About This Quiz
It's said that most Americans can identify fewer than a half-dozen trees by sight, but more than a hundred corporate logos. Okay, sue us... we live in a consumer culture, where even TV and movies are full of product placement.
And, to be fair, there's an awful lot of clever advertising and sloganeering that makes products stick in our heads. "Where's the beef?" was such a big hit for Wendy's that Walter Mondale, a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in the 1980s, used it to criticize his opponent's policy ideas. In the same vein, older TV viewers can't shake the memory of "Mrs. Olson," the wise, fictional housekeeper who sold a generation on a particular brand of coffee. Other products stay in our minds because they were a beloved part of our youth, like the Rubik's cube we played with in grade school, or the Bubble Tape bubble gum we shared in high school.Â
Whatever the reason, you've probably got a wider knowledge of companies and their famous products than you even realize! If you'd like to put your savvy to the test, try our 35-question quiz. Some of these, you might find easy - but we guarantee things will get more difficult near the end. Ready? Give it a go!
Okay, this question about "soft drinks" was a softball. But we mention it because Coca-Cola is a powerhouse in the beverage industry, producing Sprite, energy drinks and more. Fun fact: Coke's early attempt at a diet drink, Tab, is still in production - it's just not easy to find.
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Buick is the oldest continuously-operating carmaker in the United States. Perhaps that's why it's struggled to overcome a "stodgy" image and attract millennial buyers.
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Gillette is one of the best-known manufacturers of razors. Their slogan "The best a man can get" has changed, since they now make women's razors too.
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Folger's is a ground and instant coffee brand. Back in the day, their fictitious spokeswoman was "Mrs. Olson," who advised housewives to switch to Folger's to make a better cup.
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Tesla was founded by Elon Musk (you might have heard of him). Tesla makes electric cars, and their logo is a "T" that looks like a tent spike, with a curving crossbar at the top.
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The name "Trek" suggests rugged mountain and hybrid bikes, which the company does manufacture. But Trek also makes racing and road bikes.
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Dreyer's was founded by William Dreyer and Joseph Edy, and was called "Edy's" in its early years. When Edy sold his share, it became "Dreyer's" overall. But then they re-adopted the name "Edy's" in the Mountain West and Midwest. Clear?
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It's confusing, we know. This is why Dreyer's re-adopted the name "Edy's" in parts of the United States - to avoid confusion with Breyer's, which is actually the older ice-cream maker.
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Maker's Mark is a small-batch whiskey producer. Their bottles have a distinctive look, with a red-wax seal dripping down the neck.
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Some of the most iconic toys of the last century have been made by Hasbro. These include the board game Monopoly and the G.I. Joe.
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Cessna is best known for the "workhorse" light planes that civilians learn to fly in, and occasionally buy. But Cessna also makes luxury jets, like its Citation.
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Captain Morgan is one of the best-known brands of rum outside the generally "rum-drinking" regions, i.e., the Caribbean. Rum was popular in the mainland United States until whiskey and bourbon distilling took off, at which point interest in rum - the classic "British mariner's drink" dropped off.
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ACDelco is owned by General Motors, the automaker. And yes, we know that the name looks odd, but that's really how it's spelled - no space.
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Pfizer is one of the world's largest makers of vaccines. But they're probably more popularly known for their erectile-dysfunction drug, Viagra.
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Kraft is known for ready-to-eat foods, especially their boxed macaroni and cheese. The Carl's Jr. slogan, "Without us, some guys would starve," could just as well apply to Kraft.
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You know those types of candy you only eat on holidays or at an older relative's house? Conversation hearts, candy corn, jelly bird eggs, nougats? Those are Brach's stock-in-trade.
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Philip Morris is a billion-dollar company that sells tobacco products in 180 countries. While smoking is on the decline in the developed/Western world, it is on the rise in the Third World, meaning Philip Morris is unlikely to close its doors any time soon.
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Hewlett-Packard is one of the biggest names in the PC industry. Its former CEO, Carly Fiorina, was the first female CEO of a Fortune 20 company.
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Skechers is an athletic- and casual-shoe company. They had a boom in the 1990s, when their products were extremely popular among the young.
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Rolls-Royce is best known for their luxury cars. But they also make airplane engines.
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Does the misplaced apostrophe bother you? Us, too.
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Knopf, formally called Alfred A. Knopf, is a New York-based publisher. Its logo is a Borzoi, an elegant Russian dog.
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Ocean Spray's flagship product is cranberry juice, though it makes other flavors. The name. of course, is meant to imply refreshment.
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Knight-Ridder is an American newspaper chain. The newspaper industry, overall, is dying out, but is likely to hang on until the end of the Baby Boomer generation.
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Canon's most famous product is cameras. However, the Japanese company also makes printers and medical imaging equipment.
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North Face makes ski jackets and other clothing items. "North Face," of course, implies the face of a mountain, with the choice of north as the direction implying arctic cold.
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The abbreviation"Jos." is a throwback to the days when men abbreviated their first names, like "Chas. Lindbergh." This has fallen out of fashion, but it gives the men's clothier a classy, 19th-century sound.
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Breitling is a Swiss company that makes high-end watches. The company started out making precision chronometers for pilots.
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Ticonderoga is the name of a town and a fort in New York State. But it's also a well-known brand of pencil, that generations of schoolchildren have carried back to school with them.
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Houghton Mifflin (now Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) publishes both schoolbooks and trade books (manuals, reference books, etc.). It is headquartered in Boston.
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Acer is headquarted in Japan. You might have seen their very affordable laptop and notebook computers in big-box stores like Costco.
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Zondervan holds the right to the New International Version of the Bible (one of many translations). It also publishes a number of Christian books, including the 1970s hit, "The Late Great Planet Earth."
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Wilson Sporting Goods was part of one of the cooler prodcut-placement deals of all time. A Wilson volleyball became "Wilson," Tom Hanks's companion in the desert-island film "Cast Away." Wilson produced a series of volleyballs with the "Wilson" face on them.
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STIHL is a German company. But you can find their chainsaws and other tools in most American hardware stores.
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If you're only vaguely familiar with the Bertlesmann name, it's because its a huge umbrella company. This German media giant owns Penguin Random House, a much more familiar publisher (until recently, two publishers).
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