Triviality of the generalized Lau product associated to a Banach algebra homomorphism

Several papers have, as their raison d'etre, the exploration of the \emph{generalized Lau product} associated to a homomorphism $T:B\to A$ of Banach algebras. In this short note, we demonstrate that the generalized Lau product is isomorphic as a Banach algebra to the usual direct product $A\oplus B$. We also correct some misleading claims made about the relationship between this generalized Lau product, and an older construction of Monfared (Studia Mathematica, 2007).