Ask Mike: Brand name problems
Hey Guys,
Is there such a thing as a product that’s too successful? Well, maybe.
Consider the Q-Tip. Everybody calls ‘em this, even if they happen to be the generic equivalent. Some might say that’s a good problem for a company to have, but in reality, it can be a real challenge.
When a brand name is so successful that it becomes synonymous with the overall product, you’ve got a problem. A blog from a marketing firm helps to explain. The site argues that in cases such as Thermos and Windex, the companies didn’t position the products as brands. Instead the products became categories.
Once that happens, the company will have a hard time convincing consumers to buy their (probably more expensive) version of “X” product, when any number of generic alternatives illicit the same reaction from consumers.
There are other examples of this phenomenon. The Frisbee, for instance. That’s actually a brand name, but people toss it around (pardon the pun) like it applies to all flying discs.
Same thing with Kleenex, Scotch tape, Xerox, Rollerblades, Tupperware, Band-aids, Hi-lighters and the granddaddy of them all — Post-It Notes. All are hugely successful, but they may have been bigger hits with a different marketing strategy.
Got more examples of name brands that are synonymous with product categories? What about companies that might have been in danger of this, but didn’t let it happen (Apple’s iPod, for instance). Please sound off in the comments below.
Thanks for reading,
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
- Rating:
(40 votes, average: 4.50) - Permalink
- Comments (222)
Loading ...
Subscribe
TiVo, your show often gets TiVoed on some other type of DVR.
duct tape, ziplock bag, kraft mararoni and cheese
What about Jello. Everyone calls it Jello.
crescent wrench (technically an adjustable wrench).
Kleenex!
Corn Flakes
This is a very good and interesting point i never even thought twice about saying q-tips or tupperware I just always assumed that was the name of the product lol
Coke
This was good. Did you write this??? If so, you should be a writer. I’ve thought the same thing before. Great thesis statement too, it drew me in.
Coca Cola too.
Sounds like these companies need better marketing strategies.
> Same thing with Kleenex,
Tempo
> Scotch tape,
Tesa
> Band-aids
Hansaplast
Post-It Notes
> Haftnotizen
Xerox
> Fotokopierer
Rollerblades, Tupperware: I agree with you, totally, that their made their way over the big pond into the German language. But it’s not a brand name. (Has it ever been one?) The young generation I meet while commuting don’t even categorize their iPhone as an iPhone, but just as… “something my parents pay for to share videos and talk silly to my would-be-boyfriend while he doesn’t know what else I’m doing *giggle*”.
btw, we don’t call Q-Tips Q-Tips. We call them “Ohrenstäbchen”, according to their function.
I have a question if I can sue mcdonald’s over a food issue. I am a vegetarian and I don’t touch eggs or chicken and they served me beef not once but twice at same location and I am positive if i go there 3rd time they going to do same. I had saved burger from last time as an evidence in fridge almost week now and i had receipts and copy of complaint I sent same day via fax to mcdonald’s headquarters. So can I do something with it?
Same with Vaseline.
What about Gillette? In english, they may call them a “razor”, normally. But on spanish-talking countries, it is pretty common to hear people call any kind of razor a gillette, like if it was a common name.
The opposite problem was when they used to call processors by their speed, so Intel was stuck with everyone being able to make a 286, 386, and a 486. They finally got wise and decided to name the 586 a Pentium, and now, no one can pretend they provide the same product.
The semi-opposite problem is when people refer to a product by the brand name, when no one has ever heard of them. That’s very common in restaurants ~ I remember someone talking about the “Merko”, and I had no idea what they were discussing for about ten minutes. It turns out that a “Merko” is a brand name of a type of warmer where they put orders as soon as they’re ready.
I’d have never know.
As for the actual name-brand product, I’d have to say that Band Aid is pretty commonly used for adhesive bandages.
Cotton Swab
Tissue
Tape
Coppier
I have no idea what else to call rollerblades
Plastic Container
Adhesive Bandage
Flourescent Marker
Sticky notes
Glass Cleaner
Heres some not listed Purel, Frappuccino,White Out, Google, Chapstick, Vaseline, Tylenol, Advil, Aleve
oh yes now i remember in line skates lol who says that
oh and sharpie
You forgot that when Aspirin first came out it was a Brand owned by Bayer Drug Co Now it is a generic name.
ziploc bags. lol i was thinking about this today… weird
The iPod is not in danger of having the same problem as Kleenex or Xerox because the portable media player had been around at least 5 years. Becoming the leader of a category does not make your brand synonymous with everything in the category, being one of the originators in the category does.
channel, hollister
coke..down here in the south people usually refer to a soda as coke regardless of actual name
Interesting question. Companies pay a lot of money to develop their branding. Xerox being a famous example because they had to pay a lot of money to discourage people saying “Xerox” for “photocopy” because they wanted to keep their brand trademarked. There are national differences, I notice, in whether people say “Xerox” or “photocopy.”
I would tend to say that branding is a little biit exploitative of the population it’s unleashed upon. It makes people want things that they shouldn’t, (Coca-Cola) or prevents them from accepting better alternatives, (brand name vs. generic… anything, often, but specifically medicine) but as for the product itself… if something’s so successful as to be confused with generic, it means that it’s usually pretty popular – so that’s not bad for the company, but it’s terrible for diversity of products, and for the economy.
