How to find a catolog of "dead brands?"

January 25, 2006 8:41 AM

I'm interested in buying / resuscitating a "dead brand". Something fairly old, but that would be interesting to consumers. Think Barbasol, or something like that. Any ideas on where to find a good catalog of expired consumer products that have been forgotten?
posted by mtstover to work & money (12 comments total)

Well, your example might not be the best place to start. Good stuff they make, too!
posted by hoboynow at 8:43 AM on January 25, 2006

Yes, I know it exists. But it was essentially "dead" before a private equity shop bought it from Pfizer and started reviving it... (Thus the example.)
posted by mtstover at 8:48 AM on January 25, 2006

If you go the to US Patent and Trademark Office, you can do a trademark search and look for "inactive" registrations. You might need to start the search with a particular term or phrase.

Are you thinking of buying the rights to use?
posted by mikewas at 8:57 AM on January 25, 2006

Isn't this Restoration Hardware's entire business model?

I remember reading a piece on them, which used the Crosley turntable as an example. They found an essentially unchanged brand that wasn't making any money, acquired it, packaged it in cute retro-style packages, and brought it to a new audience. A walk through any of their stores reveals more of the same: old school brands of silver polish, candy, fake snow, soap.

Are you looking for something that's actually still in production? Or are you loooking for a completely dead brand which you would revive from scratch? If the latter, I'd start by paging through some 30s and 40s magazines.
posted by Miko at 8:58 AM on January 25, 2006

One place might be eBay, with a search for 'vintage' and the name of a particular product. You'll probably turn up a number of local or even national brand names that have been lost to the mists of time.

(My favourite revival? Conway Stewart pens.)
posted by holgate at 9:37 AM on January 25, 2006

Not a comprehensive list, but some good discussion of the topic and a few short lists:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1528919.stm

Sorry for the clumsy URL -- maybe someone would be so kind as to tell me how to make it appear as a highlighted text link?
posted by queue_strategy at 10:16 AM on January 25, 2006

queue_strategy:
Just enter the following code (or have it generated by the "link" button at the bottom of the comment box):
<a href="http://www.example.com/your/url/">your text</a>

this will generate a clickable link with "your text" as the text. - it even works in the live preview.
posted by lodev at 12:03 PM on January 25, 2006

excellent -- many thanks :-)

Short list of dead brands
posted by queue_strategy at 2:38 PM on January 25, 2006

Where is anyone finding Barbasol? I'm looking everywhere and I can't find it anymore.
posted by Ironmouth at 3:55 PM on January 25, 2006

Fizzies!

Actually, on reflection, they're probably best left forgotten. (I'm sorry, do you just want off hand suggestions, or are you looking for information on something specific that you do not wish to name?)
posted by IndigoJones at 5:55 PM on January 25, 2006

A better example might be Burma-Shave wich is not sold anymore.

the thing to do is hire an IP lawyer to find out who owns the brand and make them an offer for outright sale or license.

A guy did exactly that and is selling Westinghouse TV's now, they are identical to many other Tiawanese TV's but he has instant name brand recognition with baby boomers.
posted by Megafly at 6:16 PM on January 25, 2006

Burma Shave for sale.
posted by Miko at 6:17 PM on January 25, 2006