T is for Tissue

 or Is it Kleenex?

I guess the dream of every marketer is that their product becomes so successful that it becomes a household name, and even better, the brand name becomes the generic name for the product. Kleenex is one of those things. They are actually Kleenex tissues. I know one person who calls her tissues Scotties for Scot's brand tissues that she uses. However, Scotties has not caught on the same way that Kleenex has. Here are a few other examples of brand names that have become generic for a product that I've taken from an article by Mental Floss.

Ping-Pong 

Ping Pong was trademarked in 1901 as a brand of table tennis products named for the sound the ball makes when it hits the table.

 Sharpie

The permanent marker was invented in 1956, but the Sharpie wasn’t introduced until 1964. Today, the products are almost synonymous with one another. Back when I was growing up, my permanent markers were referred to by the brand Magic Markers.

Band-Aids

Johnson & Johnson manufactured gauze and adhesive tape separately until Earle Dickson had the idea to combine them to create Band-Aids for his accident-prone wife.

Dumpster

Dumpster is a brand name, which is true, although the word has become largely genericized and the trademark is not widely enforced. The APA has even dropped the recommendation to capitalize the word. The Dumpster got its name from the Dempster Brothers Inc., which combined their name with the word “dump” to create the Dempster Dumpster.

 Xerox

Xerox has been trying to stop people from calling photocopying "xeroxing" for years. "Use Xerox only as an adjective to identify our products and services," said a 2010 print ad, "not a verb, 'to Xerox,' or a noun, 'Xeroxes.' Something to keep in mind that will help us keep it together." It's only in the last couple of years that I find myself saying copying more than Xeroxing.

Formica 

If not made by the Diller Corporation, you should call it a decorative laminate. I went to school with kids whose grandfather invented Formica. They were one of the richer families in town.

GED

The GED is certainly the most famous of the high school equivalency diplomas, but this one is trademarked by the American Council on Education.

Seeing Eye Dog

Technically it's only a Seeing Eye Dog if it's trained by Seeing Eye of Morristown New Jersey. Otherwise it's a guide dog.

Did you know that all of these were associated with a specific brand? I didn't.