That generally signals a monopoly or ogliopoly at the beginning of an industry, and that always means people who already have capital to spend getting richer on the backs of their workers, which means income disparity widens.
Yeah, my biases are showing. Oops.
That’s not necessarily true…
Kleenex = tissues
Q-tip = cotton buds
Scotch tape = sticky tape
I’ve only ever called them by the second names!
Band-Aid tries very hard to protect their brand name identity. In their ads they refer to their product as “Band-Aid brand adhesive bandages” to make sure that everyone knows that Band-Aid is the brand, not the product. They even have it in their jingle: I am stuck on Band-Aid BRAND cause Band-Aid’s stuck on me.
And the worst one of all, how do you think Hormel feels about junk email?
‘Nuff said.
Why so many Nazi’s responding to this blog?
Speaking of which, how about aspirin. This was a trademark owned by Bayer. During world war II, the US subsidiary of Bayer was taken over by the US government. Now aspirin is not covered by any trademark in the US and any company can use it.
To the vegan, why on Earth do you eat at McDonalds? No, you cannot do anything about it. Go to Salad Express.
I think the negative factors you mention are greatly outweighed by the huge brand recognition these products have.
Due to this they are perceived as being the better product and, I’m sure, enjoy much larger sales due to this.
red bull too….
@Max: just stop being a vegetarian. That, or stop your complaining… what do you expect when you go to a BURGER joint? Not only that, things happen- if orders are trying to be filled fast (especially in a rush hour) things will happen. That’s called “human error”, and it happens in every walk of life.
Of course, I’m sure you wouldn’t know anything about that, seeing as you live a perfect, meat-free lifestyle. That, or you’re just looking for a get-rich-quick scheme by tying up the court system with a frivilous lawsuit. Get over yourself.
When I read your blog, it automaticaly made me think of the Pogo brand name here in Canada.
Watching commercials from the United Stated made me realize that that is not indeed what they are called.
Pogos are indeed called corn dogs. Even at that, I just have started wondering if that is truly their name. Although, I am not sure, if I want to get technical I will call them corn dogs. But, most likely, as everyone I know, I will call them “pogos” as that is that is the name I am used to and that everyone around me recognizes.
Google is becoming synonomous with “web search” (sorry yahoo!)
and is becoming a verb: “Google it”, “I googled it”
To add to the list: Ace Bandage seems to be a common brand/ product misnomer. Nobody says “compression tape with clips.” It’s Ace bandage, fool. I think White-Out, is another one.
Max:
File a complaint with your local Better Business Bureau agency — they deal with businesses like that who won’t even try to make it up to you.
“Google” is fast becoming a generic term for searching online. Google (the company) discourages using the term as a verb, but people still do it.
Google is fast becoming synonymous with internet searching, in general.
one more thing….
Hey, anonymous poster whining about suing McDonald’s over them serving you meat….
Quit ordering meat. They don’t just serve you random food. You have to order it. If you don’t order a hamburger, they won’t give you a hamburger, plain and simple. You cannot sue McDonalds for selling you a burger.
no matter how much Apple fights it I still call my generic MP3 Player an IPod… I know many who do — whether its to fit in or because of their market dominance I don’t know
as stated Google has become a freakin’ Verb… so regardless of which search engine people use they are still ‘googling’… and I think with the ease of access around the interwebs I think this works out best for the Google guys… but I can see how in the physical world Kleenex and Q Tips might suffer for being THE Brand.. especially if they do not have an X factor that justifies their price points Kleenex often has the scents and lotions and advertise their strength and Q Tips typically hype up having more cotton on the ends — and it is in fact visible when compared to the really low end generics.
Also Vaseline. Because petroleum jelly is too much of a mouthful.
to the vegan. you never said what you ordered. you started by saying you won’t “touch” eggs or chicken. ok. then you jump to the issue that they allegedly served you beef. The story is disjointed and doesn’t make sense. !st of all, what does chicken and eggs have to do with the story? 2nd, you never said what you ordered and got beef. if you ordered a milkshake and got a hamburger, just tell them. if you ordered a fifh sandwich and got a cheeseburger, just return it. If it happened once and you don’t look at your order before you take a bite, that’s your fault. BTW- you never said if you ate the beef. If not how have you been hurt? even if you did, a burger won’t hurt you. Stop being a whiner.
Jacuzzi and Beer Nuts are big ones. I remember on the Ellen DeGeneres show they had like a word of the day which was Jacuzzi and Jacuzzi actually called up and said you can’t say that on TV without our permission, I can’t remember what they did afterward, but that was interesting.
Germ-X.
In the tool industry, Crescent Wrench and Channel Locks spring to mind. They are actually “adjustable end wrenches” and “water pump pliers” (though they are used on many things beyond water pumps!). Also Vise Grips is a brand name, but I’m not sure what else to call them, except maybe “locking spring clamp pliers”.
Its like in an area of Ireland where I come from, Ireland has crisps known as “Tayto” and regardless of what brand the crisps are they are all called Taytos xD
CHAPSTICK!!!
Please stop talking about McDonald’s. It makes me want to throw up.
Hoover
this name is slowly dying off, but thats only `cos of the hard / earnest campaigning/marketting by `all` the other heavyweights` mainly `dyson` of course.
i went to a job interview with a vac cleaning firm in nott`m [franchised with usa firm] some yrs ago, did they go mad / looked very disappointed , when i mentioned this `no-no` word.
There are worse ones. Hoover the vacuum cleaning company in the UK is not the company, its the product. Its doesn’t matter if you have a Dyson, a Henry, a Vax or other vacuum cleaner. You’ve got a hoover. And hoover is not exactly the largest distributor of “hoovers” in the UK.
So I think there’s something in this.
Other companies though have benefited from it. Companies like Coca Cola for example. Coca Cola have an inferior product to Pepsi in terms of taste. This was proved. But the NAME of Coke and Coca Cola keeps them on top in spite of this.
Sellotape
Raul Plugs
Phillips Screw Driver
Marigold gloves
Mole grips
Febreeze!
(Duct Tape, by the way IS the product. Duck Tape is a brand name)
Google…As in, I “googled” it.
you got honey shake move for 2011
Excellent article. I think about this topic a lot actually.
Kool-Aid is another one. I think most people call the drink mix in the packets that even if it’s generic.
Cheerios.
The adjustable Wrench is commonly known as a”Crescent wrench” The orginal was manufactured in at “Crescent Tool Co.” Jamestown, N. Y. and then moved to Sumter S. Carolina
…Also, I don’t hear it as much as I used to, but a lot of prople used to refer to their “Frigidaire” whenever they were talking about the refrigerator.
Ok, @Max, your comment makes me chuckle. It is so random. I love it. But we are talking about brand names?? Speaking of McDonald’s, down here in the south we say, “go to McDonald’s or somethin’.” Which means fast food. Y’all are all forgetting the most famous one.. Germ-X!
Ha i never noticed! Well i beileve nail polish is a brand name> barbie dolls>blue jeans>
sellotape and hoover as well.
The problem isn’t the brand becoming too famous. The problem is the brand owner didn’t defend it. Basic rule of branding is that you must defend your brand or you lose the right to claim it exclusively. Nothing wrong with your brand name becoming the recognized name for a product as long as other brands aren’t allow to confuse it with similar markings or marketing.
Visa
this wouldn’t mean that the product would be too successful. it would mean that it is has been ripped off. competition isn’t supposed to always be a good thing. it may seem this way in the world of business, but with much consideration, a good insight of product manufacturing and patent use would bring in a lot of money. starbuck’s frappuccino is a good example of this.
Xerox, Duct Tape, Google, and Scotch Tape!
Levis for any brand of jeans.
More British versions:
White Out = Tipp-ex
Band Aid = Elastoplast (or “big charity festival organised by Bob Geldof in 1984)
Advil = Anadin
Londis/Spar = any newsagent/off licence
Idiots = people who watch “Glee”.
Very few people say “Q-tip” over here… it tends to be “cotton buds”… ditto with Xerox – we say “copier” or “photocopier”.
Max – you’re a tool. That’s got to be the most irrelevant post I’ve ever seen in a comment thread. For the record, I agree that if you’re a veggie… even if you’re not, in fact… eating at McDonald’s is a bad idea.
PRW – there’s no apostrophe in Nazis. There is one in McDonald’s
Apologies for the triple post, but I thought I’d also mention that Stephen King uses “Kleenex” in almost all of his books, and Kimberly Clark Corp. have actually ordered him to stop… I don’t think he has though – he can probably afford the suits or fines, and it’s become kind of a trade-mark of his. Pardon the pun.
Vaseline,Pop-sickle,many cereals.
Apple… Overrated products.
I’m surprised no one has mentioned Velcro. Though I usually make it a point to use the generic name for products unless I mean the brand — to the annoyance of my family at times — I have a real hard time substituting “hook-and-loop fastener” for “Velcro”.
Vise Grip locking plliers — “spring clamp” not necessary.
I grew up calling the “Channel Lock” variant in our tool drawer “water-pump pliers”, too. A more general, descriptive, term, though, is slip-joint pliers.
Here is a seriously long lost one – Zipper was actually a brand name before it become completely synonymous for the item it represents now
Another: Yo-yo
…. or “Escalator”, one of the prototypical examples of a genericized trademark. Thermos, Butterscotch, Kerosene, and Zipper are other examples (at least, in the U.S.).
I once read a columnist exhorting her readers to not make copies of copyrighted materials. Her closing line: “No xeroxing without permission.” I found it hard to take her seriously after that.
Pampers as well… Everytime someone says, “he doesn’t even buy pampers for my kid” I think jeez can’t he just buy diapers? Does it have to be name brand?
Oh I always call Q-tips ear cleaners because I don’t usually buy the brand Q-tip lol
Polo’s (Ralph Lauren)
Mac Truck (Diesel)
Swiffer — i personally own one of the generic brands and still call it a swiffer haha
A-1 steak sauce
Alka Seltzer
Greyhound Bus
Fed-Ex
Drain-O. I always say I’m got some Drain-O for the drain, even if I bought a totally different brand.
Saran Wrap
It maybe ambiguous and outdated but Knickers or Knickerbockers use to be common household word.
Yeah, I would especially say that about the Band-Aid brand.
My mom and I had a discussion about this topic a few months ago, and I remember her saying something about the ‘Zipper’. She said that it, too, was a brand name before a category.
