Brand X: Difference between revisions

* Averted in ''[[Kannagi]]''. "[[Gratuitous English|It's a Sony]]", indeed.

* ''[[Minami-ke]]'' has Zamazon, among others.

* The anime ''[[Prince of Tennis]]'' had the main character drinking Ponta, though in the original manga it was actually Fanta.

* ''[[Gravitation]]'' has Zenny's Restaurant. Like Denny's but more Zen.

*** 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".

* The [[Comicbooks/Spider Man|Spider-Man]] special "Skating on Thin Ice" features a [[Covers Always Lie|cover]] where a group of young kids finds Spider-Man's secret stash of Beer-brand beer and Cigarettes-brand cigarettes, as well as a vial, syringe, and bottle of prescription tablets.

* [[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?}}

{{quote|''Proper nouns are missing from this movie. It seems to exist in a generic alternative universe in which nothing has its own name. The Oscars are known as "these awards" or "the awards." After Pia and her first lover leave a movie, they have this conversation: "I liked him better." "I liked her better." No him or her is identified. This is the kind of conversation that results when a screenplay says, "They leave the theater and briefly discuss the movie," but the screenplay doesn't care what movie they saw.''}}

* [[Two Words: Obvious Trope|Four words]]: [[Army of Darkness|Shop smart. Shop S-Mart.]]

** However, they otherwise avert it: Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head, Ken, Barbie, Slinky, [[The Cameo|and]] [[My Neighbor Totoro|Totoro]] (I think I may be missing some) were all used with permission of the respective copyright owners, as acknowledged at the end of the credits of each film.

*** Zig-Zagged with Barbie; for the first movie, Mattel refused to license the character to Pixar, and the script was written without her. Needless to say, they offered no opposition when Pixar approached them for the second film.

** 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").

** In the later episode "Law & Disorder" (aired a season later), Bobby can be seen dumping a whole box of Safe into the washing machine. (He was trying to wash his good suit after dirtying it while trespassing in an abandoned house to rescue a classmate's kitten.)

** One of the few times they ever break from this practice is in the "Diet Coke and Mentos" testing, using the name of both soda and candy directly, in part because everyone in the world knows the phenomenon by that name and calling it the "Diet Soda and Candy" episode would have seemed patently absurd. The decision seems to have been made only during post-production, however; while graphics and the narrator use the brand names often, anyone actually on-camera always says "diet soda" or "candy" and all the labels are still taken off.

** In addition, certain chemicals mentioned in narration are censored due to fears the audience will try to recreate the experiments at home; instead of "bleep", the audience hears a random animal noise. [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] entertainingly in at least one episode:

* Virtually all of the products in ''[[The Adventures of Pete and Pete]]'', from Kreb of the Loom underwear to the family's Krebolet, are made by KrebStar.

* Used in ''[[Red Dwarf]],'' in both variations. In the first series, everything on the ship comes in plain grey packaging with just a label. After that, fake brand names are used (such as Leopard Lager).

*** And a rather subtle joke about it in ''[[Freefall]]'', [http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff100/fv00035.htm when Sam is shown] holding a "BinGM" chainsaw.

{{quote|'''Florence''': Beware the happy man with power tools.}}

* Finder-Spyder is a stand-in for Google in shows such as ''[[CSI]]'', ''[[Dexter]]'', ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'' and ''[[Prison Break]]''

* Gannon Car Rentals features in ''[[Lost]]'' and ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]''.

* In a variation, when ''[[Life After People]]'' did an episode on food, they specifically address the [[Urban Legend]] that "this cream-filled snack cake" would remain edible for thousands of years. Presumably the makers of Twinkies didn't want their product associated with images of decaying meat or roaches and rats taking over abandoned supermarkets, as the program dutifully avoids naming "this snack cake" or showing its label.

* ''[[Wizards of Waverly Place]]'' has an episode near the start of the second season where a frisbee is referred to as a "plastic flying disk". Possibly a [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshading]], since the phrase is gratuitously awkward compared to several they could have used instead.

* The ''[[Fallout]]'' series has Brand X in spades—featuring Snap-Off Tools, Mary May cosmetics, Nuka-Cola, and so forth. However, due to threats of [[Think of the Children|Austraila giving the game an Adults Only rating]], they needed to change Morphine to Med-X.

** [[Fridge Brilliance|So that's why it offers +25% to damage resistance!]]

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

* ''[[The Sims]]'', by proxy, is also full of this by way of the brand names of all buyable items. This actually gets averted down the line, thanks to a tie-in deal with [http://thesims2.ea.com/about/sp8_index.php IKEA].

** They also tend to bounce around between McBurgertown and [[McDonald's]] whenever they feel like it.

* ''[[The Critic]]'' has "Hair In A Can" and "Phlegm Fatale Cigarettes."

* One episode of ''[[Heathcliff and The Catillac Cats|Heathcliff]]'' featured a brand of cat food literally called "Brand X".

* In ''[[Kick Buttowski]]'', the fastest way to internet fame goes through ''Rank of Awesome'' rather than ''[[YouTube]]''. Especially if you use [[Cute Kitten|cats]].