Helvetica (btw, Helvetica is a typeface, not a font) is strongly associated with International Style. It can be considered a redesign of Akzidenz-Grotesk (also spelled Accidenz-Grotesk), an 1896 font from Berthold.
The big differences are, for example, in the endings of certain capital letters like C and G: in Helvetica they are perfectly horizontal, in Akzidenz they are slanted. Also, the capital R in Helvetica ends in a cute little curve, completely missing in the rather straight and business-like Akzidenz.
While it is true that Helvetica is now considered boring by many, it is also true that it is very easy to read, it is available in a great variety of fonts, weights and variants, and it still has a certain elegance.
A close relative would be Univers. Arial, on the other hand, is more like an embarassing relative.