ultra_agent9

I noticed in a thread about marshmallows the guy who started the topic called them "smores." Isn't that a popular brand name of marshmallows?

Being an Aussie, and an avid movie watcher, I have noticed this trend with many other daily products you use in the States. For example, Kleenex is often used instead of the word tissue. This is a major triumph to manufacturers and advertisers, to have their product name become the new standard by replacing the everyday word for that particular item.

What are some other examples of this?

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MrFlux

Smores are marshmallows squished between crackers AFAIK.

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ultra_agent9

So... he was going to roast smores over an open fire??

Well, I know what he meant but he still used the brand name instead of marshmallows.

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ultra_agent9

Thanks for the link. I also found that Hersheys make a S'mores (meaning "some more?").

Anyway, any other examples out there?

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BigGov

S'mores is a nice snack composed of Graham crackers, a piece of chocolate, and a nice roasted marshmellow.

Coke, Xerox, it's not really a major triumph, just in many places the company that invents, perfects, or for some reason no one can quite explain it just becomes apart of American language.

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Nisses

in Belgium, we've got a popular brand of ballpoints called Bic.

half the time, when people look for a pen, they just ask if they could borrow your bic.

a few years ago, there was a company that made eucalyptus/mint candy in little sugar-covered cones. They called em greenies, but the company's name was Valda. As a kid, all I heard my grandparents and parents call em, was little Valda's, no matter what the brand was (there were plenty of other companies)

Even regular household soap was called Sunlight instead of soap by older people, because at a time, that was the only big producer of soap around.

There's regular paper-glue here called Pritt. No matter what the brand is, most people will call the glue-stick a Pritt, just out of habit.

I know, I've noticed this trend as well, it's sort of comical, and a great achievement for any company I would think...

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apeman

interesting point ... except when the brand becomes the product, people start forgetting it is a brand.

the most common example over here is probably "hoover", which we use for vacuum cleaner. But that doesn't mean we buy Hoover hoovers, we usually seem to have an Electrolux or whatever. So it's good for market domination in the beginning, but then other companies catch up (and often end up doing it better in the end).

also compare with adverts where you can remember every detail of the advert EXCEPT for what it's trying to get you to buy. Maybe it's subliminal, but it's not working on me at the moment maybe cos I have no money

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shakran

actually it can be a major problem if it gets too imprinted. Thermos lost a lawsuit against a company selling thermos bottles - the judge found that the word thermos had entered the language as a regular word, not a brand name, and therefore Thermos could no longer copyright "thermos" than it could "bottle."

DelayedReaction

Kleenex is another one. Same with Post-Its.

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miggity99

Chap Stick, Velcro, and Fisbee come to mind.

Redlemon

I think the original example is backwards. They've been called s'mores for many decades, and only recently has there been a 'brand name' version available.

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The_wall

q-tips is another, also Saran wrap.

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absorbentishe

Pop tarts. No matter what brand you buy, you call them Pop tarts.

Superbelt

Chicken McNuggets

Nafter

Reading this thread, and seeing things like pop tarts etc, i wouldnt know what else to call them? sweet toasted snack treats? im not sure they where a new product, at least to me, so as pop tarts where the first as it where, the actual "thing" a pop tart got called that regardless of name. Same with velcro, it, at least in my mind is its generic name.

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UNBRAND AMERICA

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flamingdog

the two best examples i can think of for the UK are 'hoover' and 'walkman'. I don't think there are really any others. I know to my mind a 'Xerox' machine is a 'photocopier', a 'bic' is a 'pen', the names 'q-tip' and 'saran wrap' are all but unknown here - we use 'cotton bud' and 'cling film'. most of the names we use commonly are very generic, and like I say, hoover and walkman are the only instances i can think of for a brand becoming the generic term.

stevie667

Biro.

KellyC

When I was learning english, I used to call Kleenex "tissue" because that's the right word for it, but I see so many kids my age back then go "huh?? You mean Kleenex??" that I just go with Kleenex for convinence. And now it's a habit....

"Coke" is widely used around for any kind of soft drink. even PEPSI!!!

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ultra_agent9

Thanks for the examples. I didn't realise there were so many, I think some of us have forgotten what the generic term originally was. Some products were the first of their kind and thus, that name stuck eg. walkman, pop tarts, and chap stick etc

Makes it that much easier to sell when you don't know any other name for it.

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Unga

I think of slurpee

BigGov

How about the name of the originator is easier than it's actual name?

Walkman or personal stereo?
Pop tart or toaster pastry?

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One day an Englishman, a Scotsman, and an Irishman walked into a pub together. They each bought a pint of Guinness. Just as they were about to enjoy their creamy beverage, three flies landed in each of their pints. The Englishman pushed his beer away in disgust. The Scotsman fished the fly out of his beer and continued drinking it, as if nothing had happened. The Irishman, too, picked the fly out of his drink but then held it out over the beer and yelled "SPIT IT OUT, SPIT IT OUT, YOU BASTARD!"

Esco

Wasn't "palm pilot" one for a bit?

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Fremen

Coke is like that for me.



Btw, the original poster of the marshmallow thread is a female.

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choskins

Zamboni is actually a brand name, not the device's name.

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OFKU0

Interesting. I look at it from the other perspective. For instance--toothpaste. Lots of different folks selling that. Or toilet paper. Same thing. Dental floss. Motor oil. And where can you find it all? 7-11. Your local convenience store.

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Speed_Gibson

my memory has countless jingles from radio ads in the 192x-early 1960's burned in.
..."C-A-M-E-L-S......."
..."Luckies taste better - cleaner, fresher, smoother. LSMFT......."
...Don Wilson and the sportmen quartet pushing "J-E-L-L-O" during the huge boom years when they sponsored Jack Benny.
...Harlow Wilcox (on suspense)pitching for Autolite Stayfull batteries that need water just twice a year and endorsing autolite sparkplugs in the next breath.
...again Harlow Wilcox pitching for Johnson Glo-Coat and Car-Nu on the immortal Fibber McGee and Molly show
...the now defunct Roma wine and their commercials on Suspense during the show's heyday.

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wolf

Jello comes to mind.

My grandparents always called decaf coffee Sanka.

Reese

Play-dough, legos, Zippos. We used to use refer to cigarette lighters as Bics but I haven't heard them called that in a while.

Medicine is referred to by brand alot too, but then again, would you really want to ask for acetylsalicylic or acetaminophen every time you had a headache?

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SecretMethod70

King....that is perhaps my favorite post EVER on this board. Thank you.

On topic, believe it or not, "dumpster" is not a generic term either: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dumpster The proper generic term would simply be trash receptacle.

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amonkie

Thank you Fremen! I've never been called a guy before

I've always thought of s'mores as a name for the combo; you hear the name and know it means chocolate, graham crackers and a marshmallow. Just like when you hear hamburger, you think of a piece of patty between two buns, usually topped with something.

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