Bizarre Non-Trademark Infringing Names for Popular Products

[scr4]

@bibliophage

Polytetrafluoroethylene. Teflon is a trademark of Chemours, a company recently spun off from du Pont.

Generally abbreviated as “PTFE.” I regularly say that instead of “Teflon” even though I think the stuff we buy actually is Teflon.

Poly(methyl methacrylate). Plexiglas is a trademark of Rohm & Haas.

“Acrylic” is way more common, in my experience.

[BorgHunter]

For a while the grocery store I regularly shopped at had a generic for Crispix cereal. The generic term for this was, bizarrely, “Crispy Hexagons”, which was featured prominently on the box in a whimsical font.

[Filbert]

@Acsenray

In the United States, we subdivide what British people call “jam” into “jelly” (made from fruit juice), “jam” (made from fruit pieces), and “preserves” (made from whole fruit).

That means we don’t have the term “jelly” available for that wiggly dessert. We usually call it by a brand name, “Jell-O.”

But how do we avoid the brand name? The only term available is “gelatin dessert,” but that seems kind of vague.

Actually, we use ‘jelly’ for the stuff made from fruit juice or puree in England as well, we just distinguish between jelly for spreading on toast and jelly for serving at kids’ parties by context.

Make a note of it, maybe with a ball-point pen on a sticky note.

[Acsenray]

@Filbert

Actually, we use ‘jelly’ for the stuff made from fruit juice or puree in England as well, we just distinguish between jelly for spreading on toast and jelly for serving at kids’ parties by context.

Make a note of it, maybe with a ball-point pen on a sticky note.

I don’t know, every British and Irish person I watch on YouTube scolds me for saying “jelly” instead of “jam” for the stuff you spread on toast.

[Filbert]

@Acsenray

I don’t know, every British and Irish person I watch on YouTube scolds me for saying “jelly” instead of “jam” for the stuff you spread on toast.

Jam is definitely more popular, and the default is the dessert but you can buy jars labelled ‘Jelly’ kept with the jams in any UK supermarket.

Next time ask 'em what redcurrant jelly is then, 'cos that’s always the fruit preserve version, never a dessert, and is thoroughly traditional.

[Cheesesteak]

@installLSC

Not quite the same thing, but it always amuses me to see commercials where the Super Bowl is referred to as the “Big Game”. Supposedly the NFL won’t let you use the Super Bowl if you’re trying to sell a commercial product. Also, you sometimes hear the NCAA basketball tournament (“March Madness”) referred to as the “March Tournament” for similar reasons.

My favorite takes a bit of setup. It’ss a local sports show that talks constantly about the Yankees and the Mets, and the host is the Yankees TV announcer (Michael Kay). They have a promotion where a caller picks a player in that night’s Yankees or Mets game and if that player hits a home run, the caller gets a prize.

Only they don’t say Yankees or Mets for the promotion, it’s the “local AL game” or ‘local NL game’. Thanks to the guys in suits for ruining the flow of the show.

[ricksummon]

@kenobi_65

When Paizo makes reference to D&D, they rarely, if ever, call it by its name. Here’s an ad for an upcoming Pathfinder release from Paizo, which will feature a set of rules for adapting the adventure to 5th Edition D&D. In the ad, they refer to 5E D&D as “the fifth edition of the world’s oldest roleplaying game.”

That’s because Pathfinder is released under the Open Gaming License, which specifically forbids this.

@OGL

You agree not to indicate compatibility or co-adaptability with any Trademark or Registered Trademark in conjunction with a work containing Open Game Content except as expressly licensed in another, independent Agreement with the owner of such Trademark or Registered Trademark.

[Asuka]

@Cheesesteak

My favorite takes a bit of setup. It’ss a local sports show that talks constantly about the Yankees and the Mets, and the host is the Yankees TV announcer (Michael Kay). They have a promotion where a caller picks a player in that night’s Yankees or Mets game and if that player hits a home run, the caller gets a prize.

Only they don’t say Yankees or Mets for the promotion, it’s the “local AL game” or ‘local NL game’. Thanks to the guys in suits for ruining the flow of the show.

How about when you see a commercial that’s football themed towards a local market, and the players are all wearing the uniforms of the local team except with none of the logos. So you see a guy in a black jersey and silver helmet but absolutely nothing else on the uniform.

