>In the UK the equivalent product is sellotape

It's true that Sellotape has become the generic name for adhesive tape, but Scotch tape is a well established product in it's own right in the UK market.

That's true - my favourite kind of sellotape is Scotch Tape! :-)

Actually we usually use the word "sellotape" for the clear "Scotch® Brand Cellulose Tape" they describe in the article, or certainly everyone I know does. The UK English term for "Scotch Tape" would usually be "masking tape" I think.

I was also surprised to see they didn't cover why it was called "Scotch" tape in the article as I find it pretty comical even though I'm also Scottish.

Masking tape is the easy-to-remove paper tape you use for decorating, rather than the clear cellophane stuff.

I've always known Scotch Tape to refer to Scotch Magic Tape, the slightly opaque, better-quality sellotape, rather than just generic sellotape. More expensive as well, so I always got told to use it carefully & in moderation when I was a kid. It has a little tartan-pattern strip of paper at the end of the roll so you can find it, I never really thought about why it was named beyond that.

The magic tape isn't great for general use. The benefit is that it peels cleanly, even off paper. It was beloved in drawing offices back when they worked on paper.

3M makes both tape that is absolutely clear in the Red Tartan and the Magic tape in the Green Tartan.

Similarly the danish budget supermarket Netto uses a scottie dog as their logo

Interesting. I always believed the name came from the 3M CEO at that time, William McKnight, who was of Scottish origin. There were other Scottish inspired product names as well. Today the 3M country club is still called Tartan Park.

Well, you're both right! From Wikipedia:

> The bodyshop painter became frustrated with the sample masking tape and exclaimed, "Take this tape back to those Scotch bosses of yours and tell them to put more adhesive on it!" The name was soon applied to the entire line of 3M tapes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotch_Tape

I was just discussing this odd stereotype with a friend after discovering a German price comparison website called schottenland.de ("Scots land"). It's definitely not one that exists in modern American consciousness.

No? Scrooge McDuck isn't Scottish for nothing.

keyword being modern.

Well, Scrooge McDuck was popular even in the 90s in "DuckTales". Though I, and I suspect most children at the time, were wholly unaware of such a stereotype. "Strange meats, kilts, bagpipes, and thick accents" is about the extent of the Scottish stereotype here these days.

Sellotape in Australia also :)