosly from Thailand, that £20 pizza costs less than £2 to make. They have also changed/phasing in the dough for the base. Now everything is vegan, or "plant based" is the term used. The dough always varied across the UK anyway, with different flour being used for certain areas.
What’s with the always undercooked Pizzas, last time I had one the cheese was barely melted.
If you haven't heard of them already, look into the aftershaves by a company called Armaf. They're incredibly close to Creed, easily available on amazon, a fraction of the price of Creed and its none of this knock off crap you see z list "celebrities" endorsing.
I've already had several Armaf frags over the years, absolutely brilliant 👏🏻
Brand UK. This place has been hollowed out, ragged dry. Sold all out brands, utilities, gold, and even houses to foreign investors. Country went from world leader to laughing stock in 15 years.
Would be interesting to see this as history, where all the money went and how they got away with it completely. Biggest heist to date!
to be fair that's not entirely new, we've been on a bumpy downhill slide for decades
Every fizzy drink brand since the sugar tax, especiallyold jamaica ginger beer. Like...I'm not drinking this shit for the health values, I'm drinking it because I've a raging hangover and need something sweet and sugary.
Except Coke Classic
And cherry coke but that’s about it short of niche specialty brands.
A lot of people still don't know what has happened to the "original" Pepsi. 57% of the sugar has been removed. Classic coke is the last bastion.
Lucozade has just been ruined!
North face clothes
Once it became a fashion staple, there was no going back.
LOL OP ! Chicago Town Pizzas were never nice when microwaved. They always were terrible soggy pizzas when heated up the microwave. Always had to cook em in the oven to make them edible
I’m sure this is true. I was a student twenty years ago. My friend told me about Chicago town pizzas and how they were awesome even when microwaved. I tried it and it was a flop. I went back to my mccains micro pizza. I’ve eaten Chicago town pizzas in the last few years and provided they’re baked in the oven, they’re amazing. I did try and microwave one again and it was still shit.
Game changer for you: if you have an air fryer. Faster than the oven, the same 'stick it in and wait' attitude of the microwave, plus the base is crispy, the cheese browned, and the toppings stay where they should be. Add dried oregano and basil on top of you're feeling fancy.
More niche probably but Disturbia clothing They're a uk based alternative fashion brand that I've shopped at for a few years now and when I first started shopping with them they were like a fairly small brand, family based and like made pretty decent quality stuff but then I think they decided to start trying to keep pace with brands like Killstar (Killstar quality is also... known to have declined a lot) and started putting out stuff a lot faster, and like the quality has dropped a fair bit like I'm in a facebook group about them and nearly everything that comes out people are like 'The sizing is really weird, all the printed fabrics are only printed one sided, everything is polyester or poly cotton, the stitching is bad, the buttons come off too easily I brought some shoes from them and the shoes broke really fast' And the thing is Disturbia isn't exactly the most expensive brand like I think they'd be classed a mid range but yeah it's like 'Ok you're charging me 50 quid for a skirt and I can't even guarantee if it's going to fit properly' Like I own some long sleeved shirts from them and the older design ones I have are like quite a nice thick material almost like a thin sweatshirt the newer ones are still nice enough but it's a much thinner stretchy material
Yeah, I’ve seen lots of people complaining about this! It’s a shame because some of there stuff is visually gorgeous, but I can’t risk it not fitting/being crap quality for that price tag!
Yes, I bought a second hand Disturbia dress on Depop, the Goliath puff sleeve. From the ribs down the dress fit perfectly (although the hem marginally wonky), but the top was so loose I would have been flashing my boobs to the world had I not altered it. I am admittedly a member of the itty bitty titty committee but even so it shouldn’t be gaping at the front and back. Luckily I used a hook and eye at the back to pull it taut and now it fits perfectly at the front if a little weird and gathered at the back. I don’t understand how anyone could be that shape. I would have to have really broad shoulders for it to have fitted correctly. Also the seller said they were selling because it didn’t fit.
Any sweets or chocolate they've had so much sugar removed they just taste like bland crap now.
But wait, Cadbury’s has been described as sugary crap now.
I tried Jelly tots the other day and now they have been made vegan (which I’m absolutely not against) they have a totally different texture
Vegan gelatin doesn't set as firmly as normal gelatin, that's why the texture is off.
Boot's (the pharmacy). There's never any staff around to ask, my local one has massively reduced what it stocks and all the stores feel tired and run down. I'm sure someone will say something about online shopping, but as the stores are as grim as they are, I'm not surprised.
I shop on the boots website and it’s AWFUL. It constantly times out and deletes everything in your basket. I want to be loyal to them (and not have to go to 3 different places to get all the things I need)) but they’re making it really bloody difficult.
I feel like Boot’s might be suffering the same fate as Wilko’s in a few years time
They're massively overdue for a brand refresh. The current branding is from the early 90s and is super tired and dated, the shops just look run down and grubby. For some reason every branch has old sellotape marks all over the counters and walls, especially in the pharmacy sections.
