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Hey Pandas, What Object Do You Know By A Brand Name And Not By Its Actual Name? (Closed)
Some brands become so popular that we tend to call the objects by the brand name instead. Share the brand names that you use casually.
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#1
Petroleum jelly aka white petrolatum is always just “Vaseline.”
Final score:
21points
Sans Serif 2 years ago
They have 150 years on all other comers - what else are you going to call it?
RELATED:
#2
Other than Kleenex being the most used name, I'd like to throw Tupperware for any food storage container into the pot.
Final score:
19points
Sans Serif 2 years ago
Probably because... "food storage container" is quite a bit more the mouthful!
#3
Band-aid
Final score:
18points
Mr Old School Cool 2 years ago
In China, asking for a band-aid will get you a gauze roll. You have to ask for “wound plaster” or just show the pharmacist a photo on your phone
morticia_b85 2 years ago
We don't use the term "band-aid" here in Éire. It's just a plaster no matter the brand. I couldn't even name a brand off the top of my head lol
Sans Serif 2 years ago
They did the marketing and, won the handle! "MOM... I need an "adhesive bandage"?!?
Do i have to? 2 years ago
I thought they were called plasters not adhesive bandages?
Load More Replies...
#4
For the older ones among us: xeroxing for copying paper.
Final score:
15points
#5
Not an object, but "Google it". It's a verb now.
Final score:
12points
BeepBeepBoopBoop 2 years ago (edited)
I think that's mainly from it being one of the few search engines left. And by far the most popular. I find it funny to think about the older ones, what if bing was the best so we said "Bing it!" it's kinda funny to me
Sans Serif 2 years ago (edited)
Development name: 'Backrub'. "Let me Backrub that and get bback to you later!" Now, an enormous part of our digital lifestyle but, not as mature as one might think. Google on 9/11: G9112001-6...4c3cf7.jpg 
#6
"Dumpster" is actually a Brand, not the proper name of the Garage Bin.
Final score:
11points
Neuridivergent 2 years ago
Calling him a dumpster fire is an insult to dumpster fires.
Load More Replies... Sans Serif 2 years ago
"Dumpster (Dempster Dumpster) is a genericized trademark" - like many others on this list. However, they created the concept and managed the resulting popularity in 1936 so... they DID do the work!
#7
Haven't seen anyone mention Scotch tape or Krazy glue.
Final score:
11points
Sans Serif 2 years ago
Scotch (3M) did seem to get a lock on tape but, more often I hear people refer to Super Glue. Both are cyanoacrylates but the forenamed has been around since 1942...
#8
regardless of the fact that a brand named Hydro was the original Oreo, I will forever, undoubtedly, refer to the beautiful creation of black biscuits and white cream as Oreo. And nobody can stop me.
Final score:
10points
What_the_actual_sloth? (Submission author) 2 years ago
I dont think I understood the assignment.
#9
Trampoline is a brand name. I think it was originally called a tumbling device.
Final score:
10points
just a girl who loves books 2 years ago
"i'm going to take a bounce on my tumbling device, mum!"
#10
Q-tips, I didn't know for decades that there was a other name for them. Same for Kleenex and Band-Aids.
Final score:
10points
BeepBeepBoopBoop 2 years ago
also, don't put Q tips in your ears! This all started with them literally marketing with people putting them in their ears. Now they say on the packages "Do Not insert swab into ear canal"
Sans Serif 2 years ago
Oddly, I wouldn't consider buying any other? What significant gain can be achieved in buying bargain "cotton swabs"?
#11
I usually refer to disinfecting wipes as Lysol wipes, and I've always said Lysol wipes regardless of what brand I buy. Kind of more of a Canadian thing, I think, but I always refer to boxed Mac and Cheese as KD, or Kraft Dinner.
Final score:
9points
Robert Trebor 2 years ago
Just had the HEB (Texas grocery chain) brand, and my mind went I'm having Kraft Dinner.
