The branded humbug is specifically designed to make the mundane seem more interesting, even to the point where someone would actually buy brine shrimp as pets.
As a business, breeding brine shrimp for the toy market alone is worthless. You also have to package the reason for someone to buy them, which is the story that makes them a catalyst for the imagination.
It's why you can take two copies of the same doll, dress one up as Mr. Milquetoast, forensic accountant, and the other as Muscles McUltrahero, beloved comic book character, and see such a dramatic difference in sales.
Obviously, Big Time Toys saw no value in the product itself, as they changed suppliers. The entire value of the box is in the brand, which they stopped paying for.
As much as I enjoy the schadenfreude that I feel when I see con artists cheat each other, I have to come down of the side of the underdog with the moxie to sell people fluff and nonsense and still make them love it. Big Time isn't selling Amazing Live Sea-Monkeys (TM) any more. They're selling cheap Chinese brine shrimp.