FunTrivia: Quirky With Quizzes

Answer: The Co-Operative

The Co-Operative (or Co-Op) name was widely used in the UK for a range of services including supermarkets, travel agencies, financial institutions, pharmacies and even a funeral-arranging service. The Co-Operative Group traced its history to one shop that was opened by the Rochdale Pioneers Society in Yorkshire in 1844.

The group set out its ethics thus: "We're owned and democratically controlled by over 6 million members, ordinary people who all have the opportunity to have a say in our business and share in our profits."

Answer: Airbus

'Airbus Industrie' came into being as a joint enterprise involving aircraft manufacturers from France, Germany and the UK in 1967. Its aim was to challenge the world leaders of the time, Boeing, McDonnell Douglas and Lockheed. Aircraft parts were manufactured in several locations in the participating nations and shipped to Toulouse, Hamburg and Seville for final assembly.

Answer: Boeing

Boeing traced its history to 1916 and manufacturing was based at Seattle, Washington. For many years it competed with other American companies to be top dog in terms of aircraft sold. Boeing made civil as well as military aircraft. One of the most iconic was the 747 'Jumbo Jet', which first flew in 1969 and which became a cornerstone of many aerial fleets.

Answer: Volkswagen

Volkswagen was set up by the German Labour Front (Deutsche Arbeitsfront) to build cars for 'the people'. Production continued throughout WW2, but the company was on its knees afterwards and owed its rejuvenation to a British Army officer, Major Ivan Hirst. Cars like the Beetle, first driven before WW2, were the basis of VW's renewed fortune and by the start of the 21st Century, the VW group had encompassed other manufacturers, including Audi; Bentley (UK); Bugatti (Italy); Lamborghini, (Italy); SEAT, (Spain); Skoda (Czechoslovakia); and Scania (Sweden).

Answer: IBM

IBM, International Business Machines, traced its origins to 1888 and its world headquarters were at Armonk, New York. It produced a wide range of mechanical business machines, before gaining an early dominant position in the world of personal computers. In 2011, 'Fortune' magazine ranked IBM as America's 18th largest firm.

Answer: Nokia

Nokia was established in Finland in 1865 to produce paper. Over the years a diverse range of products followed and the modern company's involvement with telecommunications started in 1960. This provided the stepping stones for Nokia to be an early major player in the world of cellular phones (mobile phones). By 1998, Nokia was the world's largest mobile phone manufacturer but in the next decade, while sales remained high in the traditional handset markets, it faced tough competition in terms of smartphone technology from competitors such as Apple and BlackBerry.

Answer: British Airways

BA was founded in 1974 out of an amalgamation of British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) and British European Airways (BEA) and several smaller companies. Initially state-owned, it was later privatised. It claimed that its high international passenger numbers and destinations served made it the world's favourite airline.
For several years after the turn of the 20th Century, BA and its staff unions were embroiled in disputes and strikes.

Answer: Tesco

Founded in 1919 in a London market, within 100 years Tesco had become the second most profitable supermarket chain in the world and had more than 5,000 stores worldwide. Tesco was for many years the dominant supermarket chain in the UK. As well as supermarkets selling everything from tea (that's where it all began in 1919) to telecommunications equipment, Tesco was also involved in banking and insurance operations.

Answer: Carlsberg

The Danish brewing company was established in 1847, but by the end of the 20th Century was the fifth largest brewing group in the world. In 1973 it adopted the advertising slogan "Probably the best beer in the world", which was initially voiced by Orson Welles.

It was noted in the UK for a range of witty and inventive television commercials. A hypothetical example might have the tagline "Carlsberg don't do quizzes, but if we did, they'd be the best quizzes in the world". (That claim has already been filled by this very quiz site).

Answer: Pepsi

Pepsi (corporate branding) traced its history to 1898 and its invention by a pharmacist called Caleb Bradham. For much of its history it was locked into a battle for dominance of the cola market with a certain Georgia-based rival.