Dona Herweck Rice - Legacy: The Names Behind the Brands

In the telephone game, people share information in a chain. Usually, the message changes a little bit with each share. Life can sometimes be like the telephone game. How does the meaning of something depend on the creator or speaker? How about the receiver or listener? What impact might the telephone-game concept have on branding?99page0009page0009.xhtmlDIG Deeper Are Brand Names Better? Some brand names are so commonplace that their names become the generic names for the products. The companies that own these brands spend time and money defending their brands. Here are several brand names that are usually misused as generic names. Linoleum Linoleum is thought to be the first product whose brand name became the legal generic name for all products like it.1010page0010page0010.xhtmlBrand Generic Name Bubble Wrap inflated cushioning Frisbee flying disc Kleenex facial tissue Memory Stick flash drive Play-Doh nontoxic modeling clay Popsicle ice pop PowerPoint slide-show program Q-tips cotton swab Rollerblade inline skate Scotch tape clear adhesive tape Sharpie permanent marker Styrofoam extruded polystyrene foam Tupperware plastic storage container Velcro hook-and-loop fastener Zamboni ice resurfacer1111page0011page0011.xhtmlThe first Mr. Potato Head was a set of features that kids stuck into a real potato! Games Galore Milton Bradley is the father of board games. He started his company in 1860, naming it after himself. Bradley created some of the most popular board games of all time. These games include some that remain popular today, such as Battleship, Twister, and Yahtzee. In 1984, the Milton Bradley Company was purchased by Hasbro.1212page0012page0012.xhtmlFun and Games Behind every great product or company is someone (or a group of someones) who started it all. Take a look at some of the brands you know and the people you may not. Herman, Hillel, and Henry Hassenfeld decided to go into business together. The brothers sold remnants from textiles. In time, they expanded their business to sell school supplies. Looking to expand again, they started to produce toys. The first toys they made were doctor kits and modeling clay. They became primarily a toy company in the 1940s. Over the years, the company changed its name, finally settling on Hasbro, Inc. The name is short for Hassenfeld Brothers. Their first toy to be advertised on TV is still sold Mr. Potato Head. Hairy Situation Milton Bradley got his start as a printer. One of his biggest successes was a lithograph of Abraham Lincoln. But when Lincoln grew a beard, sales halted for the clean-shaven image that Bradley was selling. After that, Bradley switched to printing board games.1313page0013page0013.xhtmlToy Chest Harold "Matt" Matson and Elliot Handler were in the plastics business together. They made decorative items and jewelry. The two worked in the garage of the home that Elliot shared with his wife, Ruth. She was the company salesperson. In 1945, the men combined the names Matt and Elliot to get Mattel . One day, spying some wood scraps, Elliot felt inspired to make dollhouse furniture. Soon after, he purchased the rights to the company from Matt. Elliot and Ruth decided to focus their company on toys and one of the biggest toy companies in the world was born! Uke It Up After officially becoming a toy company, Mattel launched the Uke-A-Doodle, a toy ukulele. It was the first musical toy they produced. Children could strum the four strings, but the music wasn't great. In 1949, a new Uke-A-Doodle came out. It still had four strings, but it also had something new. There was a crank on the outside and when turned, it played, Oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone.1414page0014page0014.xhtml