Brand X: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

 

Under Canadian broadcast regulations, product placement is considered a form of payola and is strictly forbidden. To prevent even the appearance of product placeent, real brand names can't be shown on locally-produced TV shows. Dramas, comedies, and even cooking and home improvement shows have to block out the brand names of the items they use or replace them with Brand X (TV sports and news/current affairs programs are exempt, the first because the advertising can't be controlled and the second because news programs may have to report a story specifically about a product, and also because they can do whatever they damn well want). These rules don't affect imported content, though.

 

Not to be confused with the band Brand X.

 

== Apple Computer Parodies ==

* Many computers in fiction (especially cartoons) will prominently feature a logo consisting of some kind of fruit, usually a pear, as a reference to Apple Computer's various products. Some of them (especially during the early iMac's time) will also bear a strong resemblance in other ways:

* ''[[Futurama]]'' has the ''Eye''phone.

 

 

** <s>Pro Points</s> Duel Points

* ''[[Excel Saga (anime)|Excel Saga]]'' had "Across 2000" (a parody of Windows 2000).

* While later installments, such as the ''[[Rebuild of Evangelion|Rebuild]]'' movies, are more likely to use actual product placement, the original ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'' series used this all over the place; for instance, Asuka's game console of choice was marked [[Sega|"SECA"]].

* ''[[Chaos;Head]]'' has the search engine [[Google|Deluoode]] and the online repository [[Wikipedia|Wikipedofilia]]. Umm...

 

== Comic Books ==

* [[The DCU]] has lots of these, some of which only appear in one story (or in stories by one writer), while others get taken up across the board. The cola brands Soder and Zesti have both had stories ''focused'' on them.

** Soder also appeared in the [[Diniverse]] [[Superman]] series as a [[Continuity Nod|nod to the DCU]].

*** One or two issues of ''[[Birds of Prey]]'' reference Barbara Gordon and other characters bemoaning the ineffectiveness of the Curtains 98 operating system.

** Originally averted with the [[Martian Manhunter]]'s fondness for Oreos. Once it turned out he was literally addicted to them, they suddenly became "Chocos".

* [[Kurt Busiek]]'s ''[[Astro City]]'' has "Beautie" not "Barbie" dolls. Then, there's the superheroine Beautie. {{spoiler|What else would a girl [[Gadgeteer Genius]] make?}}

** Don't forget the very popular "Beefy Bob's" burger joints, good enough for superheroes on a low-profile date. The city also has an ample supply of "Astro-Mart" convenience stores.

* A ''[[Disney Adventures]]'' comic involved ''[[Doug]]'' buying a "Brandexx" jacket, which becomes popular for a while until someone else starts wearing "Branday" which then becomes popular at "Brandexx"'s expense.

* Loch Lomond whisky (Captain Haddock's favorite brand) in the ''[[Tintin]]'' comics. (When ''The Black Island'' was redrawn in color, Loch Lomond replaced what was Johnnie Walker in the black-and-white version.)

'''Father:''' Of course not! Everyone speaks like that. Now, let me have a glass of this cola drink... }}

* ''[[Johnny the Homicidal Maniac]]'' is full of these—Jhonen Vasquez seems to be fond of this trope, as it appears in ''[[Invader Zim]]'' as well. Taco Hell, the 24/7 with its Brain Freezies, the list goes on.

 

== Film ==

* ''[[Cloverfield]]'' has the soft drink "Slusho", which was also used in its [[Viral Marketing]] campaign. As a [[Shout-Out]], the bartender in ''[[Star Trek (film)|Star Trek]]'' recommends Slusho to Uhura. Both films were directed by JJ Abrams.

* The 2000 remake of ''[[Bedazzled]]'' features the "Diablos" pro basketball team.

 

== Literature ==

** Likewise in his book "Down and Out in Paris and London", Orwell worked as a dishwasher at the "Hôtel X." This was the Hôtel de Crillon.

* Several in [[Sarah Dessen]]'s novels, including Ume.com (Facebook) and Gas/Gro (7/11 or QT). The Facebook imitator even has a [[No Celebrities Were Harmed]] version of Mark Zuckerberg (i.e. a nerdy guy who started the site in college).

* ''[[Animorphs]]'' both averts and invokes this trope. Jake having a Sega game console is mentioned,(though it's just a 'console' in the re-release to help with relevance issues) but there's the fictional internet provider Web Access America, which seems to allude to either America Online,Microsoft, or both.