No. That is an oxymoron. The point of branding is to increase the success of your company or products. Thus, there is no brand that is too successful, with possibly one exception->Monsanto. I think they really do not have any of the public’s interests at heart, ever.
What about Jello and Limousine
DUCK TAPE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Crock Pot! Didnt know that was a brand until i went to buy one!
Jello is the one that most people around here have a problem with. Oh, and “Skil Saw.”
I remember my niece’s school sent out a letter informing parents of what they needed to buy for the kids. This list consisted of “Kleenex, Crayolas, a KinderMat,” etc. I cringed.
This is well thought out! Nobody says “liquid correction fluid” when referencing White Out, as far as I know. Lol!
Popsicle is a good one; I never even thought to call it anything else!
How about Pepto Bismol? I know there are generics, but it’s always just Pepto to me. Or Tums. Many other common brand name medications that some people don’t know what the generic ingredients is: Tylenol (acetaminophen), Advil or Motrin (ibuprofen), etc…
I always call a toaster pastry a Pop Tart.
I always call a frozen fudge pop a Fudgesicle
in AUS we have Glad-wrap (cling wrap is the actual product) glad wrap is just a brand
No comment is never a comment but a slip , saying:-
” A bad work man quarrels with his tools
Brand names are developed by marketing people to make awareness to consumers to go for the branded item.More the awareness it catches with the users more the sales which is the ultimate goal for the maketing people. Once the brand name gets established it rmains for decades and even centuries like the case of Coca Cola, Pepsi and various other items. It is normally with consumer items mainly.
Very often at work, we will refer tp a piece of machinery by the name of its manufacturer. Then years later when it gets replaced by something similar, it will continue to be called by its old name.
Um…this doesn’t really happen around here much. We think of it as more of an American thing lol. But we do call all adhesive bandages band-aids.
And what about hoover? Here they’re vacuum cleaners but I’m sure I’ve heard of some place where they’re all hoovers lol
“Post-It notes” are hardly the grand-daddy, being comparatively recent. Here in the UK, every vacuum cleaner is, of course, a “Hoover” . When I worked for Credit Reference Agency Dun & Bradstreet we had to be very careful of brand names. The classic example was the measured spirit dispensers you get in bars – their brand name is “Optic”, by which they’re all known and which is some much easier than “measured spirit dispenser”
Dude, facebook. People live there life for facebook. I know its not a name brand, but its effing ridiculous.
I am in love with this article, and you have made a very valid point. My wife uses Clorox a lot instead of saying bleach and a common one with members of my family is Pine-Sol instead of floor cleanser! lol ;D
Duck tape = duct tape
Ziplock bag= resealable storage bag
Tylenol= acetaminophen
Velcro= hook and loop fastener
Google= any search engine
Ace bandage= compression tape
Witeout= correction fluid
Chapstick= lip balm
Styrofoam= extruded polystyrene insulating foam
Vaseline= petroleum jelly
Sharpie= permanent marker
Brillo pad= steel wool
Allen wrench= hexagonal key used to be trademarked but is no longer
Weed eater = a string trimmer/edger
Play-Doh = commercial plastic modeling compound
Spandex = polyurethane fiber
Crock pot =slow cooker
Kool- Aid= flavored soft drink mix
Poptart= toaster pastry
Saran Wrap= plastic cling wrap
Popsicle= colored ice candy on a stick
In the southern states they call it Coke no matter what soda it is, which seems a little confusing. If you want a Sprite, why would you say you want a Coke? In Saint Louis we call it soda.
That’s a long list! I’m sure there are plenty more… I should Google it, lol
This is SO true, and I do it – However, there is no problem when it comes to me buying the products. I don’t go to the store and buy “No Name Window Cleaner”, I only use Windex. I do change Kleenex (woops, did it again), and sometimes buy Scotties or Puffs, but also Kleenex. Same thing for Q-Tips, Coca-Cola, etc. I’m NOT a fan of cheap products, even if some people think they are “the same”.
I admit I didn’t know Rollerblades was a brand though. :$
well, this is very timely. I was correcting someone on this very issue yesterday ~”they’re not ‘Q-tips’, they’re ‘cotton swabs’ okay?” LOL I try not to buy in to calling things by the leading brand name.
wow…nobody put VELCRO……it was a brand name for hook and loop strap…but everybody calls it VELCRO…..except for tv commercials
‘Tempo’ became synonymous with any bread-box shaped people carrier or an MPV in India since 60′s. Tempo traveler is from Firodia group, the company is now called Force Motors.
Apart from that in India, amongst many examples are the following-
Dunlop used to make mattresses in the 60s and 70′s and people still call comfortable mattresses as Dunlop.
Band-Aid is applied for every thing that looks like it- be Hansaplast, Dettol etc.
And well, Cadbury is everything that looks like a wrapped candy! lol..
Hoover
everyone refers to their vacuum cleaner as a hoover or when about to do some vacuum cleaning as doing the hoovering even though hoover is a brand and most people probably own a dyson now
Rollerblades is a brand name?? I have no idea what to call em! hahaha
@ Cate- Who the hell says “cotton buds”?? smh…
@ Alwin E. Yes, those are brand names. How about Shop-Vac. Any wet/dry vacuum is now called a shop vac. Tylenol or Advil are definitely used even if it’s off brand.
Does anyone know if pogo stick is a brand?
