The failure of an electric ice-resurfacing machine (like Kleenex, colloquially known as a Zamboni®©℠™) at the Vancouver Olympics has the builders of actual Zamboni®©℠™ machines seriously freaked the world is going to think their machines aren't awesome. Silly Zamboni®©℠™.
For the record, the failing machines were built by Olympia and have been replaced with proper American Zamboni®©℠™ machines. We know this because after our initial story a representative of the company emailed us a grammar lesson:
Our trademark is always a capitalized adjective (…a Zamboni ice resurfacer), never a noun (…the zamboni) and should never be used to describe machines produced by another manufacturer.
Now, in response to what some are calling Zambonigate, there's a sincere statement from Richard F. Zamboni(no trademark...we think) about the whole thing:
This should be a great victory for the Zamboni®©℠™ Company, which bid for the Olympics contract but was rejected in favor of the Canadian-built Olympias. USA! USA! USA! and all that. Instead, Zamboni®©℠™ is just trying to damage control their success. Relax, having your brand synonymous with the product you're selling is a positive.
Photo Credit: Jamie Squire/Getty Images