Aug 26 2023 - Kleenex Gone

 

I was wondering the other day about facial tissues vs the brand name Kleenex. Perhaps I shouldn't bother.  Kleenex is being withdrawn from the Canadian market for "unique complexities".  I know what they mean - we all experience things that are hard to "describe" so "unique complexities" is a great expression to cover things.  Maybe that will become Kleenex's outgoing gift - a new expression to cover things that cannot be spoken of more clearly.  I hadn't thought about the issues involved in paper/facial tissues:  "It's very difficult to ship tissue economically — you are moving a lot of air and you tend to [fill] a truck well before you hit weight limits. You definitely don't want to be shipping it long distances." There's only one Kleenex factory in Canada - in Huntsville, so you can imagine that's not very efficient.  And then I had no idea that things could get really nasty in the trademark world.  We use many trademark words as though that is the actual product.  What happens is that a brand name becomes so ubiquitous that it turns into a generic term for any kind of similar product.  When it loses its trademark value and the brand owner can't distinguish itself in the market, the official term for this is genericide. One of the most famous instances of it got litigated in the 1921 case Bayer Co. v United Drug Co., in which Bayer lost its trademark for Aspirin. Since then, “aspirin” has entered the public domain.  What about things like granola?  That's an example.  Bubble wrap is another. Magic markers, ping-pong, and even realtor are more examples.  Pool Kleenex got too popular as a name for paper tissues.   They want us to know that the "decision was incredibly difficult for us to make."   CBC agrees on that and titled its headline:  "What a blow! Kleenex pulling out of Canadian consumer market". I don't have any pictures of Kleenex, but I've taken lots of pictures of torn posters in Toronto.  Here's an example.

Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblogspot.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

Florida's East Coast - Sunrise and Sail's Up

This was yesterday's sunrise as it bounced off the sky looking north along the beach and then looking towards the sun as it rose in the sky.  The pinky coral colour was very pronounced. The progression of the day in pictures went:  Before Sun, Sun's Up, Surf's Up, Sails Up... I was told by a boater yesterday that this is unusual to have such windy weather and such waves.  He wasn't able to launch his boat because of the winds.  There were a few hardy athletes out on the water. I wondered about those trademark names like Kleenex and Windex as I was walking through the grocery store.  Here's my answer: An eponym is someone or something whose name is or is thought to be the source of something's name (such as a city, country, era, or product); alternately it can be used to refer to the name of something that is based on or derived from someone or something else's name. Albert Einstein is the eponym of the element einsteinium; conversely, einsteinium is an eponym of Albert Einstein. Active Trademarks Often Used Generically Alka Seltzer AstroTurf Band Aid Beer Nuts Benzedrine Boogie Board Breathalyzer Brillo Pad BVDs Chapstick (Chap Stick) Cheerios Claymation Coke (Coca Cola) Cola (Coca Cola) Cool-Aid (Kool-Aid) Cuisinart Demerol Ditto Machine Dixie Cups Dumpster Erector Set Fiberglass (Fiberglas) Fig Newtons Freon Frisbee Green Stamp Hacky Sack Hi-lighter (Hi-Liter) Hoover Hula-Hoop Jacuzzi Jeep Jello (Jell-O) Jockey Shorts Kitty Litter Kleenex Laundromat Levi's Life Savers Mace Magic Marker Microchip Novocain Oreo Palm Pilot Parcheesi (replacing the generic word "Pachisi") Ping Pong (replacing the generic term "Table Tennis") Play-Doh Plexiglas Polaroid Pop Tart Popsicle Post-It Note Q-Tip Rollerblade Roller Derby Scotch Tape Scrabble Sellotape Sheetrock Skivvies Styrofoam Super Glue Teflon Teleprompter (TelePrompTer) Teletype Teva Thermos TV Dinner Tylenol UNIX Valium Vaseline Velcro Walkman Welcome Wagon White Out (Wite-Out) Wiffle Ball Windbreaker X-Acto Knife Xerox View this email in your browser