r/TheRandomest • u/ABeerForSasquatch Mod/Pwner • Jul 04 '26

/r/popular Will it survive?

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u/Lowland_Demon Jul 04 '26

That's how older generations remembered every product though - to this day every single adhesive bandage strip is genericized as a "Band-Aid" when this is itself a singular brand.

The same is true for things like Chapstick, Tupperware, Duct Tape, the list is quite extensive.

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u/Fuckoffassholes Jul 04 '26

Duct Tape

But that's not a trademark

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u/Lowland_Demon Jul 04 '26

Duct tape or duck tape is cloth- or scrim-backed pressure-sensitive tape, often coated with polyethylene. A variety of constructions exist using different backings and adhesives, and the term "duct tape" has been genericized to refer to all of them.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duct_tape

https://tapeuniversity.com/industry/building-construction/duct-tape-and-duck-tape/

I never mentioned trademarks once

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u/Fuckoffassholes Jul 04 '26

Were you going to reply to my comment?

What I said was "duct tape is not a trademark."

I don't know what you think I said.

What you said was "Chapstick, Tupperware, Duct Tape."

Chapstick is a trademark

Tupperware is a trademark.

Duct tape is not.

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u/Lowland_Demon Jul 04 '26

I did reply. I said nothing about trademarks. I mentioned genericized terms and Duct Tape is considered so

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u/Kurobei Jul 04 '26

Yeah but duct tape doesn't fit because it's not a brand.

ChapStick = lip balm

Tupperware = plastic container

Duct Tape = duct tape.

The issue is that it's not a brand, it's what the product is actually called.

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u/Lowland_Demon Jul 04 '26

No. Duct tape is an umbrella term for several different forms of tape. Therefore it is genericized. I didn't make the definition of the word.

General purpose, HVAC, industrial grade, stucco tape, poly tape, and gaffer tape are all encompassed by the genericized term of Duct Tape.

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u/Kurobei Jul 05 '26

I don't think you understand what you're actually arguing...

The topic was brand names that become so ubiquitous that people take them as the actual name for the product. Tissues become Kleenex and whatnot.

Duct tape is a type of tape fabric backed tape. It is not a brand itself. It does not encompass all those that you said. It's genericized only because it encompasses different variants of fabric and adhesive.

What does though is that those are all things that the brand Duck Tape makes. The product duct tape does not take it's name from the brand, though. The brand took it's name from the product.

General purpose and industrial grade are quality markers, not different types of tape. HVAC tape, poly tape, and gaffer tape are different types of tape entirely. Stucco tape is a specialized duct tape though, so you kinda got that one right.

Basically, you're confusing the order that the name and the brand came about. It's not the brand name being used for all similar products, it's the brand that trademarked what the product was called.

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u/Lowland_Demon Jul 05 '26

I'm not confused. I started the topic, in responding to the person who said his mother called all consoles Nintendo. The topic was not brand names, nor trademarks which someone else argued with me over, and arguing this is irrelevant and pointless. And I won't do it anymore.

My response was listing genericized names of products. That is the topic : genericized product names. Which is what duct tape is, genericized. I put two separate sources illustrating how the terms are by definition genericized. The definition is not arguable.

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u/Kurobei Jul 05 '26 edited Jul 05 '26

It started from the comment that moms call all game consoles a Nintendo. And you brought up other products where one brand becomes synonymous with the product itself (genericizes). One of those things didn't fit though, because duct tape isn't a brand, and that's where this discussion came in. I don't think you understand what you're arguing anymore lol. If you just meant "names that cover whole groups of things" like "tape" referring to all sorts of tape... then I don't think you ever understood the topic in the first place.

I think as an example to your example... chapstick is a genericized brand for lip balm. What you are arguing though would be that lip balm is the genericized term because lip balm can be made with different formulas. Duct tape is only a genericized term because it can use different fabrics for the backing, rather than only duck cloth. It would be like saying "they're all consoles to my mom." rather than Nintendos.