* [[The Berenstain Bears]] does this with names like E-Bear (for Ebay) and Pawbook (for Facebook).

 

* ''[[The Brady Bunch]]'': In the episode "And Now a Word From Our Sponsor," where the Bradys are chosen to star in a television commercial for the laundry detergent Safe, all the soap names are "Brand X." Besides Safe, other detergents the Bradys have used (to varying levels of success) included Champ the Dirt Fighter, Clear & Bright, Help and their current detergent, Best. In the wind-up segment, the Bradys are given – as a consolation for their work – dozens of crates containing Safe.

** One of Robert Reed's points in his negative critique of this episode was that the use of the "soap names" – which Carol names off, in discussing with Mike on whether to star in the commercial – were clichéd (or in Reed's words, an "obvious writer's technique").

** The Tangiers was originally created for the gangster film ''[[Casino]]'' as a stand-in for The Sands (though unlike its real world equivalent, the Tangiers was demolished in the wake of the mob trials, which precludes the possibility of any continuity with ''CSI''). What's strange, though is that ''CSI'' has also mentioned The Sands on occasion, and also the Rampart (although the fictional Rampart was demolished in season 7, while its real life counterpart still stands.)

* This was subverted in an 80s science/maths TV series (''How 2?'') starring Carol Vordermann, which regularly featured jars of "chocolate beans." On one occasion, it was commented: "We won't name [the product] as we've already given Smarties too much free advertising".

* [[Chuck]] works at "Buy More" (Best Buy), who is in competition with "Large Mart" (Walmart).

** Large Mart also has a strong resemblance to Costco.

* Non-Canadian ''[[Degrassi]]'' viewers can almost make a game out of betting on what's Brand X and what's [[Product Placement|a real but]] [[Canada, Eh?|Canada-only]] brand.

* ''[[Are You Being Served?]]'' had Grace Brothers, a parodic stand-in for Harrods.

 

== Music ==

* The song "Fabulous" from ''[[High School Musical 2]]'' originally contained the lines, "Fetch me my [[Jimmy Choo]] flip flops/Where is my pink Prada tote?/I need my Tiffany hair band/Then I can go for a float". In the video game "[[Sing It]]", "[[Jimmy Choo]]" became... eh, something... else?, "Prada" became "leather", and "Tiffany" became "sparkly".

* Pink Floyd's "It Would Be So Nice" originally contained the line "Have you ever read the Evening Standard?" As this was the name of a legitimate English newspaper, they were forced to re-record the line with the fictitious 'Daily Standard.'

 

== Newspaper Comics ==

* ''[[Dykes to Watch Out For]]'' has "Bounders Books and Muzak" instead of Borders Books and Music, etc.

** Interesting in that "Muzak" is itself the name of [[wikipedia:Muzak Holdings|Muzak Holdings LLC]] which defends its trademark against genericization<ref>if that's a real word</ref> of the word for "elevator music." ''[[Barney Miller]]'', for example, used the word and it's censored out of syndicated reruns.

 

== Radio ==

* Several [[The BBC|BBC]] Radio 1 DJs, as a result of the BBC not allowing product placement, often say things like "generic [[MP3]] player" rather than iPod. Some do this so frequently that callers also use such phrases.

* Radio comedians [[Hudson and Landry]] often made use of "Ajax" companies, like Ajax Airlines or Ajax Mortuary.

 

== Toys ==

* [[LEGO]] has a small few recurring instances of this trope, most prominently the Octan petrol company, whose branding was pretty much everywhere in [[LEGO City]] and racing games and sets up until 2001, and still crops up on occasion. LEGO also averts it in that they regularly produce licenced promotional sets based on real vehicles used by real companies, the most commonly recurring being Shell and Maersk.

** LEGO ''used'' to make regular sets featuring Shell (or Exxon in the United States, from the late 1970s to about 1985-86 when Shell sets became available stateside). Back when they made HO-scaled vehicles, they included Shell and Esso branded vehicles.

 

== Video Games ==

* ''[[SimCity]]'' buildings fall under this. There's the Kong Tower, Quigley Insurance, Byall Means Travel Agency, Wright and Daughter, Dragon Dr., Justin Brown Plaza, Bob's Grease Pit, Curtin Fabrics, and Pump & Scoot Gas just to name a few.