[ftg]

Here’s an odd one. “Powdered instant breakfast.”

Carnation originally came up with Instant Breakfast but for some reason now calls it Breakfast Essentials. I’ve seen “instant breakfast” on the label of the store brand version. And since it’s powdered, that gives you the general description of such products.

So a former “brand name” is now the basis for the awkward generic description.

[Acsenray]

@ftg

Here’s an odd one. “Powdered instant breakfast.”

Carnation originally came up with Instant Breakfast but for some reason now calls it Breakfast Essentials. I’ve seen “instant breakfast” on the label of the store brand version. And since it’s powdered, that gives you the general description of such products.

So a former “brand name” is now the basis for the awkward generic description.

“Instant breakfast” was a weird name anyway for chocolate powder. Without the powder, it’s just a glass of milk. Stir in the powder: Instant breakfast!

Sheesh. Why isn’t plain milk an instanter breakfast than chocolate-powder-flavored milk?

[Chronos]

Quoth kenobi 65:

When Paizo makes reference to D&D, they rarely, if ever, call it by its name. Here’s an ad for an upcoming Pathfinder release from Paizo, which will feature a set of rules for adapting the adventure to 5th Edition D&D. In the ad, they refer to 5E D&D as “the fifth edition of the world’s oldest roleplaying game.”

What makes this one really funny is that Wizards of the Coast themselves (the owners of D&D) don’t actually use “5th edition” in any of their branding. Everyone calls the current version that, but you won’t find it on the front cover of any of the books.

Here’s one I wonder about: Everyone knows that Coke and Pepsi are colas. And Sprite and 7-Up are “lemon-lime soft drinks”, which is a bit wordy, but it gets the job done. But what’s the generic term for Dr Pepper and its imitators (Mr Pibb, Dr. Popz, Dr. Thunder, etc.)?

[Treppenwitz]

Back when I was a kid… there was a very worthy children’s TV program called Blue Peter. One of their regular features was to demonstrate models and toys you could make yourself, largely from Stuff Around The House. Because this was a BBC show there were NO brand names, so the ever-useful Fairy Liquid Bottle was (a) always referred to as a Washing-Up Liquid Bottle; and (b) had all identifying marks scrubbed off it with wire wool (or whatever) before being used in the demo.

This process was so thorough that to this day I didn’t know that the Sticky-Backed Plastic that they were forever using was also a brand - Fablon. I only found out when I did an internet search - sorry, googled it - just now.

I wish I could remember more of these Blue Peter generics - anybody?

j

[bump]

@Chronos

But what’s the generic term for Dr Pepper and its imitators (Mr Pibb, Dr. Popz, Dr. Thunder, etc.)?

I think Mr. Pibb/Pibb Xtra is marketed as a spicy cherry soda or something like that, so that’s probably the term. Which makes sense- it’s basically a cherry/almond type flavor with spice notes.

[WildaBeast]

@Acsenray

“Instant breakfast” was a weird name anyway for chocolate powder. Without the powder, it’s just a glass of milk. Stir in the powder: Instant breakfast!

Sheesh. Why isn’t plain milk an instanter breakfast than chocolate-powder-flavored milk?

Because the “Instant Breakfast” stuff is more than just chocolate flavoring. It’s got added vitamins and other nutrients and maybe protein powder or something to make it somewhat more filling. You’re getting more nutrients from the Instant Breakfast than you would from just a glass of milk.

@Treppenwitz

Because this was a BBC show there were NO brand names, so the ever-useful Fairy Liquid Bottle was (a) always referred to as a Washing-Up Liquid Bottle; and (b) had all identifying marks scrubbed off it with wire wool (or whatever) before being used in the demo.

Mythbusters was like that too. I always thought it was kind of funny how whenever they did car related myths they’d take great pains to hide any emblems on the cars they used. I know there are some people out there who have no interest in cars whatsoever and wouldn’t know a Ford from a Mercedes, but anyone with even a casual interest in cars would still be able to identify the cars used on the show even with the logos hidden.

[Majestic_Lee]

@Treppenwitz

This process was so thorough that to this day I didn’t know that the Sticky-Backed Plastic that they were forever using was also a brand - Fablon. I only found out when I did an internet search - sorry, googled it - just now.

