I don't think it is quite as nefarious as some make it out to be, I believe the marking method they have now was probably the most effective for the time it was introduced. But things have changed in retail and now it likely somewhat less effective than it used to be. Besides, being a small blender there's no way they can compete on cost with a major oil company, so when viewed on the shelf it is at an immediate disadvantage to their competitors based on price alone - just look at the Royal Purple example that was already mentioned.
Amsoil, Royal Purple, Redline and others just do not have the name penetration to generate sufficient sales in mass marketing so it's going to lose every time on the shelves at Walmart. You have to be told -and believe- that it is better than Mobil 1 or Castrol or Pennzoil Platinum for that customer to pick up the Amsoil container rather than one of the others, despite the price differential. How many people are there in the general population that are willing to do that? What mass marketing has Amsoil done to cause it to happen?