Marketing by confusion

I love food recalls. They are rare glimpses into the supply chain, a break in the fog of branding. Take, for example, this recent headline:

The affected products are 500gm packs of Mainland Salted Butter, with a best before date of 10 January 2013, and 500gm packs of Anchor Salted butter, with a best before date of 26 January 2013.

The difference between Mainland and Anchor butter is as real as the Anchor Family from the 1980's. That is, not at all. Although they seem to have differing definitions of freshness.