I've known companies to do this to get around Google slap issues with products, yes. Typically, in the affiliate world. In that space, once you've found a win

I've known companies to do this to get around Google slap issues with products, yes. Typically, in the affiliate world. In that space, once you've found a winning product (ie. tons of sales), it makes sense to replicate under a different brand/imagery - not to compete, but to actually advertise on Adsense (for example) without 'duplicate content' penalties. I don't have to like it, but it is a winning strategy in that space.