And I agree that ‘google’ it is going to be what we call it, even if we use a different search engine.
I am racking my brain trying to come up with some other ones…but can’t think of any. Interesting article!
Sharpie. That’s one for a marker. And I like the comment about Febreeze…so true!
Dust Buster. I am sure I will keep thinking of some periodically….so either I can keep annoying people by posting again and again, lol….or this will be my last post.
asperin
Last one….Velcro!!
Popsicle
I always use that word instead of ice pop. Who says ice pop anyway?
well in spanish at least where i live that happens a lot for example: there was a company that made trash cans called tin and co. and now all trash cans are calles “tinacos” also with the brand X-acto that made precision knives now everyone calls them “exacto” even though you rarely see the brand nowadays. And I am sure there are more but dont remeber them right now…
Crayons!
I’ve never heard anyone call a tissue a Kleenex….
Band-Aid
CABLE. everyone refers to media services to their t.v. sets as CABLE but its all on satilites strait to their homes from the sky yet people still call it cable and say they are paying their cable bill LOL. and what is up with the Cable package why did they ever get the idea to make us pay for land line phones with LOL Cable Bills these companies all incorperate the term communications in their name as well. What ever happened to GTE and whens the last time you’ve seen a phone booth and can I say roatery phone.
silly bands
If you grew up in the 80s and 90s you may also remember “walkman” and “discman” both registered to sony.
Oh and by the way there should also be a research like this on acronyms like the ones people use and don’t even know what the stand for like the common, SCUBA as in scuba diving “Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus” or LASER “Light Amplification by the Stimulated Effect of Radiation” and the list goes on and on, Thank God for Yahoo!
This is a very real problem for companies. A good example is Google! They paid $Ms to trademark/patent their name and now the name has become synonymous with searching… Companies lose control over their intellectual property… from a brand awareness it’s great tho… more intangible brand value!
rollarblades is a brand? omg! all this time i thought it was the name of a product! thats crazy.
A LOT of brand names have been assigned to be real words, not just brand names. I saw that there was a list of them posted at my library, including Kleenex and Xerox, but I don’t remember the whole list. Many people don’t capitalize those names anymore.
Max, you were served beef. What did you order? Even their fries have some animal fat fried on.
May I add Ping Pong, Thermos and Photoshop to you lists?
Hoover.
to Clanad: when you said Pogo brand i thought you were talking about pogo sticks, which i thought made sense cuz i’ve never thought about whether they’re all really called pogo sticks or if thats one brand of… jumping stick. haha.
then you said corn dog and threw me off my game completely thanks for that.
coke. at panda express they always ask me do you want a medium coke? NO I WANT DR PEPPER!!!!
I ask for generic Claritin. Now that’s an oxymoron!
What about “Joint Ritis” and “Musterole”
germ-x
febreze
Converse! I know a bunch of people who have Converse knock-offs, but they call them Converse anyway.
CHAPSTICK1!!!!
Vaseline.
No matter how hard these people try, they can never disconnect the connections in my mind between the brand and the product. A bandage will always be a band aid no matter what brand it is and I refuse to call it anything else.
Styrofoam is a trademark of Dow Chemical Company
Purell and bounty. And to all the people who say they call these items by other names, the writer didn’t say that everyone did. Just that most people did.
And everyone is arguing over the McDonalds thing, but what I’d really like to know is why it was posted here where it is so irrelevant to the topic?
Omg! thats so true! eveyone here calls instant mash potato “deb potato” or “deb” but “deb” is a brand of instant mash potato!
I dunno u think if i knew id be telling u no id be keeping it to myself with my genuis master plan. the most succseful product is creative. I dunno u could invent a huver car i think it has something to do with no gravity
Even though everyone calls cola, Coke. The brand coca cola doesn’t seem to have this problem as I know many people who wouldn’t buy or drink another brand!
the first thing that comes to mind here in the philippines is JEEP. our “jeep” is a public utility vehicle. not many of us knows the Chrysler’s Jeep. Sad.
I think that’s a bigger problem in America than the UK. we have cotton buds, and jelly (which is what people in the US call Jell-o) and packing tape, and plastic tubs.
The only things I can think of where it happens is sellotape and post-its.
I think that you are WAY over simplifying the situation – I do not think the public is confused in the matter of q-tips v Walmart brand. For somethings you pay for quality. I call all tissues Kleenex, but I have never bought Kleenex, I buy puffs plus with lotion, I have bad allergies and blow my nose a lot certain times of the year, and the quality makes the difference. Down south everything is called coke, “yeah, can I get an orange coke…” people still buy what they want regardless of what it’s called.
Lets not be anal about all this. Many still use the word coke to refer to any cola drink that’s just the way it is. Many names have become generic terms good or bad that’s life. I just hope coke is not the same coke we use when making steel.
That McDonald’s comment: I have to reiterate the gist many other responses above…you are an idiot. Unless you simply eat fries or dessert menu items you are left with only Fillet o’fish in a burger style (ie in a bun). So you are probably lying anyway and what a pointless fib!
Tampax.
COOL WHIP!!!!
down here where i am cool whip is cool whip whatever label they put on it!!
Every company that sells a product in the universe wishes there brand name is identified as the product itself.
You do that, you win!!
Do you want to be the guy selling Frisbees or the guy selling Larry’s Fun Flying Discs?
