Is Tupperware still a brand?

A thorny question. 

In their 17 September 2024 announcement, TUPPERWARE declared that they are ‘an iconic global brand’ but that they have had to initiate proceedings in the United States Bankruptcy Court. The business hopes to find a buyer and aims to continue operating, but TUPPERWARE clearly faces a number of challenges.  

For example, within the opening sentences of the BBC's report on the bankruptcy they note that “The 78-year-old firm has become so synonymous with food storage that many people use its name when referring to any old plastic container”. The BBC are describing ‘genericide’ - the term for when a trade mark becomes the generic word for a certain type of product itself (e.g. plastic food storage containers), rather than serving to identify the maker of that product (i.e. the brand). If a trade mark has become non-distinctive and can no longer indicate the origin of products, then it can no longer function as a trade mark that identifies a brand.

In my previous article on TUPPERWARE in April 2023 I questioned whether the brand could survive tumbling sales and the slide towards genericide. It appears they are struggling to do so. If the business is not careful the trade mark may be headed for the ‘Genericide Hall of Fame’, featuring other former trade marks such as:

• SELLOTAPE
• TRAMPOLINE
• HOVERCRAFT
• VIDEOTAPE
• FLIP PHONE
• DRY ICE

As I noted last year, if the TUPPERWARE trade mark's well-known status has spilled over into genericism this will threaten its validity and decrease its financial value - both spelling further troubles for the struggling brand.