New TiVo radio ad
ZatzNotFunny posted this last week, but I never got around to sharing it here. Dave managed to record the new TiVo radio spot, which seems to be designed to serve the dual purpose of promoting TiVo as a product and as a brand with the new slogan “It’s not a TiVo, unless it’s a TiVo.” Which is kind of dorky, but they’re fighting the trend of people using ‘TiVo’ to refer to any DVR. (Which bugs me a lot too.)
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November 20th, 2006 at 15:20
They’re trying to take steps to protect their trademark. If a trademarked term becomes a synonym for a generic version and no longer identifies a specific brand, the company can no longer enforce its trademark.
Xerox does the same thing — if someone uses “xerox” when they mean “photocopy” in a newspaper or magazine article, or, God help them, a dictionary, they get a nice letter from Xerox’s attorneys reminding them that Xerox means only Xerox brand copiers and please don’t use “xerox” as a noun (or verb) to mean just any photocopier, thankyouverymuch.
Murphy Beds lost their trademark when the term became synonomous with any brand of bed that folded into a wall. Sony was seriously concerned about it when “Walkman” started meaning any generic portable tape player. Kleenex and Frigidaire still have their trademarks but also tend to get touchy about it from time to time.
TiVo’s brand is everything, and I don’t blame them for being as aggressive about protecting it as they can.
November 22nd, 2006 at 09:49
Personally, I think it should be legal to shoot anyone who says they got a TiVo from their cable company. Think of it as a little chlorine in the gene pool.