The legal and marketing departments behind the Velcro® trademark are attempting to avoid genericide of the mark through consumer education and brand awareness. This week, Velcro Companies released a catchy tune lauding the company’s trademarked brand name and urging consumers to only use VELCRO to refer to actual Velcro products.
As we have discussed on the blog in the past, trademark genericide is a fatal result that occurs due to a brand’s high level of success. When a brand’s trademark becomes the generic name for certain goods or service, genericide can occur. For example, the term “escalator” previously was an actual brand name. Now, every mechanical moving staircase is referred to by consumers as an escalator. “Aspirin” suffered a similar fate.
Genericide can be devastating for a company’s trademark portfolio and many companies have successfully taken steps through consumer education to prevent genericide. BAND-AID has its jingle, “I am stuck on Band-Aid brand cause Band-Aids stuck on me,” to remind consumers that BAND-AID is actually the name of the brand and not the name of any adhesive bandage with gauze in the center. Chrysler LLC launched its “[t]hey invented ‘SUV’ because they can’t call them Jeeps®” campaign to remind consumers that not all SUVs are JEEPS. Through extensive consumer education, both brands have been successful, thus far, at preventing genericide of their famous marks.
To view the “Don’t Say Velcro” video, see below. Keep fighting the good fight against trademark misuse, Velcro.
