History Main / BrandNameTakeover

* Tannoy (public address system): in the UK.

* Sellotape (clear adhesive tape): Used in the UK, as well as in many former UK territories. Gave rise to the MemeticMutation "sticky-back plastic" on the UK TV show ''Series/BluePeter'', since, being on Creator/TheBBC, they weren't allowed to use brand names or trademarks.

* Indomie (instant noodles): in Jordan and Egypt and likely the rest of the Middle East due to the fact that the Indonesian produced Indomie instant noodles are halal, which makes it popular for consumption amongst Muslims both in the Middle East and Indonesia. Other instant noodle brands are either not halal or contain pork, which can never be halal, assuring Indomie's dominance.

* Taylor Ham (a form of processed pork product native to and beloved in UsefulNotes/NewJersey and legally termed [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pork_roll pork roll]]): In North Jersey and among some in Central Jersey, pork roll is called "Taylor ham" irrespective of whether it is actually Taylor-brand pork roll. This is because "pork roll" was a hastily-chosen name for the meat after the federal government ruled that it could not be marketed as ham; South Jersey went with the new official name, while North Jersey kept the older usage, and Central Jersey (where the stuff is ''from'') uses both.

* TOI TOI (porta-potty): in Poland. Also gaining popularity in Malaysia because a company with a similar name is now distributing porta-potties in the country (also, the name is catchy, and it has a cute little devil as its mascot).

* Allen wrench (hex key): L-shaped, handleless screwdriver with a hexagonal cross-section, originally mass-produced by the Allen Manufacturing Company.

* Allen key (hex key): L-shaped, handleless screwdriver with a hexagonal cross-section.

* Stratocaster: any type of electric guitar with three single coil pickups and two body cutouts. Originally Fender trademark. Similarly, Gibson's trademark Les Paul has diluted to refer to any guitar with single cutout body of two different woods and two humbuckers.

'''Randal:''' [[HypocriticalHumor No spine of Jell-O here, my friend.]]

** Inbus/[[SpellMyNameWithAnS Imbus]] key: In Germany and the Netherlands for the same tool. Commonly misspelled with an "m" because the pronounciation is very similar.

* Sapporo Ichiban was one of the first brands of [[UsefulNotes/RamenAsDehydratedNoodles instant ramen]] imported into Canada, and many Canadians refer to the dish as "ichiban", regardless of the actual brand. The word itself is Japanese for "number one".

* Polaroid (instant photographs): Not made by the Polaroid Corporation anymore, probably because the invention of digital cameras has made the concept completely obsolete. ''Not'' obsolete is Polaroid (polarizing plastic film), which the Polaroid corporation was named for.

* Indomie (instant noodles): in Jordan and Egypt.

* SPAM (tinned luncheon meat). We of course have ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'' to blame for this one becoming a common noun/verb/adjective. Hormel (who own the trademark) are fine with it as long as a distinction is drawn between SPAM (upper case; their product) and spam (sentence case; unwanted advertising), and that visual images of their logo, product etc. are not used for the "spam" meaning. Heck, they even have some cross-merchandising going on, with cans of Spam bearing Terry Gilliam's artwork and promoting the Theatre/{{Spamalot}} Broadway musical.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', automobiles are largely referred to as "Satomobiles", even if they're not an actual Satomobile. "Satoboile" refers to a specific car brand started by Hiroshi Sato.

* "Confort" is used to refer to any kind of toilet paper in Chile after a popular brand (Must be [[EarWorm the jingle]]). In a similar vein, every paper towel is referred as "Nova".

** "Band Aid" is a well-known brand in the UK (hence the PunnyName of the unrelated famine relief charity the Band Aid Trust), but not usually used generically. In the UK these are known as "sticking plasters" or simply "plasters", and the equivalent genericised trademark is Elastoplast.

* Canola (rapeseed oil with low erucic acid content) was originally a trademark of the Rapeseed Association of Canada; the name stands for "'''Can'''adian '''o'''il, '''l'''ow '''a'''cid". The name is now used by every brand who produces that kind of oil even if they don't produce it in Canada because they don't want to turn off customers with the unfortunate sounding "rapeseed oil".

** In the UK it's known as Cling Film.

* Girl Scouts (girl guides); refers primarily to the Girls Scouts of the USA

* Hot Wheels[=/=]Matchbox (toy racing cars, specifically "1:64" scale models of real cars); Both are registered to Mattel. Unless, that is, you were in the UK before Mattel acquired Matchbox in the mid-1990s, when Matchbox was far more commonly used, along with Corgi.
* Hula Hoop (plastic hoop toy) oddly has ''two'' completely separate applications in the UK, as Hula Hoops are also the most popular variety of the snackfood known generically as "potato rings", in the potato crisps/[[SeparatedByACommonLanguage chips]] market.

* Play-Doh (children's modelling compound). Plasticine in the UK and many other commonwealth countries.

* Port-a-Potty (portable toilet), in the USA