Comments on: How to find a catolog of "dead brands?"

Question: How to find a catolog of "dead brands?"

mtstover — Wed, 25 Jan 2006 08:41:07 -0800

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?

By: hoboynow

hoboynow — Wed, 25 Jan 2006 08:43:22 -0800

Well, your example might not be the best place to start. Good stuff they make, too!

By: mtstover

mtstover — Wed, 25 Jan 2006 08:48:21 -0800

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.)

By: mikewas

mikewas — Wed, 25 Jan 2006 08:57:07 -0800

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?

By: Miko

Miko — Wed, 25 Jan 2006 08:58:21 -0800

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.

By: holgate

holgate — Wed, 25 Jan 2006 09:37:24 -0800

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.)

By: queue_strategy

queue_strategy — Wed, 25 Jan 2006 10:16:05 -0800

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?

By: lodev

lodev — Wed, 25 Jan 2006 12:03:01 -0800

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.

By: queue_strategy

queue_strategy — Wed, 25 Jan 2006 14:38:29 -0800

excellent -- many thanks :-)

Short list of dead brands

By: Ironmouth

Ironmouth — Wed, 25 Jan 2006 15:55:34 -0800

Where is anyone finding Barbasol? I'm looking everywhere and I can't find it anymore.

By: IndigoJones

IndigoJones — Wed, 25 Jan 2006 17:55:56 -0800

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?)

By: Megafly

Megafly — Wed, 25 Jan 2006 18:16:08 -0800

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.

By: Miko

Miko — Wed, 25 Jan 2006 18:17:48 -0800

Burma Shave for sale.