The Ultimate List of Eponyms aka Brands that OWN the Market
There are so many products where the name of it is what the market calls it. You know like when you say I want a Kleenex. You actually want a Tissue but Kimberly-Clark did a great job getting us to call it Kleenex instead.
This list is incomplete. I want all of us to add to it. Leave comments and I will update.
- Band-Aid : Bandage : Owned by Johnson & Johnson
- Coke : Delicious soda : Owned by Coca-Cola
- Escalator : Escalator : Owned by Otis Corporation
- FedEx : Overnight Mail : Owned by FedEx
- Google : Search : Owned by Google
- Jeep : Truck : Owned by Chrysler
- Jell-o : Gelatin : Owned by Kraft Foods
- Kleenex : Tissues : Owned by Kimberly-Clark
- Lazyboy : Recliner : Owned by La-z-boy
- Legos : Plastic blocks : Owned by Lego Group
- Netflix : DVDs by Mail : Owned by Netflix
- Polaroid : Instant Photos: Owned by Polaroid
- Post-it Notes : Sticky Paper : Owned by 3M
- Q-Tip : Cotton Swab : Owned by Kimberly-Clark
- Rollerblade : Roller skates : Owned by Rollerblade
- Rolodex : Contact Organizer : Owned by Eldon
- Saltines : Crackers : Owned by Nabisco
- Scotch Tape : Tape : Owned by 3M
- Sharpie : Marker : Owned by Sanford
- Taser : Electronic Shock Device : Owned by Taser
- Tivo : Digital Recorder : Owned by Tivo
- The Club : Anti-Theft Device : Owned by Winner
- Tobasco : Hot Sauce : Owned by Heinz
- Tylenol : Headaches / Acetaminophen : Owned by Johnson & Johnson
- Walkman : Tape Player : Owned by Sony
- Windex : Window Cleaner : SC Johnson
- Vaseline : Petroleum Jelly : Owned by Chesebrough-Pond’s
- Xerox : Copies : Owned by Xerox
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noah kagan wrote The Ultimate List of Eponyms aka Brands that OWN the Market on August 16th, 2006 and there are 46 comments. There will be one more after you add yours, though. Read more posts by noah kagan.
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46 Responses to “The Ultimate List of Eponyms aka Brands that OWN the Market”
August 16th, 2006
12:17 pm
Heinz-ketchup/Mayo
starbucks-coffee
gillette-razors
Wrigleys-gum
August 16th, 2006
12:30 pm
I learned in Marketing (if memory serves me right) that this is not a good thing. The brand has lost its identity….because when someone says “buy me kleenex”….it does not really mean the brand Kleenex tissue paper! You get my drift? As you said, it can mean any tissue paper.
August 16th, 2006
12:34 pm
Here is another example:
Person 1: Can you buy me some pampers?
Person 2: Sure, what brand?
Person 1: Can you get me Luvs?
Person 2: Luvs diapers? Sure!
Having said above, let me add on to the list:
1) Colgate = toothpaste
2) Pampers = diapers
3) Tylenol = headache medicine
4)
August 16th, 2006
12:36 pm
Some of these are extreme stretches… heh, who says “I need some heinz on my fries”? If you do I want to know!
Where‘d you get your idea for a post about names, buddy?
August 16th, 2006
12:37 pm
Q-Tip - Cotton Swab
Band-Aid - Bandage
Maybe its a regional thing but in my area (Minnesota) I don’t know anyone who refers to a truck as a Jeep unless its a Jeep. Nobody calls a Chevy Blazer or a Ford pickup a Jeep.
August 16th, 2006
1:07 pm
Hey noah,
This is probably the definitive list:
http://www.prairienet.org/~rkrause/brands.html
August 16th, 2006
1:08 pm
ps. I love that escalator is a registered trademark of the otis corporation… never would have known…
August 16th, 2006
1:15 pm
I think that having your brand become a generic word would only be a good thing. I’ve had a hard time understanding why Google would sue to keep its name from becoming the generic term for internet search engines. People don’t have to pay more to get the “name brand” and if the word is at the top of their mind when they are about to do a search, they would likely plug in “google.com.” I doubt someone would use the term to say “I googled him on Yahoo.”