Egg McMuffin. I work at a diner and some people ask for those when they only want a bacon egg and cheese.
I used to write with a BIRO until it was HOOVERed up
guess it could’ve been any ball point pen that was sucked up by a vacuum cleaner
How about Jello, Ziploc, or Oreo?
Ipod actually does fall in this category. All my friends say it, and i do too even though i actually have a walkman. I definetly think Ipod will be the new word for mp3s/mp4s in the near future
A reciprocating saw is commonly called a Sawzall, which is actually a Milwaukee Electric Tool Company trademark.
A problem you failed to mention is that when a name finds itself in the common lexicon, it sometimes is harder for a company to protect its brand name. That’s why lawyers pour through published media to make sure that when things say Kleenex, it is capitalized (and represents a brand name), rather than lower case (when it starts becoming a word).
iPods.
To our Veggan: I get terrible stomach cramps from egg yolks due to gall stones, but am fine when I avoid them. Sometimes I go to McDonald’s and order a sausage and egg biscuit without the yolk, but a few times I get just the whole egg instead of just the whites. So I always look at my food before I leave the premises so they can correct it if it’s wrong. I suggest you quit using the drive through, and actually go into the store, then inspect your meal before you leave. That way you will have a chance to get what you want. You have to remember, you are the odd man out, asking for something unusual just like I am. If you want what you order, then it’s up to you to make sure you get it. You are not going to get anything else except maybe a free meal for your trouble.
OK Mike, how about Clorox, Comet, Starbucks (Let’s go get a Starbucks), Draino, Raid, Jello. I’m sure there are millions more and the companies should have some real problems other than total saturation with brand recognition. They usually are the best on the market too, so for most of us who like quality, they have a built in consumer.
chapstick, ziploc, germ-x
Oooh yeah. I know what your talking about! Like frisbees…
I am never a defender of marketing, but in this case: A person, back in the 60′s, goes to the store sees the “frisbee”, never seen one before: What’s he going to call it. A “flying saucer”?
I always called a “cressent wrench” a cressent wrench, no mater what name was on it. I didn’t really have to look at the name on it at all. That’s my way.
casio is another brand. Many people call synthesizer as Casio
This is a really good article! And, chapstick.
Chapstick chapstick chapstick! XD
Aware of this branding I try to use the proper names however people rarely understand what you are talking about. So I give in. The best example of this is when I was looking for a vacuum cleaner when I lived in the UK.
Shop clerks had a hard time understanding what I needed because people “Hoover” their carpets.
I’m really surprised no one has mentioned trademark rights. You can’t really have a complete discussion about brand names becoming synonymous with their product category without talking about intellectual property, specifically, trademarks. If a brand name is a registered trademark, and most are, the trademark owner may lose his trademark rights if the mark becomes generic. This is what happened with aspirin and escalator, both which used to be brand names and registered trademarks, but the owners lost their trademark rights when the brand name came to signify the product category itself. (Have you ever called an escalator a “moving stairway”?) If you lose your trademark rights, you lose the ability to sue a competitor for calling his product by your brand name – for example, Bayer can’t sue another drug company for calling their product “aspirin” because it no longer has trademark rights in the word “aspirin.” Intellectual property rights are a large reason why many companies will go to great lengths to encourage consumers to use their brand name as a brand name – for example, “iPod MP3 player” instead of just an “iPod.” Years back, Xerox was successfully able to prevent its trademark (Xerox) from becoming generic by launching a massive advertising campaign encouraging people to say they were going to “make a Xerox photocopy” instead of saying they were going to “xerox” something. Google looks like it’s headed toward being generic, since nearly everyone uses Google as a verb, not as a brand name.
I call bandaids Plasters
Google is one of the top. People always say “Why don’t you google it”
And we don’t call them Q-Tips we call them ear-buds or cotton-buds in UK
The thing about Google is, yes it is used as a generic verb meaning “to search the internet via search engine”, however… the vast majority of people who “Google” something actually do use Google to do it. Only idiots and losers use Bing or, worse yet, YAHOO’s search engine to find something. Google’s engine is far superior, faster, better organized, and yields better search results 99 times out of 100.
Hoover is a brand of vacuum cleaner, but in britain we call even all vacuum cleaners (even Dysons) Hoovers.
Another brand name gaff is a Skill Saw.
Hoover
It’s more or less just a regional thing in Wisconsin, but everyone where I am from calls a drinking fountain a Bubbler from a famous model made by Kohler
UPS
Vaseline
Popsicles
Ref ‘Vaseline’ – is still a registered trade mark and the commanyt regularly send bulletins on counterfeits to enforcement agencies and will take action
I thought I read something about Google attempting to get the public to stop using their name as a verb because they couldn’t trademark a commonly used word. So it was a difference between searching and “googling” something.
Also, I didn’t see anyone mention that roller blades are the name brand for “in-line skates”.
I have thought of it so many times. Here in Greece and Cyprus we have many products we call by their brand name… The scheme is as follows, Greece/Cyprus = Actual product
Blanco/Tippex = Correction fluid
Milko/? = Chocolate milk
Canderel/? = Artificial sweetener powder
Nescafe = Instant coffee
Canson = cardboard
Amita/? = juice
Bic = any cheap ballpoint pen
Vans = any skater/pozer shoes
Stars = any converse all stars-like shoes
Mickey Mouse = referring to the most popular comic
magazine in Greece, it refers to ANY single comic in Greece and Cyprus. The only category it hasn’t affected is manga. Even porn comics like Manara’s are tagged Mickey Mouse.
