- 1. Do you photoshopimages before postingthem online? Do
youxerox your documents?Do you ask theshopkeeper for surfwhen you
buydetergent? You are notalone. These are some ofthe brands
whosepopularity has madethem synonymous withthe products
theyrepresent. Heres a lookat some such names.
2. Surf is the name of adetergent marketed byUnilever in several
countries,including India, Ireland andSouth Africa. While
HindustanUnilever, the Indian companyin which Unilever ownsmajority
share, also makes theWheel and Rin brands, Surf isby far the most
recognizedbrand, so much that it hasbecome synonymous with alltypes
of detergents orwashing powders. No matterwhich brand of
detergentthey want to buy, people askthe shopkeeper for Surf. 3. In
India, to Xerox means tophotocopy. Period. XeroxCorporation is an
Americancompany that manufactures andsells a range of
photocopiers,printers, digital production printingpresses, etc. The
company cameto prominence in 1959 with theintroduction of the Xerox
914, thefirst plain paper photocopier usingthe process of
electro-photography. Today, there areseveral companies
thatmanufacture photocopymachines, such as Canon and HP,but the
popularity of the Xeroxbrand is such that documents aremostly
xeroxed, notphotocopied. 4. Band-Aid is an adhesivebandage. It was
inventedby Johnson & Johnsonemployee Earle Dickson forhis wife,
who used to cutand burn herself whilecooking. Dickson thensuggested
the idea to thecompany, which producedand marketed the productas
Band-Aid. Today, severalcompanies, local andmultinational,
manufactureadhesive bandages, butwhen children get bruisedwhile
playing, mothers askthe chemist for a Band-Aid. 5. Vaseline, a
brand ofpetroleum jelly, is anotherproduct from Unilever thathas
become synonymouswith all types of petroleumjelly. Among the
severalpersonal care brandsmarketed in India byHindustan
Unilever,Vaseline and Ponds (thetalc and cream) areamong the oldest
andmost popular ones.Vaseline was initially madeby the
ChesebroughManufacturing Company,a firm that was acquired
byUnilever in 1987. 6. There was a time when everypersonal stereo
was referred to asa Walkman. The Walkman isactually a brand owned
byJapanese electronics companySony. A prototype of the devicewas
built in 1978, and theWalkman was first marketed in1979. Several
electroniccompanies such as Panasonicand Sharp have
manufacturedtheir own versions of the device,but could never really
matchSonys product. With mobilephones and the iPod taking overthe
role of music players, portableaudio players are no longer ingreat
demand the way they werewhen audiocassettes werearound. 7. Yes,
this is a brand name too.A Thermos, or rather avacuum flask, was
inventedby Scottish physicist andchemist Sir James Dewar in1892.
The first vacuum flask forcommercial use was made in1904 by German
companyThermos. Dewar had failed toregister a patent for
hisinvention, and the productwas subsequently patentedby the
company. Today, theword is synonymous withvacuum flasks all over
theworld. 8. There is perhaps no liquidantiseptic in India
aspopular as Dettol, abrand owned by UK-based Reckitt
Benckiser,which also owns brandssuch as Durex andHarpic. While
there areother popular brands,such as Savlon, which isowned by
Johnson &Johnson, Dettol is whatyou will be most likelyhanded
when you askthe chemist for anantiseptic. 9. Again, this was a
brand thatwas synonymous withtoothpaste for several years.William
Colgate andCompany was set up in 1806by William Colgate, a
soapmaker. The company wasbought by Palmolive-Peet in1938, which
led to theformation of Colgate-Palmolive-Peet. The word Peetwas
later dropped from thename. Colgate-Palmolivemarkets a wide range
ofproducts, the most popularamong them being theColgate brand of
toothpastesand Palmolive line of soapsand personal care products.
10. Photoshopping, or digitallyaltering images, comesfrom the word
Photoshop,a picture/graphic editingprogram by AdobeSystems. The
program wasinitially developed in 1987by Thomas Knoll, a PhDstudent
in the UnitedStates. Adobe purchasedthe licence to distribute
theproduct in September1988. Today, severalsoftware companies
makephoto editing programs,but every time we see adigitally altered
image, wesay its photoshopped. 11. Acetylsalicylic acid,commonly
known asAspirin, is an analgesicused to relieve minoraches and
pains. Thetrademark is owned byGerman companyBayer. An
equallypopular medicine isDisprin, owned by ReckittBenckiser, which
thecompany says is a fast-acting formulation ofAspirin. In India,
the drugwas introduced in 1977. 12. There was a time whenMobil and
engine oil wereinterchangeably used.Mobil was an American
oilcompany which mergedwith Exxon in 1999 to formExxonMobil.
Mobilcontinues to be a widelyused brand name in thenew entity. Both
Mobil-branded petrol and Mobilengine oil have dominatedsales in the
United Statesduring the 40s and the 50s.There are three main
Mobilsub brandsMobil 1, MobilDelvac and MobilIndustrial. 13. Think
hydrogenated vegetable oil,think Dalda. The brands story inIndia
begins in the early 1930s,when Hindustan VanaspatiManufacturing Co
(todaysHindustan Unilever Ltd) wanted tomanufacture vansapati
locally. Atthat time, the fat was imported inIndia by Dada, a Dutch
company.Dada became Dalda afterHindustan Lever (the companybecame
Hindustan Unilever inJune 2007) introduced an L in thename. Today,
while there is noclear leader in the cooking oilcategory, Dalda
andhydrogenated vegetable oilremain synonymous. Dalda iscurrently
owned by Bunge Ltd. 14. JATIN AGRAWAL IBS-BANGALORE
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