Yes, I xeroxed this ad to aid discussion
Xerox® has been placing ads in the Hollywood Reporter begging the entertainment industry not to use the Xerox trademark as a verb or a noun. At first, I thought this was a tongue-in-cheek joke--which would have made for a pretty great ad. But on close reading, they seem serious.
Never mind that the ad gives the reader zero reason to help Xerox. Never mind the strange, circular use of puns that reference their zipper example ("come undone," "keep it together" - uh, yuk yuks all around, I guess). No, let's not worry about those executional things. At the heart of the brief: Xerox doesn't want people to use the word "xerox."
It's as if it's the 80s, and Xerox is that punk-ass kid saying, "That's my name. Don't wear it out."
But in this era of proliferation, to be so dominant as to be generic is an extremely enviable position. We should only be so lucky as to be the standard by which all others are judged. We google things we want to know about. We windex our windows and shove our leftovers in tupperware, or if the item is too big, we saran-wrap it.
In fact, I doubt that Nintendo is particularly pleased that thumb strains are now mostly blackberry thumbs rather than nintendo thumbs--even as the term carries a negative connotation.
Don't cry about your place in the world, Xerox. Poor baby.. it'll be ok. Here, have a kleenex.
P.S. To Hollywood producers: please feel free to use the name of this blog as a verb or a noun. For example, you can freely say that "Xerox was brandnged today over the use of the word xerox." I promise, I won't send you cease and desist letters.
Recent Comments