#12
I’m surprised that it hasn’t shown up here yet! Jacuzzi is just a brand, it’s a HOT TUB
Final score:
9points
Sans Serif 2 years ago
Hot tub is a bit different than most of these on this list. It's more like a snow blower in its obscurity - "Later, I need to Torro my driveway!"" seems contrived!
C.B. 2 years ago
I think I'd much prefer to say I'm going to Torro my driveway. It sounds swashbuckling! Somehow saying I'm going to blow my driveway snow doesn't quite have the same ring to it and may raise a few eyebrows in the neighbourhood 😂😂
Load More Replies... #13
scotch tape
Final score:
9points
Huddo's sister 2 years ago
In the past people would call it Scotch tape (my grandparents did) but now in Australia it is always called sticky tape.
valyn (Submission author) 2 years ago
Cellophane tape? I think scotch tape is the brand name for the one with green and white or red and white plaid label
#14
Craisin. Specific brand of dried cranberries, but it's easier to say so I refer to all dried cranberries as Craisins.
Final score:
8points
Amberlie Mikelsen 2 years ago
Ocean Spray trademarked the word "craisin", but now everyone and their pets call dried cranberries craisins
#15
bandaid, even though they are just bandages
Final score:
8points
#16
All wet wipes are called Clorox, even though it's only a brand. Same with Windex
Final score:
7points
censorshipsucks 2 years ago
no, we call them wetwipes in africa. You must be speaking on behalf of america.
Sans Serif 2 years ago
I call them Wet Wipes as well in the US. I think COVID perhaps gave them a rung up...
Load More Replies... morticia_b85 2 years ago
Theyre wet wipes. Doesnt matter the brand ... wet wipe..... cleaning wipe.??... wet wipe.... water wipe.....its wet wipe lol is it just an American thing maybe to call them something else?
#17
Escalator, that's actually a brand name So are several other things. I think there's a word used to describe products commonly referred by a popular brand name
Final score:
7points
#18
In UK Sellotape Hoover Vicks (vaporub) Lemsip I'm sure there are more but I can't think of them.
Final score:
7points
Auntriarch 2 years ago
Nurofen, even if it's own brand, because ibuprofen is scary to pronounce
Huddo's sister 2 years ago
Same with Panadol instead of Paracetamol in Australia
Load More Replies... #19
Sellotape. Though that might be genericised. Allen wrench/key. Allen is the company that made hex wrenches. Biro. Pretty sure Bic owns that. Velcro. Common one there. Super glue. Pretty sure that is trademarked. Hoover. UK one there. Comic con. SDCC owns that one, though ours uses the term and has no association, so maybe that is just an American trademark.
Final score:
7points
#20
Chapstick. Ain't never a day in my life where I've asked for a tube of lip balm.
Final score:
7points
morticia_b85 2 years ago
It's defo lip balm. Doesnt matter the brand. Only ever heard it being called chap stick by American people.
Auntriarch 2 years ago
Lip Ice in South Africa. And I can't speak for today, but in the 70s all nail polish was referred to as Cutex
Load More Replies...
#21
A lot of people do not know that Heroin is actually a brand name.
Final score:
6points
Strawberry Champagne 2 years ago
I can find nothing that agrees and lots of things that disagree so it's safe to call BS on this.
Load More Replies... Pat Bond 2 years ago
Heroin used to be a brand name. From 1898 to 1910, The German pharmaceutical company, Bayer, commercialized Heroin (note the capital “H”) as a cough suppressant and morphine substitute. The name likely comes from the German word “heroisch”, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. If you pop that word into a translator, you find that it means “heroic”, but that doesn’t convey the full meaning that you’d get if you read a German medical text. “Heroisch” conveyed a sense of something extremely powerful, highly active even at small doses.
BeepBeepBoopBoop 2 years ago
what we know as heroin is actually diamorphine/ diacetylmorphine
Load More Replies... #22
Hoover, their are other brands of vacuum cleaner
Final score:
6points
Robert Trebor 2 years ago
"Nothing sucks like an Electrolux" slogan suggested by Swedish executive to American marketing firm when Electrolux first entered the American market. They loved it, but were dissuaded.