Mmm, see what you mean re “sticky backed plastic”. I always thought they meant Sellotape.

[Chronos]

Which got really weird when they were testing a variety of Coca-Cola myths. Which really did have to be Coke, because of the phosphoric acid (which most colas don’t have), but they couldn’t quite say so.

[Infovore]

@installLSC

A local radio show is sponsored by Microsoft. More than once when a guest mentions “googling” something the hosts correct them “don’t you mean Bing it?”

Has anyone in the history of the world ever said “Bing it?”

[Pantastic]

@kenobi_65

Paizo (a game publisher) makes a swords-and-sorcery role-playing game called Pathfinder; it competes directly against Dungeons & Dragons, which was the world’s first fantasy role-playing game.

When Paizo makes reference to D&D, they rarely, if ever, call it by its name. Here’s an ad for an upcoming Pathfinder release from Paizo, which will feature a set of rules for adapting the adventure to 5th Edition D&D. In the ad, they refer to 5E D&D as “the fifth edition of the world’s oldest roleplaying game.”

This misses a significant piece of the picture: Paizo is actually using copyrighted material at the core of their game under a license which specifically forbids them from mentioning the trademark “Dungeons and Dragons”, and could get sued if they did mention it. It’s not a ‘don’t mention the competitor’ choice like some of the others.

Wizards of the Coast publishes Dungeons and dragons, and during the 3rd edition of Dungeons and Dragons created the Open Gaming License, which is a license that lets 3rd party publishers create games using the core rules of that version of D&D but puts restrictions on them. Paizo started publishing the magazine Pathfinder as a supplement to 3rd edition D&D (and later the 3.5 revision of those rules). When Wizards of the Coast released the 4th edition of D&D which changed the game and the license for creating compatible products, Paizo (and a lot of players) disliked this and produced their own revision of 3rd edition D&D using the OGL and named it Pathfinder. One of the restrictions the OGL puts on people using it is that they can’t use any of the trademarks associated with D&D, so Paizo legally can’t name the world’s oldest roleplaying game in any of their Pathfinder material.

[kenobi_65]

@Pantastic

This misses a significant piece of the picture: Paizo is actually using copyrighted material at the core of their game under a license which specifically forbids them from mentioning the trademark “Dungeons and Dragons”, and could get sued if they did mention it. It’s not a ‘don’t mention the competitor’ choice like some of the others.

Wizards of the Coast publishes Dungeons and dragons, and during the 3rd edition of Dungeons and Dragons created the Open Gaming License, which is a license that lets 3rd party publishers create games using the core rules of that version of D&D but puts restrictions on them. Paizo started publishing the magazine Pathfinder as a supplement to 3rd edition D&D (and later the 3.5 revision of those rules). When Wizards of the Coast released the 4th edition of D&D which changed the game and the license for creating compatible products, Paizo (and a lot of players) disliked this and produced their own revision of 3rd edition D&D using the OGL and named it Pathfinder. One of the restrictions the OGL puts on people using it is that they can’t use any of the trademarks associated with D&D, so Paizo legally can’t name the world’s oldest roleplaying game in any of their Pathfinder material.

I’m familiar with Pathfinder’s genesis from the OGL / D&D 3.5 (I used to do a bit of editing work for a couple of small third-party game publishers which did OGL stuff); what I hadn’t known / realized is that the OGL specifically prohibits mention of the D&D name. Thanks for the additional info.

[TBG]

@bump

I always smile when I see Lego knock-offs going out of their way to describe themselves as “interlocking brick building systems” or something similar, and “compatible with all leading interlocking brick systems” without saying that they’re Lego knockoffs that work with real Legos.

Lego people get really butthurt if you use the word Lego in a manner other than the officially “proper” way. Like I just “misused” it twice by not writing LEGO in all caps. And it only refers to the brand, so can never be pluralized. It’s not a box of Legos, it’s a box of LEGO bricks.:rolleyes:

I’ve seen really over the top nuts go to town on message boards where someone’s dared to actually talk about Legos the way normal people do. Not anyone actually connected to the company or their lawyers, just “fans” with too much time on their HANDS. Not even a board about Legos, or toys even, just something that happened to come up once.:rolleyes::rolleyes: