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[MARCH 11,
2004]
This weekly column is
all about the little-known stories behind well-known inventions.
Today we reveal a few of the little-known stories behind some
well-known trademarks.
A trademark identifies the brand name of a product or company. It is
initially shown with a small "TM" symbol and is later shown with an
"R" inside of a circle, ®,
once it's been registered with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office.
Have a
Coke and a smile
The most famous trademark in the world
belongs to Coca-Cola. It was Atlanta pharmacist and Civil War
veteran John Pinkerton who invented the soft drink in 1886, but his
friend and bookkeeper, F.M. Robinson, gave the drink its name.
Most people know that Coca-Cola
originally contained cocaine extracts as well as caffeine from the
kola nut, hence the name. OK, that's the last time I ever use the
word "hence" in a story, I promise.
While Coke made a big mistake by
introducing New Coke in 1985, they made an even bigger mistake when
they decided to turn down an opportunity to purchase the Pepsi brand
in the early 1900s. You can't really blame Coke, though, because
there were a number of small cola companies back then, and there was
no way to know that Pepsi would someday become its biggest
competitor.
Get your
kicks on Route 66
The employees of most companies can
tell you the story of how their company got its name. Many of the
employees of Phillips 66 cannot. The story behind the Phillips 66
name has many possible explanations -- and none of them have any
basis in truth.
According to the book "Famous American
Trademarks" these explanations include:
--"Frank Phillips was 66 years old when
started the company." He was actually 44 at the time.
--"The 66 referred to the octane level
of the gasoline." The truth is that octane ratings weren't adopted
until five years later.
--"The company basketball team won by
66 points the night before the name was chosen." The actual margin
of victory was 18 points.
--"The first Phillips station sold
6,600 gallons of gas the first day." Nice try, but it sold 12,000
gallons. Besides, wouldn't the company have decided on a name
before it opened for business?
[to top of
second column in this article]
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So how did the company get its name?
The idea to use "66" in the name had
been suggested earlier, but it was rejected. It made sense, given
the company's close proximity to Route 66 and the fact that their
"fuel gravity" was close to 66.
Eventually, a Phillips employee was
testing the new fuel when he remarked, "This car goes like 60 (miles
per hour)."
The driver replied, "Sixty, nothing.
We're doing 66."
Where did this happen?
On Route 66, near Tulsa.
Overnight
success
Federal Express founder Fred Smith was
a Yale student in 1965 when he submitted a term paper for his
economics class about his idea of an overnight delivery service. He
was a member of the highly secret and highly selective Skull and
Bones club, the same club that included President George W. Bush
during his days at Yale.
FedEx, the company that was founded
with the highest amount of venture capital financing in history at
the time and now delivers more than $20 billion in annual sales, is
the premier next-day package delivery company in the world. Like
Coca-Cola, its trademark is so well-known that it has become a
generic brand name.
As for its founder, Fred Smith, what
grade did he receive on that term paper?
He got a C.
So even if
your favorite brands include such little-known secrets as having
cocaine extract in its original formula or having the origin of the
company name remain unknown by its employees, or if its business
plan received a C grade, the brand could still do just fine. In
future stories, we'll look at some additional trademarks as well as
some interesting logos.
[Paul
Niemann]
Invention Mysteries is written each
week by Paul Niemann. He can be reached at
niemann7@inventionmysteries.com.
© Copyright
Paul Niemann 2004
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