That's 'Tissue' to You

Last week while on Twitter I stumbled upon this screenshot of a Kleenex(R) Brand Tissue ad on Ad Age. The ad reads, "Kleenex should always be followed by (R) and the word 'Tissue'. Help us keep our identity, ours." (Click the image below to see the actual ad.)



While this problem can't be new, it looks like Kleenex(R) is confronting the genericized brand name issue.

It seems the Kleenex brand is trying to remind consumers that Kleenex brand tissues are a brand in a product category, and not the product category itself. Kleenex is not synonymous with tissue.

Similar brands that have faced such problems, Xerox, whose name became synonymous with making a copy. Even though the Xerox Corporation's effort to set their name apart and reinforce the word 'photocopy', xerox still ended up in the dictionary. The term xerox, as in to photocopy, seems to be used less today, which can probably be attributed to the rise in electronic documents.

Band-Aid brand also encountered similar genericized name issues as band-aid became synonymous with adhesive bandages of all sorts sizes, types, and brands.

I find it interesting that the Kleenex brand has recently employed such tactics for setting apart their brand. I wonder what suddenly spurred them to act on the issue. (This is the only ad I've from the company with such direction, but it's always possible that I haven't been looking in the right places.)