Brand X: Difference between revisions

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In some kinds of advertisement, items other than the one advertised that would normally be used in its own branded packaging will be found in some kind of neutral or unbranded packaging. The most common examples of this are advertisements for cereals, in which milk will be poured from clear glass jugs rather than the carton or bottle it is sold in. It is probable that this is done in order to reuse the advertisement in different countries as much as for avoiding giving exposure to those other products.

[[Bland Name Product]] is a subtrope. See also [[Acme Products]], which is any generic corporation that seems to supply ''everything'' a character, or entire cast, uses. When this happens with firearms, it is an [[AKA 47]].

[[Bland-Name Product]] is a subtrope. See also [[Acme Products]], which is any generic corporation that seems to supply ''everything'' a character, or entire cast, uses. When this happens with firearms, it is an [[AKA 47]].

Incidentally, the notion of using ''fake'' brands that resemble the real brand ([[I Carly|Using a pear instead of an apple]], for instance) is being seen by marketers as something that improves awareness of the real brand. Amusingly, they're calling it [[Product Displacement]].

Not to be confused with the band Brand X.

== Apple Computer Parodies ==

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* In ''[[Futari wa Pretty Cure]]'', Honoka has applied "PRE-Q BAN" brand adhesive bandages to at least two different people's minor wounds (this is a pun: "Pretty Cure" is sometimes known as simply "purikyua" [pronounced more or less "pre-cue"]).

* [[Death Note (Manga)|L and Light]] apparently both own laptops with bananas on them.

** Don't forget [[Bland Name Product|Fanasonic]]!

** Don't forget [[Bland-Name Product|Fanasonic]]!

*** Also, if you look real closely, the search engine that Light uses is called "Generic". (It looks an awful lot like Google Image.)

**** L has an obvious iMac in addition to his obvious MacBook, though to me the logo looked more like a twisted-up "I."

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* Almost everything in ''[[Watchmen (Comic Book)|Watchmen]]'' is created by Veidt Enterprises or some sub-company. Of course, {{spoiler|there is a more sinister reason behind this: the sales of these products help finance Adrian Veidt's plot}}.

* A ''[[Disney Adventures (Magazine)|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.)

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

* Hilariously parodied in a French comic, ''Contes à dormir debout''. A father is telling an updated version of "[[Aladdin (Literature)|Aladdin]]" to his daughter:

{{quote| '''Father:''' A package fell off a truck from a famous brand of Swedish furnitures.<br />

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== Film ==

* [[The View ~~Askew Niverse~~]] has "Nails" cigarettes, "Chewlies" gum, and the entire Mooby corporate empire.

* [[The View Askewniverse]] has "Nails" cigarettes, "Chewlies" gum, and the entire Mooby corporate empire.

* [[Quentin Tarantino]] includes not only discontinued products, but [[Brand X]] references in all his films (most notably "Red Apple" cigarettes and "Big Kahuna" burgers) as a way of implying that they all take place in the same [[The Verse|Verse]]. Or he's just too lazy to invent more of them.

* Parodied in ''Coming to America'': Cleo's restaurant "McDowell's" seems like one of these, but it turns out that McDonald's ''also'' exists in the movie's universe, and they're desperately trying to build a case against him.

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* ''[[The X-Files (TV)|The X-Files]]'' has the Cigarette Smoking Man, among other characters who smoke, preferring the extremely popular but fictional Morley brand of cigarette. There is even an episode of the show titled ''Brand-X'' featuring the company that makes the cigarettes. Morleys apparently get around, because they are used all over the place in television, even amongst series that have no connection to each other. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morley_(cigarette) The Other Wiki] has a list of them.

* The ''[[Masters of Horror]]'' episode "The Screwfly Solution" had plenty of examples, like "East Coast Airlines" and "Flazzle Cola" (in a red can, no less), and in the shop scenes they make sure to keep the camera zoomed out (though a Budweiser sign comes up in the edge of the shot, so they forgot at least one thing). They also have nameless "Kidney Beans" cans and an internet search engine with no marker at all.

* ''[[Law and Order (TV)|Law and Order]]'' loves this trope. Probably because many of its episodes are [[Ripped ~~From~~ the Headlines]].

* ''[[Law and Order (TV)|Law and Order]]'' loves this trope. Probably because many of its episodes are [[Ripped from the Headlines]].

** Though this trope doesn't apply when referring to their bankroller -- for instance, reporters will have NBC branded microphones, with anyone else being with unlikely-numbered news organizations such as Channel 23 or News 46. There was also an interesting exchange during a bust when mobsters were caught flat-footed watching TV:

{{quote| Det. Briscoe: "MSNBC, huh? Your father would've had the game on."}}

** Of course there are two things consistent about the L&O universe; that the equivalent of the ''Post'' is the ''Ledger'' (which was also the paper in the short-lived newsbiz [[Spin Off]] ''[[Deadline]]''), while the all-encompassing New York University/Columbia University campus is known as Hudson University.

** Of course there are two things consistent about the L&O universe; that the equivalent of the ''Post'' is the ''Ledger'' (which was also the paper in the short-lived newsbiz [[Spin-Off]] ''[[Deadline]]''), while the all-encompassing New York University/Columbia University campus is known as Hudson University.

** Averted in the 2010 [[Spin Off]] ''[[Law and Order LA (TV)|Law and Order LA]]'', where Facebook was name-dropped in the very first episode, while in previous episodes of the series generic substitutes like "Youspace" were used in its place.

** Averted in the 2010 [[Spin-Off]] ''[[Law and Order LA (TV)|Law and Order LA]]'', where Facebook was name-dropped in the very first episode, while in previous episodes of the series generic substitutes like "Youspace" were used in its place.

* Nearly completely averted in ''[[Survivors (TV)|Survivors]]''. Hung looter in a Netto? Check. Decomposing corpse in McDonald's? Check.

* ''[[Mad Men]]'' spectacularly averts this. Sterling Cooper may be fictional, but they've done stuff or tried to do stuff for (And yes, many of these clients [[Product Placement|paid handsomely to be on the show]]):

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* In this clip of ''[[Ive Got a Secret]]'', Henry Morgan jokes that Soupy Sales (who is introduced as "Mister X") is [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qq_Mr1txFY the maker of 'Brand X']

* In the US ''[[Queer As Folk]]'', Michael Novotny works at <s>K-Mart</s> The Big <s>K</s>Q

* 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.

* 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.

* Starting in Season 2, ''Glee'' introduced a coffee shop, possibly a chain, called the Lima Bean as a date location for Kurt and Blaine. It's both a reference to the place where the show is set (and its correct pronunciation) and a pretty obvious stand-in for Starbucks.

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* ''[[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].

*** As an added note, using the random Sim generater in the Sims 2 Debug mode will cough up Sims with ramdomly-generated names that include some Brand X ''last'' names, like Curtin, Byall, Wren etc.

* ''[[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.

* ''[[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.

* ''[[Monday Night Combat]]'' is positively saturated with advertisments and endorsements for its wide variety of fake combat-related products and services.

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* ''Pretendo'' seemed to be a common video game console amongst animated characters. It appears in episodes of ''[[Doug]]'' and ''[[Muppet Babies]]''.

* ''[[Family Guy (Animation)|Family Guy]]'' often depicts Chris and Meg eating "Generic Puffs", the decoration on the box being just the brand name on a white background.

** They also tend to bounce around between McBurgertown and [[~~McDonalds~~]] whenever they feel like it.

** 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."

* ''[[The Mighty B]]'''s Honeybees have unusual similarities to The Girl Scouts.

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[[Category:Advertising Tropes]]

[[Category:Brand X]]

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