FOR Christmas, at his request, my wife and I bought for our three-year-old son a toy hoover.
He loves that little hoover. How we marvel at its realistic whirring sound, which could wake Morpheus himself from the deepest slumber, and its uncanny ability to seek out a freshly painted skirting board.
But here’s the thing: although we call it a hoover, and Harry calls it a hoover, it is not actually a Hoover. It is a Dyson.
At a guess, I would say it is a scale model of the DC40 Multi-Floor, with close attention to both the Ball (TM) and Radial Root Cyclone (TM) technology.
They have clearly gone to great lengths to maintain the purity of the Dyson brand. And yet there we all are, calling it a hoover, infecting a new generation with our wilful disregard for Intellectual Property rights.
So, here is my question. If James Dyson witnessed this scene, do you think his overwhelming reaction would be:
A. Irritation that we are still calling Dysons “Hoovers”.
B. Pleasure at a new generation being groomed as future Dyson customers.
C. Sheer, howling amusement that some mug was daft enough to pay £21.99 for a plastic vacuum cleaner that does not pick up dirt.
Answer on a postcard, please, to Hoover Competition, Liverpool Post....
