The Ultimate List of Eponyms Examples: Brands that OWN the Market
Last updated on January 27, 2019
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. Here's a list of eponyms and examples of eponyms.
- 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
- 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
74 responses to “The Ultimate List of Eponyms Examples: Brands that OWN the Market”
Velcro
Chapstick
A1 (Steak) Sauce: Owned by Kraft Foods
Formica - plastic laminate
WWE for professional wrestling
Depending on when you grew up, Nintendo might also be on this list. I know my parents (and many other people's parents) referred to ANY game system as a "Nintendo" for a while.
"Tater-Tots" is a registered trademark of Ore-Ida (founded by my grandfather and his brother who invented the Tater-Tot) ~ I constantly see menus listing 'Tater-Tots' as an option but invariably find out they are not serving Ore-Ida. The "Tater-Tot" is at the top of my eponym ist 🙂
gummie bears
this was great 😉
Velcro : hook and loop fasteners : Owned by Velcro BVBA
more:
netflix, squatty potty, uber
Tupperware is missing
You're missing Koozie!
Frisbee should be on the list. A flying disc made by Wham-O. Also, my father says so.
how about Caterpillar as eponymous for bulldozer?
Zip loc bags
Ziplock bag, Tator Tots and TiVo. A few more to consider.
Ace Bandage and Frisbee.
Photoshop : Digitally photo edit : Owned by Adobe
You forgot about Popsicle
Vaseline crisco and Vicks
Crock pot
Vespa
How did you all miss hook and loop fasteners? --- Velcro
Frisbee, chap stick, frisbee
Not sure who the manufacturer was but the refrigerator was referred to as the "Ice Box" prior to hydrochlorofluorocarbons for many years.
This article is a great "Marketing 101" reference thanks!
Dude, don't leave out readers from across the pond; Hoover: Vacuum Cleaner: Invented by W.H. Hoover
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.
Its been years since it was suggested by iPod still hasn't been added to that list. Its definitely been branded & now common lingo.
iPod : MP3 player: owned by Apple
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.
I think "PAMPERS" brand should be in.
I don't c it in the 28 list.
Rgds;
D!do
Also "Jet-Ski" is most widely used for watercraft.
Rgds;
D!do
ipod=mp3 player
What about Saran Wrap and White-Out? (sp: Wite-Out?)
Chapstik - Lip balm.
"hey, do you have any chapstik?"
:::I guess that was self explanatory:::
Ziploc
Jacuzzi
I'd argue Asprin is as much a market-owner as Tylenol. I've heard people call tylenols asprins.
hey... how about...
SPEEDOS.
hah.. no, but really.. thats strictly brand, rite? not a general term?..
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.
Don't forget those necessities -- Tampax and Kotex!
And what about Palm for handheld devices?
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.
Polo : Collared shirt : Owned by Ralph Lauren
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
Meetup
eVite
What a fab bunch of brillies you all are!
I'm impressed.
Supahstars!
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.
I blog on blog.
great find guys. i updated with your changes. some of those links have tons more.
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.
every morning i blackberry on the train
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
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.
Back to the iPod example. Sony did that with Walkmans and Discmans.
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
...
aww dude, you left off JumpBox - oh well, it'll be a household name next year 😉
sean
found a pretty good article on trademark, naming products and the likes:
http://www.ccnmag.com/story.php?id=399
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.
great call. i have blockbuster and call it blockbusterflix or i just say I use netflix so i dont have to explain.
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
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?
Found this on Kottke's site.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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. 😉
Imagine if IPOD became the generic label for mp3 players? Wouldnt that be horrible?
Person 1: What brand is your Ipod?
Person 2: Samsung
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.
ps. I love that escalator is a registered trademark of the otis corporation... never would have known...
Hey noah,
This is probably the definitive list:
http://www.prairienet.org/~rkrause/brands.html
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.
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? 😉
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)
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.
Heinz-ketchup/Mayo
starbucks-coffee
gillette-razors
Wrigleys-gum