Golden Choice (the Greek term is Hris’i Efker’ia): referring to ANY classifieds newspaper.
Tazos = referring to the popular Cheetos caps that started years ago and existed until some time ago, every single cap ever produced is called Tazo now.
Oh also
Sellotape = any adhesive tape
POSCA = any artsy permanent marker
Pampers = baby diapers
Proderm = baby powder
Leitz = Transparent document holders
I had to google Q-tip. In the UK we call them ‘cotton wool buds’
And we call popsicles ‘ice lollies’
Q-tips. Everyone calls em Q-tips when, if its not the name brand Q-tips, itd some other brand of cotton swabs, but everyone calls em Q-tips.
Good article!!
Hoover! Also, in England we call “Q-tips” “cotton buds.”
> The adjustable Wrench is commonly known as a”Crescent wrench”
In Germany, it used to be known as an “Engländer” (Englishman), as its invention is commonly attributed to the Brits, but nowadays we call it a “Rohrzange” (pipe wrench). Few young people remember the term “Engländer”.
To the vegan – seriously, what?? What did you order? if you ordered a burger, they will give you a burger. If you ordered a salad, they will give you a salad. They don’t know that you don’t eat meat unless you ask for something without it.
I’ve never thought of that haha, clever..
I thought the “grandaddy” was generic and brand-name pharmaceuticals. Given that quantity of quality and the quality of quantity alone coupled with the fact that some individuals actually get a better effect from generics as opposed to brand-names, is particularly confusingly complex regarding this issue.
Chapstick!
Speaking of McDonald’s, I worked at a different fast food place and all the kids wanted “Happy Meals”, not “kid’s meals.”
My post disappeared! I hope it doesn’t show up twice!
Some that I thought of:
Brillo (any steel wool soap pad)
Tampax (no one ever said “tampon,” did they?)
Jeep (for any 4WD…oops, just noticed someone beat me to this one!)
Saltines or Oyster Crackers (soda crackers)
BIC (for any stick ball-point pen or disposable butane lighter! “Flick your Bic!” LOL!)
How about Simonize for any sort of car wax? (I think I’m dating myself with that one! LOL!)
Indonesian version we have :
Pop Mie
Aqua
Pepsodent
Rinso
Nice thought… !
Scott Towels for paper towels.
Tampax for tampons.
and Kotex for feminine napkins.
I would love to know what rollarblades are really called. As well as hi lighters (flurescent markers?), and some of the other things…Ok like the Thermos. Was it the first of it’s kind? If so, what else would we call that type of product? Same with the Frisbee oh, I mean ‘flying disk’. Really, I have never heard of another name for some of these products, and makes me wonder if they actually have one.
And fish is meat! The person said they are VEGAN! <_<
They could be getting a saled or something, or does mcdonalds have veggi burgers now? How else would the order get mixed up with meat?
people stop saying coke or coca-cola, it doesn’t apply. If I see a pepsi, im not thinking in my mind,”Oh I’m thirsty, i want that coke.” No im going to realize that is not a coke, but a pepsi. Now say there is a box of puffs tissues and i am about to sneeze, i might say,”Hand me the Cleenex!” even though it’s not cleenex, it’s Puffs.
how about toothpicks?? Idk if thats a brand or not but thats what I always called them…
as for the vegann…you are an idiot…who keeps old food in their fridge to try and sue someone? you are pathetic. Seriously! throw that shit away! I seriously hated people like you when I worked at Mcdonald’s cause you act like its not humanly to make mistakes. I’m sure you have made mistakes.
I thought I’d bring up Band-Aid as the major brand of adhesive bandage that a lot of people mistakenly call all brands of adhesive bandages.
No, Jason, “duct tape” isn’t a brand. Duck is the brand of tape that some people call other brands of duct tape.
Billy, yeah, maybe everybody calls “Jello” Jello, as you say, but that’s not even the real situation. I think what you meant is that there’s gelatin, and then that a lot of people call it “Jell-O,” which is the popular brand.
Carmen, Yahoo! Mike (not me) already listed Kleenex.
Haha, no, Billie, you’ve misunderstood what’s happening. “Corn Flakes” isn’t a brand of anything.
Hey, “That Guy,” you’ve misunderstood what’s being talked about, with your “cable” comment. “Cable” isn’t a *brand* of TV service that many people call other types of TV service. But yeah, it is a generic term that I have noticed that many people mistakenly sometimes apply to satellite TV. But should we say, instead? I say “satellite and cable TV.”
Eww, yuck, Mike (a third one), I would hate to get a mouthful of petroleum jelly!
Cate, what you called ”sticky tape” isn’t really specific enough as what Scotch tape is. Most of Scotch tape is *transparent* (sticky) tape. That’s to differentiate it from masking or duct tapes, which are also sticky. But by the way, transparent tape isn’t the only kind of tape that 3M, the owners of the Scotch brand, makes. They also make electrical tape and shipping tape (and not all shipping tape is transparent).