#23
Tempo. In Germany, that's a synonym for Papiertaschentücher a.k.a. paper handkerchiefs.
Final score:
6points
Strawberry Champagne 2 years ago
In America it's Kleenex a brand of Facial Tissues, same product different words.
sturmwesen 2 years ago
We have Kleenex too. Mostly you say Tempo for one out of a 10pack while Kleenex is mostly 100 pieces in a box.
Load More Replies... #24
In India every noodle is called Maggie, which is a specific noodle brand.
Final score:
5points
rararando 2 years ago
Oh yes, in USA they say ramen right? I got abit confused when I first heard it. Most of us here in southeast asia say Maggie (mee).
Bisexual Axolotls 2 years ago
Where may I find these? My friends name is Maggie and she likes noodles.
rararando 2 years ago
I believe Maggie is a Malaysian brand, you can find it in most countries in Asia (: Or online!
Load More Replies... Huddo's sister 2 years ago
In Australia we call them all 2 minute noodles, even though that is only the name of the ones made by Maggi
#25
Dustbuster: It is a registered brand to Black and Decker. However, all small handheld vacuums are called Dustbusters.
Final score:
5points
Robert Trebor 2 years ago
I use my Small Portable Handheld Vacuum Cleaner often and don't bust dust.
morticia_b85 2 years ago
The hand held vacuums are called either hand held hoovers or the mini hoover lol
#27
I play ultimate Frisbee, buttechnicaply I play ultimate throwing disc.
Final score:
5points
C.B. 2 years ago
I vote to get "buttechnicaply" added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2023. It should definitely be a word! Come forth Bored Pandas with any interesting/funny definitions....
Load More Replies... #28
Channellock Pliers they are water pump pliers. Vice Grips are locking pliers. Tylenol for the Pain Reliever Acetaminophen.
Final score:
5points
#29
Swiss army knife. (Think it's "Victornox" or something now)
Final score:
5points
Huddo's sister 2 years ago
We use the term multi-tool as much as Swiss army knife in Australia
#30
Ohhh, and I love to eat Jell-O!
Final score:
5points
#31
Velcro. Thats just the brand, it's technically called hook and loop closure.
Final score:
5points
#32
"Ziploc bags" no matter what brand of plastic bags we have
Final score:
5points
#33
In much of south America and the Caribbean - "Pampers" for any diapers, "Jeep" for any small/medium SUV, and for Haiti specifically, "Gilette" for any razor blade.
Final score:
5points
#34
Kleenex and Jacuzzi
Final score:
4points
#35
I like to Swiffer my floors.
Final score:
4points
#36
There's a shop that my whole family calls 'the bread shop' and I genuinely thought that was its name for my entire childhood. Drove past the other day, and turns out it's actually called Fruitcakes Bakery
Final score:
4points
#37
Cokes. want a coke? what kind? Sprite, diet, Dr Pepper...
Final score:
4points
Angel Wright 2 years ago (edited)
It's a Southern USA reference, in the Northeast it's soda, Midwest-ish it's called Pop - I've also heard soda-pop, soft drinks, fountain drinks, and soda fountain 🤷
Huddo's sister 2 years ago
Soft drink in Australia, although we often say Coke regardless of what brand of cola it is.
Load More Replies... Ashley_Kirin 2 years ago
Dr pepper is not a "coke" or a "cola" it is legally in the "pepper soda" category
morticia_b85 2 years ago
You just get one coke...thats coca cola, wanting club means orange,, wanting sprite or 7up ...well yeah...but if you're shopping for Christmas or a parry you just say "I bought in the minerals"
#38
Kleenex; tupperwe….i cant spell; band-aids; lysol; anddddd scotch tape
Final score:
4points
#39
Still always say "Doing the hoovering" at home. We have never owned a Hoover vacuum cleaner. It's definitely a UK thing!
