When I heard Kleenex tissues will no longer be sold in Canada, I first thought “Wow, you’re kidding”.  But it’s true.  Kleenex has been around since the 1920’s and has been a staple in Canadian households and the name has become synonymous with the product.  You don’t ask someone to pass you a tissue, you ask if they can pass you a Kleenex, regardless of what brand is in reach.  The makers of Kleenex, Kimberley-Clark, says they have been faced with some “unique complexities” on the Kleenex business.  I was surprised to find out that the #1 facial tissues brand in Canada is not Kleenex, it’s Scotties, and by a wide margin, Kleenex is #2 but just barely ahead of Royale, plus major retailers like Costco and Walmart also carry their own brands.  I wonder how long after it’s gone, we’ll continue to say, “Please pass me a Kleenex”?  I remember the days when in winter we said we went “skidooing” rather than snowmobiling.  We had a “jacuzzi” as against a hot tub.  We call a beverage insulator  a “koozie” which is a brand name.  We always say” PowerPoint presentation”, but unless it’s actually made in Microsoft PowerPoint, it’s just a presentation.  Do we play table tennis or “ping pong”, which is actually a brand of table tennis tables?  Don’t we refer to any plastic container that holds leftovers as Tupperware?  We usually call any kind of clear plastic cling wrap “saran wrap”.   And what is a frozen treat on a stick other than a “popsicle”?  Sadly, I can’t seem to find the original double popsicles I loved as a boy, cherry, grape, lemon-lime and orange. 

That’s Coffeetalk.  I’m Vic Dubois.