Going to have to xerox this for my wall.
Someone ought to give them a kleenex for all of their boo-hooing.
Don't Say Velcro (2017)
11–20 of 175 posts
Re: Don't Say Velcro (2017)
#12Reminds me of the dark ages, when Xerox was so dominant in the copier market that people used their brand as a noun and a verb. They were threatened with loss of their trademark, because it had become so generic. So they had a massive publicity campaign, asking people to say "copy" instead of "xerox". Is this a uniquely US thing? In the UK, people always say "hoover" instead of "vacuum".
> Is this a uniquely US thing?
No, in Russia people have been xerring documents since photocopiers appeared there.
Re: Don't Say Velcro (2017)
#13Cute attempt, but Velcro/velcro has already been genericised for decades at this point. Nobody's going to move (back?) to "hook-and-loop," especially when the alternative rolls off the tongue a lot better.
That may not matter to Velcro (TM). As long as they're publicly making attempts to defend their trademark, perhaps that is enough for them to keep legal rights to it.
Re: Don't Say Velcro (2017)
#14I’m assuming this is meant to be a joke.
Re: Don't Say Velcro (2017)
#15So, you can either try to change what's in the vocabulary of 300 million people for generations. Or change your brand name. They chose the first. Interesting.
That's trade mark laws for you. If you don't try and protect your trade mark at every opportunity it can be stripped from you and every Tom, Dick, and Harry can put out whatever they want with your name/term.
I get it, but still, that's the law for you. The most of us will still say Velcro because it's what we all know it as.
Related: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_generic_and_genericize...
Re: Don't Say Velcro (2017)
#16(2017)
Re: Don't Say Velcro (2017)
#17[deleted]
Re: Don't Say Velcro (2017)
#18Similarly, many people who own vacuum cleaners which aren’t Hoover-branded still own hoovers and many chocolate and creme sandwich cookies which aren’t Oreo-branded are still oreos. I think some people in the US will refer to drinks which I call “soda” as “coke”. Like a “Sprite-coke” if you don’t want a cola.
This must be a page for VELCRO®’s lawyers to point to during relevant lawsuits because the argument otherwise seems like a lost cause.
Re: Don't Say Velcro (2017)
#19(2017), according to https://eu.usatoday.com/story/money/2017/09/26/velcros-video...
They're trying to avoid genericide. I think if they didn't do this, they could actually lose the trademark.
Re: Don't Say Velcro (2017)
#20ah let me get into my jeep to get some xeroxes of my opinion and drive to give them some kleenexes