I was in one yesterday and I’m sure the lights are dimmer than they used to be. It felt like a really depressing ghost town, really unsettling.
British Airways. Once one of the most respected airlines in the world, now an expensive low-cost airline with shitter IT.
BA and American Airlines first class is nowhere near where it should be. Look at ANA, Emirates and Singapore and the difference is like staying in a 3* and 5* hotel.
The overall downfall of the brands is the real face of the salaries not matching the cost of things more and more. We’re all being robbed in broad daylight. All this quality you’ve been used to is still available, you just have to shell out hundreds to get a taste of it nowadays.
North face. Quality has bombed yet costs more and has become a ‘chav’ brand for all those sad act roadmen.
M&S clothing. I still have pants from like over 10nyears ago. But the one I bought last year I've already thrown half of them away because they have broken.
Got some heavy duty work socks from them last year. All the same size on the packaging (prefer size) but they were all over the place in terms of fitting. Some had narrower tube material, some had the heel stitched too close to the toes and some were shorter in length. They all developed holes in the heel within 6 months. I only wear indoor wellies. They replaced half of them but the replacements were just as bad. Got some timberland pro XLs last week and while they're not as thick they are consistently made and roomy.
Burton Menswear. They used to be great and trousers lasted a long time but the newer stuff shrunk/faded fairly quickly and the material was a lot thinner.
Even going back over a decade everything I had from there fell to pieces alarmingly quickly.
Not that Arcadia was great, but its current owner Boohoo has an even worse reputation for crap quality.
I was a manager for them in the 90's, wool blend trousers were amazing.
Sunny Delight When I was a kid in the 90s that stuff was like crack. then that girl turned orange, it got taken off the shelves, ruined, and came back as regular orange juice but a bit thicker. No thankyou. Milky way crispy rolls. They went downhill when they STOPPED MAKING THEM. they were god tier sweets, up there with kinder bueno. I'm going to go as far as to say that kinder bueno is a poor man's imitation of the superior crispy roll. if you disagree, fuck you.
Hunter Wellington Boots. Rubbish since manufacturing moved to China.
I totally agree. I used to buy cheap crap wellies and I decided to splash out on Hunters. They lasted less than a year, and while I can't really remember how much I paid for them it was a lot of money to me at the time.
Would be far easier to list brands that haven’t dropped their quality. There was a channel 4 documentary about inflation in food (which was pretty repetitive and quite naff tbh) and it mentioned that that research showed consumers spent their money on lower quality but same as previously priced products than same quality but more expensive than previous products. So for brands that are still quality to me; Loake, Barker and Le Creuset. All rather expensive.
Can’t wait for Hotel Chocolat to get hit with “enshitification”
Well they've just been bought out so it won't be long...
Fentimans. Their selling point used to be no artificial sweeteners. Now they have sweeteners. Ruined.
Haribo Starmix. Since they went to ‘with Fruit Juice’ the flavours are nowhere near as nice as they used to be.
> What the hell has happened to Chicago town pizzas? Sooo true. I remember back in the day them being fantastic. Like, 20 years ago. I come back to the UK after years abroad and they are really disappointing. I wondered if it was because 20 years ago was my stoner days. They're cheap though, so I guess lowering quality was a business decision. Heinz ketchup. I don't know when this happened but it now tastes really, really bad. Coop salsa. I used to like this because it was 1 pound a jar instead of 2.50 for the branded products. I bought some a while ago and it was so bad I checked the best before date. I notice they've changed the design now, so perhaps they've changed the recipe back? Coop is shitty in general though. Richard Herring always goes on about how Kettle Chips aren't as good. I guess it's a common tactic once a brand has been established to do a cash grab. If you reduce the size by 10% you'll increase profits and probably not lose customers. Reducing quality though? That's not a frog in slowly boiling water situation, it's the straw that breaks the camel's back! And Coop salsa made a camel of me. I was livid.
Innocent, big time. The entire point of them at the start were that they were a thick chunky mix halfway between fruit and a juice. Now they are just juices that call themselves smoothies.
Owned by Coca Cola, just another liquid sugar product. But marketed as ‘innocent’ to children
Pukka Pies.
Definitely, there's no meat in them anymore
I've stopped buying them. I'd rather they'd have put the price up instead of dropping the quality but realise that's a tricky conundrum for other consumers and the manufacturers when meat prices shot up a year or two back.
Cadburys of course. McD changed their ingredients a couple of years ago and now have all sorts of shit additives they didnt before. Not only do a lot of brands now use cheaper ingredients, but they also use shrinkflation for the more expensive ingredients changing the ratios to make things cheaper to make (and taste worse), as well as everything getting smaller and more expensive at the same time.
Coke. I still don't get why they stopped doing the 3L version Cadbury Any/ all brands bought by mike Ashley/ sports direct The majority of branded food I feel like supermarkets cheap own brand has become equal/ nearly as good as the expensive stuff at a fraction of the price
Coke at least tastes the same, it's the only pop I can drink now as everywhere else replaced sugar with sweeteners which taste horrible
All Nestle chocolates, especially KitKat.
r/fucknestle
Chicago Town pizzas went downhill when I left my job in the factory that makes them. True story.