And I’ll add “Scotch tape” to the list. I just found out from my British sister-in-law that they call that “cello tape” in England.
August 16th, 2006
1:18 pm
Imagine if IPOD became the generic label for mp3 players? Wouldnt that be horrible?
Person 1: What brand is your Ipod?
Person 2: Samsung
August 16th, 2006
1:34 pm
That’s exactly why they’re suing other MP3 player manufacturers with the term ‘Pod’ in the name. It detracts from the value of their brand.
August 16th, 2006
1:38 pm
Forgot the most important one:
Coke - Cocoa Cola
In fact I heard in places where they sell Pepsi, if someone asks for a Coke the workers need to say, we have Pepsi not Coke.
I actually think that when your brand becomes lost with the name of the product itself is not a good thing. No one knows you are brand and that you have a position, and like Sri says wouldnt’ it be horrible if your ipod was made by some other manufacturer with more than likely is worse quality than yours.
August 16th, 2006
1:41 pm
Devin, I was wondering about this a few months ago. But if it makes you feel better you are my muse and everything I do is to impress you. Hugs.
August 16th, 2006
1:53 pm
i guess the technical word is eponyms. i think i may have confused people. yes starbucks is what people think of for coffee but i am thinking of the words people use for the market. no one says at peets coffee please give me a starbucks. but when you go to the store you ask for bandaids.
great link mike. there are many more words i feel that website is missing. was hoping we could try to tackle the problem collaboratively.
i agree with nedra and feel that having your brand name be the term is only a good thing. you are the market & you own the mindshare.
August 16th, 2006
2:00 pm
Sharpie - permanent marker
ACE bandage - elastic bandage
coke - cola beverage
jumpbox - hardware appliance platform for software applications
lazyboy - recliner chair
tivo - digital video recorder
J-John - portable toilet
Club - physical device for car theft protection
Taser - electric shock personal protection device
August 16th, 2006
2:05 pm
Thanks for backing me up, Noah.
I’ve never heard of a J-John and here in L.A. it’s generically called a Portapotty. It’s probably a regional thing, depending on who the main company in your area is.
August 16th, 2006
2:26 pm
Found this on Kottke’s site.
August 16th, 2006
2:28 pm
i saw that list but it is not complete. thanks for linking to it. i think we have more than it now.
what else are we missing?
August 16th, 2006
2:37 pm
It seems that part of the criteria for this is when a brand name is used as a verb. I’ve heard “Netflix” used a verb numerous times, e.g. “I’ll make sure and netflix that film.”
So, my addition:
netflix - online dvd rental
August 16th, 2006
2:42 pm
great call. i have blockbuster and call it blockbusterflix or i just say I use netflix so i dont have to explain.
August 16th, 2006
3:03 pm
Rollerblade.
Gotta disagree here guys, having your brand name becoming a household name, like the many we’ve listed so far… can’t always be a good thing.
It’s a real marketing dilemma. on the one hand you want to the name to spread to the point where it becomes the household norm.. but on another hand, you want it to still represent only your product. You should want to protect your trademark so it won’t lose its trademark status, like elevator or escalators.
the last thing Google would want is to loose the name Google. Sure Google can mean search, but there’s way too much capital behind that name for them to not protect it insanely.
ISO is another example… it would be of the norm in the industry to use the word ISO to represent a standard of quality etc… but ISO is also careful about the usage of the word and its name.. they wouldn’t want to dilute their brand.. where everyone can just tack on the word ISO.
anyway, there’s more to it but I don’t remember what I learned
just thought of another:
Chap stick. That one, I believe, is in danger of becoming a household name.
August 16th, 2006
3:06 pm
found a pretty good article on trademark, naming products and the likes:
http://www.ccnmag.com/story.php?id=399
August 16th, 2006
4:30 pm
aww dude, you left off JumpBox - oh well, it’ll be a household name next year
sean
August 16th, 2006
5:48 pm
Most of them are regional. Some of the brands you talk about don’t even exist in Portugal or exist with a very low profile.
