: Never understood the whole lubing the brake pad thing.
As mentioned above, for those who have had noises, "lubing/spraying/gooping" the backing plates reduces the chances of having noises. It doesn't necessarily 100% eliminate the noises. I've used (name brand but, lesser quality pads ~ 2011)that made so much/many noise(s) that it didn't matter what I did to eliminate the noise. I resorted to replace the pads.
Applying product on the backing plates helps to absorb vibrations that "may" cause the noise(s), that's all...process of elimination so that we don't have to go back into the brake job to apply some product to the backing plates.
I believe that today's better quality brakes/friction material, have reduced the chances/need of any extra product. Which is why many folks like yourself, have had good success with just installing new pads w/o any lube on the backing plates. I continue to lube the backing plates as old habits(due to past experience) are hard to stop!