** And let's not forget the dreaded Wren Insurance building!

* ''[[Silent Hill 1]]'' has Vestal Gigastore, a riff on Virgin Megastore. And if you know what a Vestal Virgin is, and you've played to the end of the game, you know what a [[Does This Remind You of Anything?]] that is.

** There are also McBurger and Queen Burger restaurants about town.

{{quote|'''Mickey Cantor:''' Uncle Tully's Original Organ Highlighters! Just like what the doctors use...only for shooting.}}

* The opening [[Cutscene]] of ''[[Jurassic Park]]: Trespasser'' shows John Hammond on the cover of a magazine named "Science America".

* ''[[Heavy Rain]]'' features "Asthma" brand inhalers, among other things.

 

== Web Animation ==

** Notable Brand Xs include the Cold Ones series of beers; especially the Coldson Lite, who looks like a can of Coors Lite, yet whose name resembles Molson. Interestingly, Molson and Coors have since announced that they were merging together.

** This is doubly subverted with the Tandy computers. Tandy was a real brand, once, but Strong Bad's "Tandy 400" computer resembles nothing ever produced by it. Furthermore, its logo is a multicolored star with a bite taken out of it. In case the parody wasn't obvious yet, this same logo is later seen on obvious Macintosh lookalikes.

*** ...and sometimes it's part of the joke: In sbemail "caffeine", Strong Bad gets Strong Sad on a caffeine rush by "drop[ping] a couple of heaping spoonfuls of Sanka into [his] orange juice." Sanka is, of course, well-noted for being a decaffeinated coffee.

 

== Web Comics ==

* Averted in ''[[Penny Arcade]]'', where main characters Gabe and Tycho talk about the latest real-life video games constantly.

* ''[[Misfile]]'' has beer bottles and cans labeled "BEER". The author has stated that he doesn't drink and didn't want to depict any particular brand.

* In ''[[The Order of the Stick|Order of the Stick]]'' strips 6 and 31, the party sees Durkon as a pack of Band-Aids, and a mind flayer sees Elan as a can of Diet Coke. When these were redone in higher resolution for the book ''Dungeon Crawlin' Fools'', Durkon became "Bandages" and Elan became "Diet Cola".

** In strip 711, Haley buys from cosmetics company Aton (A parody of Avon).

* In ''[[El Goonish Shive]]'', the Wii and its balance board make appearances but never by name.

 

== Western Animation ==

* "World background" products include Cuckoo Cola from ''[[Darkwing Duck (animation)|Darkwing Duck]]'' and ''[[Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers (animation)|Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers]]'', Cheesy Poofs from ''[[South Park]]'', Manitoba Brand Cigarettes in ''[[King of the Hill]]'', and [[Acme Products]]. Also "Duff" Beer from ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]'', and "Pawtucket Patriot" beer in ''[[Family Guy]]''.

* ''[[Kim Possible]]'' has, in addition to its thinly veiled celebrity archetypes, a slew of in-world brands: Mexican fast-food establishment Bueno Nacho, big-box retailer Smarty-Mart, fashion boutique and clothing line Club Banana, and so forth.

* "Generic Cereal" [[Noodle Incident|made Dan's list of enemies]] in ''[[Dan Vs.]]''

* [[SpongeBob SquarePants]]: Two Words - CRABBY PATTY

 

== Other ==

* Similarly, Oceanic Airlines has been the most common choice of fictional airline since its first appearance in 1996. [[That Other Wiki]] article [[wikipedia:Oceanic Airlines|here]].

* Oaties cereal (a very obvious parody of Wheaties) is another example.

 

* In [[The Eighties]], "Generic" products distinguished by plain white labels and simple black or dark blue lettering were commonly available for a brief time; and were popular due to their lower cost. Some of these were actual name-brand products sold under what the industry terms "white-label" packaging. (Example: generic "Beer", as see in ''[[Repo Man]]'', was typically Lucky Lager.) The minimalist look was replaced later in the decade by "store brand" product packaging.

* For a short while, there ''was'' a pop group called Brand X.

* In the Czech Republic, in reaction to just about any advertisement for washing powders comparing their product with a "common washing powder", one company actually started making a washing powder of that name.

** Ditto for Russian washing powder with the same name, if it's not the same company.

* There is also a brand of wine called "Cheap Red Wine", although it is meant as a gag (despite being a completely accurate description of the product).

* There is actually a drink ''called'' Brand X. At only 22% alcohol, it's a cheap knockoff of Brandy.

[[Category:Advertising Tropes]]

[[Category:Brand X]]