Rollerblades= In Line Skates
Band-aids. But it’s sooo hard to call them bandages D:
Duct tape. And people spell it Duck tape? :/
Jacuzzi. Wth is its real name?
Kleenex. Best. Brand. Out. There. Should not be compared ;D
Vaseline. Petroleum Jelly. Which name do I like better…
Expo, Sharpie. Should I have to say permanent marker or dry-erase marker? Isn’t “Expo” or “Sharpie” soooo much easier?
Interesting topic. I used to think this all the time when I was a little kid, ahah. xD
Hey what about Jello? That stuffs been around a lot longer than post it notes.
Advil (for pain medicine), Pepto-Bismol (liquid stomach medicine), Tums (stomach medicine that dissolves in your mouth), Polo (as in Polo shirts), Nerf, Facebook, Merriam-Webster’s (dictionary), Toys R Us (toy stores), Wal-Mart (local, inexpensive, large stores), Barbie (dolls, girls’ toys), Crayola (crayons), Brittannica, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Windows, Parker Brothers Monopoly (board games), Youtube , ChapStick, Sesame Street (little kids’ shows), Li’l Debbie (snack cakes),Twinkie (pretty self-explanatory), Oreos,Twizzler,Noxema (exema creams and toiletries), Ty Beanie Babies, Google (search engines)
Err actually not everyone calls a Q-tip, a Q-tip. Maybe its true for Americans but outside in other countries…its stlll called a cotton-bud or whatever other name according to language. Heck, I had to google what is a Q-tip when I saw it in an American magazine! So its not that famous.
The more successful are band-aid, tupperware, rollerblades. Strangely coke and pepsi still have their distinction here…
In Australia, every coloured marker is referred to a ‘Texta’ which I believe is a brand.
lol yeah ‘google it’. i love how Bing is desperately trying to catch on with that. ‘bing it’….errrr no. im not ever going to bing it.
Lol i am from the south and we don’t say coke – we say pop now you have to say sody pop (soda pop) so yankees can understand
Twink (like white-out, but in NZ)
Pump (bottled water)
Tylenol, everybody calls the store brand Tylenol too. Not sure if anyone added this, but I didn’t want to read all of the comments…lol
Yup, companies have been spending a lot of money to differentiate themselves from generics since the “80′s”
Truth is that the “problem” is unfixable, because the average consumer is becoming more and more aware of the fact that their accomplice will gladly sell time and nams.
I
I was in Africa doing some building work. I needed a Rawlplug to fix a screw into the wall. Nobody knew what I was talking about. Eventually, after describing what I wanted, they said you need a fisher! Then I realised they meant a Ficsher (but not spelt like that ) is a German-made Rawlplug – if you know what I mean. Obviously this product name had become like Rawlplug in the UK.
And plastersine!!!
And selloptape!!
But all of those ones are really American^^^
In England, we call ‘band-aids’ plasters, but i do agree that i never call sticky tape, sticky tape, i always call it sellotape, in fact i didn’t even know that wasn’t it’s real name until i was quite old!
“Jacuzzi” is a brand name though a lot of people call all brands of hot tubs that.
What about Jello?
Well, it’s not so popular now thanks to the rise of other video game systems, but a few decades back until recently every video game system was called a Nintendo, regardless of whether it was actually a Nintendo system or one from the competition.
I know older people often call anything video-game related a “Nintendo”, even if it’s a Playstation. One paper our class was assigned to do in English confirmed it, “What would we do without our televisions, phones, and nintendo’s.” They didn’t even capitalize it…
What about Viagra.
Seems to be becoming the commonly used term for any medication for erectile dysfunction
ipod has pretty much monopolized mp3 players
until i read this blog and the comments people left i never realized how many things i was calling by a brand name rather than the actual product name like velcro, whiteout, chapstick, allen wrench, weed eater, spandex, crock pot, popsicle, frisbee, tupperware, duct tape, rollerblades and brillo pads.
The Hoover
The product name for the brand name, ‘velcro’ is hook pile tape.
i think band-aids are the king of them. i already knew that tupperware,band-aids,q-tips,and kleenex were brand names.but think about it, people would wonder what i am talking about if i said “get me a cotten swab,i need to clean a my video game cartridges!”
also, according to my art teacher, crayola invented the word “purple” and that we should call it violet.
Wow, I didn’t realise that so many brand names had become common place in the US.
The only ones that really come to mind in the UK are Sellotape for sticky tape and Hoover for vacuum cleaners, Rollerblades too, I guess.
And obviously to Google something means to actually use Google. You wouldn’t say “google that for me” and then use Yahoo. It’s not the same kind of thing.
Kevlar, Tampon, Dry Wall, Kerosene and after looking through 250 + bolgs_____ Linoleum____. All brand names.
If you’re old enough…. ice box or Frigidaire for ALL refigerators.
Photoshop, even shortened to PS.
Funny fact from France: a book for kid was called “Renard le Goupil” (Renard the fox), Renard being the name of the fox. The story became so popular that people starting calling a fox ‘un renard’ and not ‘un goupil’ anymore, the latter being the only official way to call the furry animal at that time. So much so that Renard took over ‘goupil’ and nowadays, and it’s been the case for decades, the official word is the name of the hero.
Frigidaire, Meryl Streep (for anyone referring to great acting) and though it’s already been mentioned, a HUGE one is Google.