Answer: The Movie Industry

Gaffer tape is a strong cloth-backed, pressure-sensitive adhesive tape that is easy to apply and removes cleanly, but still has good adhesive properties. The tape is primarily used in lighting design on movie, television, and even still photography sets.

It is through this original (and still ongoing) application that it derives its name since the “gaffer” on a movie set is the head electrician and the tape is used by the gaffer and the lighting assistants under their supervision.