I’m always amused by shitty corporate attempts to boss people around on language usage. They’re bound to fail, even if you screech “noo! muh traremurrk!” nonstop.
Although… this is smelling a bit like advertisement disguised as “brand awareness”. If that’s correct the HN OP is biting the bait.
Is this a uniquely US thing?
Among Portuguese speakers in my chunk of Brazil I’ve seen at the least the following genericised brands:
nescau [nes.'käʊ̯]- for any milk chocolate. Even from brands not associated with child slavery, like Nestlé.
todinho [tɔ.'dʒi.ɲo] - same as above, with another brand. And now I’m joining the majority who doesn’t remember how to spell this brand. (I think that it uses “ddy” instead of “di”?)
xerox [ʃe.'ɾɔks] - photocopy; highly productive, you’ll also see “xerocar” (verb; to photocopy), “xerocaria” (noun; an establishment where you can photocopy stuff, often found near universities), even “xerocável” (adjective: something that can be easily photocopied, e.g. soft books)
bombril [bõ.'bɾiʊ̯] - steel wool, specially the cheaper ones.
sapólio [sä.'pɔ.ʎo] - any heavy duty liquid soap.
veja ['ve.ʒɐ] - any ammonium-based cleaning agent. The name is the same as a conservative magazine, but that’s a coincidence.
q-boa [ki.'bo.ɐ] - bleach
(Pronunciation for reference, it might vary quite a bit depending on individual. For example I tend to use [ks] for “xerox”, but plenty people add an epenthetic vowel to it.)
I’m always amused by shitty corporate attempts to boss people around on language usage. They’re bound to fail, even if you screech “noo! muh traremurrk!” nonstop.
Although… this is smelling a bit like advertisement disguised as “brand awareness”. If that’s correct the HN OP is biting the bait.
Among Portuguese speakers in my chunk of Brazil I’ve seen at the least the following genericised brands:
(Pronunciation for reference, it might vary quite a bit depending on individual. For example I tend to use [ks] for “xerox”, but plenty people add an epenthetic vowel to it.)