By Yusuf Boluwatife
The long existence of some businesses in Nigeria have made them household names. Having become top flights in their various industries, these brands have evolved into generic names commonly used by Nigerians.
Listed below are 6 of such brands.
Indomie
Indomie is a product of the Indonesian company Indofood in partnership with the Tolaram Group in Nigeria. Being the longest existing noodles brand in the country, Indomie not only enjoys a business advantage but has since become the generic name for its industry. A typical Nigerian calls all noodles products, regardless of brands, Indomie.
Maltina
Maltina, like every other product of its kind, is a beverage drink. However, most Nigerians refer to other products such as Amstel Malta, Malta guiness, etc as Maltina.
Maggi
The generic name for this product is seasoning cubes. It can, however, be said that it is uneasy to differentiate between this more-than-a-century old product to other seasoning cubes. Maggi has since become the generic name for other seasoning cubes products such as: star, Royco, Chicken flavor etc.
Pampers
This product appeared in Nigeria in the early 1990s, firstly as a gender-specified diaper but later as a unisex diaper. Interestingly, most Nigerians refer to other diapers such as Molfix, Huggies etc as Pampers. It is important to note that the generic name for these products is diapers.
Gala
Gala, the first sausage roll to be sold in large quantities in Nigeria, is a product of UAC foods. However, the brand has gained special recognition in the country, as most Nigerians refer to other susage rolls such as Super Bite, Rite, Bigi as Gala.
Closeup
This is a popular toothpaste commonly used by Nigerians for its availablity and affordable prices. In 1967, Closeup was introduced to Nigeria by the company Unilever — making it to have existed for over half a century. Most Nigerians have gotten accustomed to referring to all toothpastes as Close up.
