Brand names becoming generic sounds like success until you’re at Walmart. You reach for Q-tips. The generic cotton swabs are two dollars cheaper. Same aisle. Same shelf. Almost identical package. Your hand hovers between them. The brand won every battle to own that word. Now the word helps everyone else sell.

The paradox destroys premium pricing. Private label copies the font, matches the colors, positions next to the original, charges less. Heinz, Coke, Kleenex, Tupperware became the words consumers use, but that just teaches shoppers what to look for. Anyone can deliver it cheaper. New Coke proved even giants panic under pressure—Pepsi Challenge scared them into changing their formula to taste like the competitor. James Dyson found the crack in Hoover’s armor: people wanted to see the dirt they collected, not just achieve suction. Retailers hated it because it killed bag sales.

Discover why AI defaults to Heinz when generating ketchup bottles. Learn how Frisbee patents protect aerodynamic design from imitators. Understand what Ziploc’s patent control teaches about defending premium pricing.

GUEST: Tony Chapman | CHATTER THAT MATTERS

Originally aired on2026-01-14