Old brand names

[dr_whom]

I passed someone handing out free samples of Sugar Crisp cereal today and it got me thinking. I wonder if one of the factors contributing to the stereotypical American view of Canada as, for lack of a better word, "quaint" is the presence of brand names that are defunct in the US. In the US, Sugar Crisp's name was changed to Golden Crisp decades ago; Esso became Exxon in 1971; and the Rexall drugstore chain hit its peak in 1958, entered a long decline, and eventually vanished. In Canada, each of these brand names is alive and well. So as an American in Canada, I'm seeing all these brand names that I'm accustomed to thinking of as old-timey, like, Eisenhower-era brands, as if American corporations treat Canada as a time capsule for trademarks.