Jeep is a generic term that Willys co-opted then spent years turning into a brand. That gives them and their successor companies exactly zero right to bitch when people use the term genericly as far as I'm concerned.
This is different from a situation where the brand came first (like Kleenex, Xerox or Coke). -Adam Paul Stenquist wrote: > But Jeep is a trademarked brand, and it's a valuable one. So if you > own the trademark, you do your best to protect it. It's just good > business. What should have been or could have been is irrelevant. > Willys made it a brand. American Motors and, later, Chrysler invested > in it and will of course want to protect it. > Paul > On Nov 25, 2006, at 12:10 AM, Adam Maas wrote: > >> Part of the problem there is that Jeep should never have been a >> brand in >> the first place. In fact it originated as a WW1 term for an unproven >> vehicle, although how it came to be applied to the 1/4 ton 4x4 >> truck of >> WW2 is speculation. >> >> Of course, the exact same thing has happened with Hummer (which >> originated as military slang for a HMMWV). >> >> -Adam >> >> >> Paul Stenquist wrote: >>> I agree. Substitutions are a problem in modern society. As are brand >>> impeachments. I worked on Jeep advertising, and one of our major >>> problems was that "Jeep" had become a generic name for 4x4 SUVs. This >>> was particularly true in Europe. We even did an advertising campaign >>> aimed specifically at correcting this. It was for Europe and South >>> America only. Each had a picture of the three Jeep models was >>> pictured at an archetypical American location. The headlines read >>> something like: "There's only one Grand Canyon. There's only one >>> Jeep. >>> Paul >>> On Nov 24, 2006, at 6:33 PM, Bob Shell wrote: >>> >>>> On Nov 24, 2006, at 6:14 PM, Shel Belinkoff wrote: >>>> >>>>> No, it's not. A Coke is NOT Pepsi. They are different formulas >>>>> and taste >>>>> different. When I order a Coke, I don't want a Pepsi. The >>>>> converse is >>>>> also true. Try telling Coke that it's the same as Pepsi. If you >>>>> tell me >>>>> Coke, I expect Coke, not Pepsi. >>>>> >>>>> If you want to argue minutia, make a good solid argument, not this >>>>> specious >>>>> soft drink crap. Next you'll be telling us that a 7-up is the same >>>>> as a >>>>> Sprite, and that Budweiser is a Corona, and a Land Rover is a Jeep >>>>> (Don't >>>>> let Daimler-Chrysler catch you ... they are very protective of >>>>> their >>>>> trademark name). >>>> What makes me royally mad is to ask for butter in a restaurant >>>> and be >>>> brought margerine. They are not the same, no matter how many blank- >>>> faced young waitresses try to convince me otherwise. Similarly, if I >>>> ask for cream for my coffee, I mean something that came from a cow, >>>> not some partially-hydrogenated soybean oil crapola. >>>> >>>> Bob >>>> >>>> -- >>>> PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List >>>> [email protected] >>>> http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net >>> >> >> -- >> PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List >> [email protected] >> http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > > -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
