Many brand names have always been part of our everyday language. We explain to you what is behind Tempo, Ritter Sport and Co.
Instead of handkerchiefs we say "Tempos", instead of gummy bears "Haribos". Some brand names have sneaked their way into our vocabulary quite unconsciously. But what is actually behind these famous names?
tempo
Of course there are hundreds of manufacturers who produce handkerchiefs – but the company "Tempo" has burned itself into our language like no other. The brothers Oskar Rosenfelder and Emil Rosenfelder founded the company in 1929, thus developing the first German brand for paper handkerchiefs. The brothers came up with the brand name "Tempo" because of the zeitgeist of the 1920s: Both felt that times were fast moving.
Ritter Sport
Who does not know the well-known slogan of the popular German chocolate "Ritter Sport"? "Square. Practical. Good." But why is the chocolate called that? In 1932, Clara Ritter had the idea of developing a sports chocolate that, despite the weight of a normal bar of chocolate, should fit in every sports jacket pocket – this is how the chocolate square came about. While the candy was initially called "Sport Chocolate", the name "Ritter Sport Chocolate" was created in 1970.
Haribo
The name of the popular gummy bear company is made up of the name of the company's founder and the location of the company's headquarters: Hans Riegel and Bonn. The popular sweets have been produced in the former German capital since 1920.
Nutella
Breakfast without Nutella bread? For many people unthinkable! The name of the popular nut and nougat cream is made up of the English word "Nut" (German: nut) and "ella", an Italian diminutive form – in combination the brand name means something like nuts.
Milka
The name of the German-Swiss chocolate is made up of the ingredients used, milk and cocoa. In 1972 the Milka cow took on a purple color like chocolate.
if.
What do the two lower case letters "o.b." actually? Is that an abbreviation? Yes! "o.b" means "without a bandage". Tampons came onto the market in the 1940s, but because hygiene products still had to be bought in secret at the time, an inconspicuous name was invented, as the manufacturer explains on its website.
cola
There are now many varieties of cola, but regardless of the brand of the dark brown drink, everyday parlance calls it cola – derived from the classic Coca-Cola, the name of which is made up of the coca leaves and cola nuts used.
Tape
It doesn't matter whether it's hanging up at the poster, wrapping gifts or sealing packaging: We use Tesa. It doesn't matter whether the transparent adhesive tape really belongs to Tesa SE, a subsidiary of Beiersdorf AG, or whether it comes from another brand. "Tesa" (Tesafilm) is an artificial word that was created in 1906 by Elsa Tesmer, who worked as the head of the office at Beiersdorf until her wedding in 1908 (then married Karlau). In a brand name competition, she put the term "Tesa" together from the two first letters of her last name and the two last letters of her first name. By the way: The word "Tesafilm" is even a brand name in the Duden.
Sources used: own research