The Rise and Fall of Matchbox's Toy-Car Empire

As an American growing up in the late 70s/early 80s, we called all die-cast metal cars “matchbox cars,” even though many (all?) of them were Hot Wheels. I never knew there were two competing brands.

Growing up in a french speaking country, we'd call all ballpoint pens "bic".

Because of this:

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bic_(entreprise)

Up to this day many still say, on a daily basis, say, a "bic bleu" (blue ballpen) or "bic noir" (black ballpen).

And virtually everyone french speaking calls a refrigerator (fridge) a "frigo".

In Brazilian Portuguese:

* Cornstarch is called maizena

* Adhesive bandages are called bandaid

* Instant noodles are called miojo

* Yogurt sold in small pots are called danone

* Chewing gum is called chiclete (from Chiclets)

* Photocopies are xerox

* Bouillion is knorr

* Glass plates are pyrex

* Scooters are lambretta

* Soluble cofee is nescafe

* Sunglasses are rayban

And same goes for teflon, jacuzzi, velcro, tupperware, vaseline, botox, googling, ...etc, etc