this post was submitted on 09 Mar 2024
247 points (90.0% liked)
Memes
45663 readers
1013 users here now
Rules:
- Be civil and nice.
- Try not to excessively repost, as a rule of thumb, wait at least 2 months to do it if you have to.
founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Corporations are terrified of their name becoming genericized, though. At least in the US, a company can lose it's protection of the use of their name if they don't fight it being used for things that are not their product. For example, "Dumpster" used to be a trademarked name for a large outdoor garage bin. It became so popular that every large outdoor garbage bin was called a dumpster, and now everyone making and selling them can call it a dumpster without getting sued
They also didn't adequately defend their brand though. You can prevent genericization if you make it clear that it's a brand, in which case it's only to your benefit that people are confused.
It's why the bandaid advertising jingle actually specifies the word "band-aid brand" because they're a hairs breadth away from becoming generic.