paragiraffe I love arugula.

the one where i talk about fruit roll-ups

I have a new vice, and my new vice is the fruit roll-up. They make me feel like a kid, and I can honestly say right now I’d rather eat a fruit roll-up than a box of chocolates. They’re not even that bad for you. Fifty calories per serving, very low in fat, twelve grams of (empty) carbs. The problem with eating fruit roll-ups as an adult is that one roll is never enough. And the fact that my electric-blue fruit roll up was made from real fruit is a little disturbing. Also, interestingly enough, Fruit Roll-Ups is actually a brand name that is synonymous with its product, kind of like Kleenex, although I’m sure the term fruit roll-up was used before General Mills trademarked it. Call me crazy, but I thought there was a specific term for that brand name/product relationship, but Google couldn’t find me one.

Actually, I have two new vices, and the second one is listening to the Ambient radio stations on iTunes. I partook of both my new vices while composing this entry.


11 Comments

fruit roll-ups are the best: i have 2 kid brothers, so they’re always around the house. and when half of them are gone after just a day, i can blame them.

Posted by kim on 25 January 2004 @ 2am

my new vice is drinking. it is fun. try it sometime. in fact, I am tried it earlier and hence this entry. you may continue.

Posted by lala on 25 January 2004 @ 3am

I believe it is simply called the “Ginaric Name”…err…”Gineric Name”….
B&N link

maura: that’s generic, rick. with an e. and not what i was looking for.

Posted by Rick on 25 January 2004 @ 9am

I agree with you…there is a word for that, and I heard it not all that long ago.

BUT! The fruit roll-up thing…I understand your pain. See, when I was at Purdue and would come home, my dad would take me to Sam’s Club and buy me whatever I’d wanted…I’d come home with an industrial-sized box of 48 fruit roll-ups.

They were gone in two days.

Posted by Meredith on 25 January 2004 @ 11am

I thought there was something severely wrong with me. I am able to go through an entire box of fruit roll-up’s in like two days. That wonderful fruity sensation wrapping around the contours of your mouth… it’s absolutely wonderful.

Posted by Tim on 25 January 2004 @ 11am

grrrr….your right :)

I will continue looking into it though, because I believe there is an actual word for it other than Generic Name :D

Posted by Rick on 25 January 2004 @ 12pm

Genericization

ps- fruit roll-ups are gross

Posted by Adam on 25 January 2004 @ 2pm

Darnit, Maura! It’s storming outside but all I want to do is run to the grocery store to buy fruit rollups. And it’s all your fault!

Posted by Kelly on 25 January 2004 @ 4pm

Genericide: The process by which a trademark becomes synonymous with its associated product, to the point it may cease to be protectable. Although Xerox was once a brand of copy machines, it is now used to refer to any copied document, and the word’s usage has extended to a verb form: to xerox something means ‘to photocopy it’.

Posted by Erika on 25 January 2004 @ 8pm

P.S. Fruit Rollups are AWESOME and count as one of your 5 daily servings of fruits and veggies if you eat the whole box.

Posted by erika on 25 January 2004 @ 8pm

I can go through a box of strawberry fruit roll-ups in an hour or two. Too bad I can’t buy any, being snowed in my house ;o

Posted by britt on 27 January 2004 @ 3pm