"An alternative interpretation is that the cost-of-materials is insignificant related to brand dilution and/or the intended promotional value of the URLs themse

"An alternative interpretation is that the cost-of-materials is insignificant related to brand dilution and/or the intended promotional value of the URLs themselves." Cost will be some fraction of the retail price. But that's coming from a streamlined production + packaging pipeline. As soon as you'd choose to repackage product, then you need a whole lot of hands (people) to do that. And then cost of repackaged product easily goes to 2..5x what it was on the first run. That's not worth it for manufacturer. Profit is lost on that batch, disposal is the next cheapest option. Sometimes there are alternatives, like food banks, or use as cattle feed. But often not (or manufacturer is too lazy / doesn't care).