Aaaand you just mentioned it by name. For them that’s enough. You can hate that brand’s guts, but you’re TALKING about it. That is brand recognition. Whenever we make a choice of what brand of an item to pick, our brain works by recognition.

Get Oral B, Colgate, Denivit or some unknown-to-me-brand? Even if you know Colgate’s ads to be trash and objectively, all toothpaste is just as effective, your brain will gravitate towards big names that you know of. It plays into another psychological factor - fear of the unknown. It’s why people would sometimes rather watch a movie they’ve already seen or play the same videogame over and over. We know it, we’ll get some enjoyment out of it. It won’t be spectacular, but it’s something we know and we know it won’t give us potentially bad surprises. When considering a product, your brain first goes by association. And only secondly by personal bias. One day you may forget what it was that made you mad about that one brand, but its name will stick with you.