Monday, February 18, 2008

Brands

It's amazing how much a brand can enter everyday life to the point people don't even realize it's a brand name anymore. Do you have any idea what I'm rambling about? Probably not. So I'll explain further. Some common words you've used to describe products over the years are actually brands and not the real name of the product.

Below is a small list of examples. Things that'll make you go hmmmm....

Kleenex: This is actually the name of a brand. Facial tissue is what it's actually called.

Rollerblades: Have you ever gone rollerblading before? That's actually a brand. In-line skates is the name of the product.

Coke: Ok, this is stretching it a bit, but when you think about it, many times if you're in a restaurant you just ask for a coke, even if you just mean a pop of some sort.

Xerox: For some of you older folks, you might recall asking someone to "Xerox" something, aka photocopying.

Google: Going towards the other extreme, this is very recent. It was a brand, now it's a verb. If someone tells you to "google" something, they're asking you to conduct a search online.

Band-Aids: They're just bandages, though little kids will ask for a bandaid. :)

Zip-loc: Every ask for zip-loc bags? They're actually re-sealable bags, but you'd never call them that.

There's more. Plenty more. Do you know any? Post'em as comments.

Annoying trivia question: What does Hagen Daz mean?

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I'm drawing a blank. I think my brain is broken today. I'll get back to ya.

Could you yahoo something for me.

:p

Anonymous said...

Colgate - it's easier to say than toothpaste. Plus, toothpaste has multiple purposes, such as soothing itchy bites.

Wiki - Usually Google gives too much of a general search, so if you want something more specific, you "Wiki it".

Post-it - Those little yellow pieces of paper with an semi-adhesive strip on the back, which was invented accidentally by a church pastor. There is no real name for this product, but perhaps "temporary adhesive notepads".