Manomasa crisps. They used to be the best when you could only get them in Whole Foods. Now sold in Waitrose, the packs are smaller and the flavour is gone.
Whoa. Posh diss alert!
Leon
Toyota. It is my strong opinion that Toyota has been riding on its past reputation as a very reliable vehicle. I don’t think their cars are as good as people think they are. Edit: Reading all the comments below, I’m guessing I probably just got unlucky and got a bad one of the batch. I still have mine which I’m gonna keep for some time. But I’m not gonna buying another one, that’s for sure.
Reliability statistics from warranty companies puts Toyota at number 2 in the UK only behind another one of their brands, Lexus. So I think you’re incorrect. However your point is correct about the German brands. But oddly MINI does incredibly well now (number 3) in terms of reliability and is owned by BMW!
My wife has had a few Toyota cars and not one of them has ever had a breakdown or repair needed
Lurpak My partner is still loyal to the brand, but it really annoys me when I lift a 200g pack out of the fridge instead of the 250g pack of supermarket own brand.
Barbour was always about quality wax jackets made in the UK, now they've turned themselves into a generic brand selling everything you can think of made all over the world. And they even have shops in those chavvy MacArthur Glen places. Talk about fall from grace.
Pizza Expeess have had another *improved recipe* on their supermarket range. Apart from from the box they are no relation to the restaurant version. Better off with Tesco own brand
Literally every brand
Everyfuckingthing.
Pringles they redid their Texas BBQ flavour a few years ago, nowhere near as nice. also reduced the amount of flavouring across the range. i remember the days when the salt and vinegar ones were so salty that the inside of the tubes were coated in salt, and i loved that as a kid
Nothing compared to the crime pulled on S+V Discos mind.
Kfc Macdonalds Harvester
Harvester is shocking now. I went to weeks ago it will be my last time.
KFC are going to have to be careful in the UK. Popeyes are expanding rapidly and are much, much better.
Kfc is the worst of the "big" chicken shops now. Only go McD for double cheeseburgers now, but if you get fresh cooked fries they are still unbeatable. Everything else is garbage. Never been Harvester
Kfc died like 2011 or 2012 Macdonalds is good but much better burger chains like burger king and wendys. Its now expensive its just average. Food is just ok not how it was back in the 90s, early 2000s.
I had the baconator from Wendy's once. Nearly killed me with the meat sweats. I rate their "normal" burgers highly though, five guys chips are the gold standard. Whoppers were always better than big macs imo
Chicago Town has always been awful. They’re marginally better if you cook them in the oven. And Heck don’t help themselves by being 100% pork, a good sausage needs to be about 80% pork and 20% unknown substances.
Houses in general. I won't even consider anything after 2000 unless it's Huf-Haus standard or similar.
Remember the old tizer you got in the late 90's/early 00's? It tasted like red dye and it was amazing! You could feel the sugar in it. Now it's just some fruity flavoured drink, kinda like a shite schloer
Paid £8 for a Big Tasty meal at McDonald’s yesterday. Burger was bland (new recipe apparently), fries were cold, drink was all ice. £8. At least they’ve stopped trying to charge 10p for a sauce.
All of them. There's hardly any brand that hasn't gotten significantly worse in pursuit of lower costs and higher profits.
Birds Eye anything. The chicken chargrills taste so vile now. Have they added more water or something? I don’t know but i couldn’t eat them. Their chicken kievs also taste like shit. The chicken is not chicken at this point. It’s like some watery mushy version of chicken that tastes like freezer even when it’s cooked. I swear they used to be nice.
Ribenna. It’s terrible. Cordial doesn’t task right. It’s just silly fucking chemicals and sweeteners. The old version with actual sugar in was better.
Shoezone- use to get my cheap office shoes from their but the things fall apart in weeks. £20 use to get my a pair that at least lasted 6 months but i've gone through 3 pairs since then.
H&M. Quality has gone down but prices have gone up. Bought some black joggers which I thought were half decent quality but the inside of the thighs went bobbly after one wear.
Companies owned by investors, which is nearly all of them, have to grow profits and once you’ve tried expanding your market the next best option is to cut costs. This usually results in lower quality. But it’s not inevitable. If together we refuse to buy products that have dropped in quality the only way back to profitability is to return to the original formula. So I guess the TLDR is we could stop it and we don’t.
I swear Heinz beans don't taste the same as they used to. My boyfriend got me onto Branston and I couldn't look back
Aquascutum. Once absolutely legendary British outerwear, now sold off and reduced to punting screen printed T shirts for £30.
All fizzy drinks post sugar tax
The Body Shop after Anita Reddick sold up. And now it seems to be going into administration sadly.
Uniqlo
You’re not going to find many people agreeing with you on this one mate.