Final score:
4points
#41
All my childhood I called toothpaste 'colgate' irrespective of the brand
Final score:
3points
Sans Serif 2 years ago
Recognition of the value in advertising had a large hand in play with many of these - especially as TV came on the scene. Colgate was a 'heavy hitter', as I recall. Crest is probably the equivalent in the 2000s...
C.B. 2 years ago
When taking paracetamol most people automatically take two tablets. This is due to the heavy advertising campaign by one brand which showed a glass of water and two tablets were dropped in, making a "plink, plink" noise. Therefore people were taught that to work best we needed to take 1000mg when actually 500mg could work fine to shift your ailment.
Load More Replies...
#42
Cola (Coke) for any brown lemonade / carbonated soft drink. .
Final score:
3points
#43
Tampax,
Final score:
3points
#44
sawzall!!
Final score:
3points
#45
Tupperware. There’s the Tupperware Company containers, but everything else is technically just a container. I still call it a Tupperware though.
Final score:
3points
#46
So these are some from my childhood in Malaysia. Good times. Milo = chocolate malt drink...I think Nestle made them. Ribeena = concentrated blackcurrant syrup that comes in this soy sauce shape glass bottle. You dilute like a spoonful in water for a grapey juice. Not sure who made them. Sarsi = pretty much any coke/Pepsi ish sarsaparilla soft drinks Dutch Lady = it's a condensed milk manufactured by Nestle I think. All food. Haha... Good times. A tad melancholic too (Permanently in New York here). Ooh, Vegemite too anyone? Also... Not physical things... But how bout SoHo or Broadway?
Final score:
3points
Hollerfloozy 2 years ago
They sell Milo still.. usually in the international food isle. My kids love the stuff..
#47
UHU for adhesives (Germany, again). :-)
Final score:
2points
Wyatt Glovier 2 years ago
Malaysian here! I remember us kids use the same term when we were in elementary school. At least to the roll-up glue stick.
#49
Fevicol. It's an adhesive or glue. But everyone says put Fevicol - Brand name
Final score:
2points
#50
All plastic grocery sacks are called “Walmart bags” in my family. (I don’t live where they are banned.)
Final score:
2points
G'ma B 2 years ago
Huh? Plastic bags are called plastic bags everywhere! Who said ... they don't call them plastic bags?
Load More Replies... #51
I call any vacuum cleaner a Hoover, whether it's made by Hoover or not and a hand held mini-vac is a mini Hoover. :D
Final score:
2points
#54
-Febreeze, even if I’m spraying something else. -Cerave instead of body wash. -Tide or Downey regardless of what laundry detergent it actually is, and same with Dawn for dish detergent. -Mio or Propel, not flavored water.
Final score:
2points
#56
Almost forgot "Palm Pilot" for any PDA (obviously before "smart" phones.) And for many older folks, "Bitcoin" for any cryptocurrency, "Nintendo" for any video game console, and "Gameboy" for any portable gaming device.
Final score:
1point
#57
Thomas the train? It’s supposed to be Thomas the Tank Engine. Wait what’s the question?
Final score:
0points
#58
The trucks who came down your street with … farm fresh produce - fresh baked breads & cookies, Ice cream bars & popsicles = we didn't know their company names, they were all simply called "The Veggie Man" - "The Cookie Man! " "The Ice Cream Man!" Then there's the neighborhood Milk (Dairy) man, Postman & Policemen. Reynolds wrap & Saran Wrap! Then Mayo: for them all … Mustard: for them all … Hot sauce: for them all. But... we do have our FAVORITES! And...the family grocery shopper knows them.
Final score:
0points
Huddo's sister 2 years ago
In Australia, the man who sold rabbits door to door was called a Rabbit-o, which was so common we have a rugby team called the Rabbitohs.
#59
Roller lint? Or lint roller?
Final score:
-2points
Jennifer Checki 2 years ago
Lint roller because it’s a roller for lint. “Roller lint” makes no sense.
#60
Neo-Citrine. All I know is it as acetaminophen and tastes like hot lemons.
Final score:
-2points
What do you think ?
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