Don't Say Velcro
Why Hacker News recommends it
HN cites it as the go-to example of a company defending its trademark, and many also find it funny.
What it is
Velcro Brand's legal team makes a short, humorous ad asking people not to use "velcro" as a noun or verb and to say hook and loop instead. It is a tongue-in-cheek lesson in defending a trademark against genericization.
Recommended by 3 HN commenters across 3 different months, 2019 to 2025.
What Hacker News said
Strong rec Stratoscope · 2022-09 · on “YKK zippers: Why so many designers use them (2012)”
That is a very cute page. I like their attitude. And the video at the top of the page is absolutely wonderful. It's the funniest thing I've seen in a long time. Watch it with good headphones or speakers and the sound up. Direct link: [this video]
Strong rec compiler-guy · 2023-12 · on “Don't Say Velcro (2017)”
If you've never seen the video ad that went along with this campaign, it's hilarious and worth watching, as is the follow up. I love the good humor about the whole thing. And it has made their campaign stick in ways that other similar campaigns have not. [this video] [LINK]
Recommends _jal · 2020-04 · on “'Call of Duty' wins First Amendment victory over use of Humvees”
Here is Velcro's lawyers telling you to call those other brands 'hook and loop' in a surprisingly straightforward, honest and amusing way. [this video]
Cites frosted-flakes · 2019-10 · on “LegoOS: A Disseminated, Distributed Operating System”
They don't want their trademark turning into a noun (or a verb), just like Velcro doesn't want their trademark to be used to refer to "hook and loop" [1]. It's not unreasonable for them to try to protect their trademark. 1 - [this video]
Cites SushiHippie · 2024-02 · on “You Can Call the Super Bowl the "Super Bowl"”
Is this something like velcro? Where they created an ad to tell people to stop using the name velcro because they'll lose the trademark otherwise? [this video]
Cites SushiHippie · 2024-02 · on “List of Generic and Genericized Trademarks”
After reading the post about Super Bowl [0] I remembered the Velcro advertisement [1] and wondered what else are genericized trademarks. I think everyone is aware that Velcro, Kleenex, post-it are trademarks, even though they are used for off-brand products colloquially. In Germany people also use Tempo, Tesa, Edding and so on, but most are aware that these are brand names. But I was surprised to find out that names like escalator, cellophane, flip phone, even dry ice, trampoline, dumpster were once brand names! [0] [LINK] [1] [this video] Past submissions: List of Generic Trademarks - [LINK] - Nov 2021 (0 comments) List of Generic and Genericized Trademarks - [LINK] - Feb 2021 (3 comments) List
Cites ian-g · 2024-05 · on “Adobe Photoshop Source Code (2013)”
Much more effectively, Velcro's been trying the same thing: [this video] It still won't work in the long run, but I'm very aware now that Velcro is a trademarked name.
Cites cosmotic · 2025-01 · on “Oracle Will Not Voluntarily Withdraw JavaScript Trademark”
JavaScript can refer to many different similar languages, the runtimes, the standard library, etc. People using JavaScript without getting permission are potentially infringing on Oracle's trademark. Many companies with trademarks tenaciously defend the trademark to protect it from being revoked. This doesn't appear to be the case with JavaScript. After usage becomes widespread, a company risks losing their trademark because they did not actively enforce the use of the trademark. This video explains it from Velcro's perspective [this video]