#together we can lose major corporations a shitload of money by making trademarks unenforceable

[got-no-skill]

I actually developed a semi-consistent methodology for this, because wrt reducing the harm to society it isn't quite so simple. Thanks to the bonkers patchwork quilt of modern legislation and medieval common law that comprises most Western legal systems, it is often better in terms of harm reduction to use the brand name.

The name of a product is often the most valuable aspect of a product. Companies can and do charge exorbitant fees for third parties to use the names of major brands in semi-related merchandise (think logos on shirts or products flavored to taste like other products.)

With that established, there's a phenomenon called "genericization" where the brand name of a product is so widely used and synonymous with the product that it becomes the generic name of the product. While I hate to give the obvious market leader free advertising, there's a very strong upside to associating the generic product with the most successful individual brand name: If the brand name is sufficiently synonymous with the product, a company can lose their trademark, meaning that anyone can use the brand name to refer to the product more broadly. This is particularly bad for the company that makes a genercized product because a trademark otherwise has an indefinite lifespan: as long as the company is in business (provided the name hasn't been genericized), a trademark is enforceable. This is also why you'll hear companies use phrases in their actual advertising like, "I am stuck on Band-Aid Brand 'cuz Band-Aid's stuck on me," they have to emphasize that yes, we're a brand and not an obvious generic.

SO, to that end, I only use the most popular brand name of a product when I am referring to an off-brand: it's not Puffs, it's Kleenex; it's not antibacterial ointment, it's Neosporin; it's not charcuterie, it's Lunchables. Conversely, I'm not buying Coke, I'm buying a cola; I'm not buying Oreos, I'm buying sandwich cookies; I'm not driving a Jeep, I'm driving an off-roader or a 4×4.

Granted in practice it's substantially harder than merely forcing the brand name on any generics to get a product genericized and a trademark rendered unenforceable, and companies fight against this phenomenon zealously (again, Stuck on Band-Aid BRAND) but it can be done.

no idea where i was going with this but i abandoned it at the most disconcerting moment possible