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 2012-201412jatin.agrawal@ibsindia.org