Why no love for 3M vinyl?

[Marlene]

we only use Gerber 220/3M and have never had a vinyl failure in all the years going back to the late 1980's. my biggest beef with 3m/Gerber is the sad color selections that when compared to other brands, makes it hard not to want to stray. their color palette is really 1980's and hasn't changed much since then. my one time of straying was back a few years ago when I used an Avery gold metallic as it didn't look black at certain angles like Gerber/3M. learned my lesson when the customer called to say the pretty gold letters were falling off

 

[Pete Moss]

We love 3m. We also love Oracal and Gerber. We usually use whichever is most appropriate for the job. In many cases they are interchangeable, however it is hard to beat 3M IJ180 and SV480 when the job calls for it.

 

[Pixels Are Bad Mmmkay?]

I'm not waving anyone's flag here, just holding your arguments to the fire of reason.

LOL like a meme, (to customers) "Can I call you later...somebody on the internet is wrong."
What is my problem!

We're a predominantly Orafol shop here and with good reason, at least in my opinion.

Orafol products are much more affordable. (Many believe you get what you pay for) That still doesn't make it any less affordable.
Orafol is a German company and I like quality German products and engineering. (3M's engineering and research & development dwarfs that of Orafol) You mean the research and development for it's adhesive vinyl products specifically or for all of it's many products in general, because that would be expected.
Orafol has been in business for 208 years. 3M has been in business for barely half that. (LOL oh no...3M only in business for a measly 114 years) (was Orafol doing adhesive vinyls then?)Was 3M manufacturing adhesive vinyl in 1902? I'm simply stating a fact of the company's longevity. It doesn't mean they are necessarily any better, but they do have the credentials of experience and commitment far beyond any of their competitors.
Orafol's focus is primarily adhesive products. 3M is widely diversified, so adhesive products is only a part of their focus. This focus is also more widespread since they offer both consumer and commercial adhesive products. The same can also be said for Avery. (is this supposed to be an reasonable argument?) Why is it not a reasonable argument? 3M manufactures over 20,000 consumer products from ballistic helmets and safety harnesses to water filters and Ace bandages.
3M exercises shady business tactics. They will probably threaten me with a lawsuit just for posting this because that's how they roll. Okay, I probably went a little extreme on this one, but I'm sure you get my point. (evidence?) Just research the numerous lawsuits, among other things. It's all public information. Increasing CEO salary in spite of losses and layoffs, lobbying to increase MUTCD retroreflectivity standards in the name of higher profits, ripping off other people's intellectual property as in the case of the Post-It Notes debacle are also other situations that bring 3M's ethics into question.
3M cares about themselves more than the people in this industry. This should be evident to many of you by now. The same can also be said for Avery. (evidence? How is Orafol different?) The 3M Original Wraps program is a prime example.
Orafol makes an excellent product, so who needs 3M? But seriously, brand recognition is likely responsible for much of 3M's success. (apparently a lot of people feel is isn't as "excellent" as 3M or they wouldn't pay more for it.)Or they are just suckers for 3M's brand recognition or feel that brand recognition is an immediate selling point to customers who are otherwise un-knowledgeable with regards to this industry.

As was said, I have my reasons for choosing Orafol over others and it is purely my opinion that they produce a consistent quality product at an affordable price. We do use certain 3M products as well, such as VHB tape, blockout film, diffuser film, and IJ-180 when necessary, so 3M happens to be my number 2 go to manufacturer. I'd just prefer that I didn't have to use 3M products at all if it could be avoided.