In some markets:
Evian
Tetra Pak
Ã?gua das Pedras (portuguese water)
Bic
…
August 16th, 2006
5:57 pm
Back to the iPod example. Sony did that with Walkmans and Discmans.
August 16th, 2006
6:11 pm
I’m spending entirely too much brain power on this, but they keep coming to me.
Walkman
Windex
Saltines
Fedex
Polaroid
Rolodex
Baggies
This definitely varies by country as Sergio notes. For example, in Israel, Nescafe is the generic term for instant coffee, while I don’t think most people in the US even think of that brand anymore.
August 16th, 2006
6:58 pm
pogo stick comes to mind.
companies don’t spend gazillions of dollars to create a trademarked product so that eventually becomes the generic term for all products similar to it.
another list http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_generic_and_genericized_trademarks
August 16th, 2006
8:28 pm
every morning i blackberry on the train
August 16th, 2006
9:33 pm
Here is another: (in the year 2015)
Noah = Blog
Example of use:
I need to go home and update my Noah.
nah..doesnt sound rite. Sorry Noah.
August 16th, 2006
11:18 pm
great find guys. i updated with your changes. some of those links have tons more.
August 17th, 2006
7:00 am
I blog on blog.
August 17th, 2006
7:02 am
Noah,
I think the most incredible brand co-opted into the venacular would have to be “Zipper” it origniated as an individual brand, and we don’t even have a description for what the product is, it has become the description.
As a counterexample for why having you brand as the name of the object is a bad thing, figure the following: If your brand name becomes a synonym for the actual product, it is not protectable. Once it is simply a description of the product, not the brand of product you have lost control of the usage of the name, hence your protection wanes and others can describe the product as your brand name, pretty much screwing you sideways.
August 17th, 2006
1:10 pm
What a fab bunch of brillies you all are!
I’m impressed.
Supahstars!
August 17th, 2006
1:20 pm
Meetup
eVite
August 17th, 2006
3:12 pm
this might not be super common in everyday use, but it’s HUGE in the business and finance world.. but have you ever heard these while buying a car?
we just need to run a TRW on you
or
your equifax came up clean
i have heard both being used to describe credit reports
August 17th, 2006
10:06 pm
Polo : Collared shirt : Owned by Ralph Lauren
August 17th, 2006
11:25 pm
actually when i say “let’s go get starbucks”, i really mean starbucks. i don’t think starbucks have completely lost its brand. People are still picky about their coffee so most mean starbucks coffee when they say starbucks.
August 18th, 2006
8:44 pm
Don’t forget those necessities — Tampax and Kotex!
And what about Palm for handheld devices?
August 18th, 2006
9:05 pm
Here is Australia another one is Panadol (i.e. paracetamol or what Americans call aspirin). We tend to say I need a Panadol which basically refers to any standard pain relief pill, but also happens to be a brand.
August 23rd, 2006
12:25 am
hey… how about…
SPEEDOS.
hah.. no, but really.. thats strictly brand, rite? not a general term?..
August 23rd, 2006
3:06 pm
Ziploc
Jacuzzi
I’d argue Asprin is as much a market-owner as Tylenol. I’ve heard people call tylenols asprins.
August 23rd, 2006
4:07 pm
Chapstik - Lip balm.
“hey, do you have any chapstik?”
:::I guess that was self explanatory:::
December 1st, 2006
9:58 am
What about Saran Wrap and White-Out? (sp: Wite-Out?)
October 25th, 2007
4:13 pm
ipod=mp3 player
January 21st, 2008
6:36 am
Also “Jet-Ski” is most widely used for watercraft.
Rgds;
D!do
January 21st, 2008
7:05 am
I think “PAMPERS” brand should be in.
I don’t c it in the 28 list.
Rgds;
D!do
January 24th, 2008
10:42 am
Becoming top of mind is a marketer’s dream but can quickly turn to a nightmare if the brand name becomes too generic and loses trademark status.
Initially, it’s tremendous to be so dominant that the name is almost a generic term. For example, alot of people probably couldn’t tell you another brand name for an Mp3 player so they are only going to look at IPod. IPod is smart for protecting the name though. It’s alot like playing king of the hill - once you reach the top, you have to protect it.
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