Is it acceptable to use brand names in writing? Stan needed a snack for the road. It was a difficult decision. The gas station was the size of a supermarket and must have had three aisles of chips alone. A green and yellow bag on an end display caught his eye; his choice had been made. Stan plucked the bag of Funyuns from the shelf. Looking through the clear window on the front of the bag, most of the rings were broken. The second bag was better. Now, Stan was faced with another dilemma. What would be the best drink to wash down the delicious, salty, oniony mana? Mountain Dew or an Icee? If the store had Mountain Dew in a can, he would get that. If not, a strawberry and Coca-Cola mixed Icee.
I've never heard of a 'Funyun' or an 'Icee'. Are they American? It's fine to use brand names, but just use common sense when doing so. You might want to read up on trademark and defamation.
Hi, As above. Brand names are trademarked not copyrighted so no problem using them. But don't say things that are untrue or defamatory or you could end up in hot water. So saying that drink X is made with real cocaine or food Y will give you the runs is out. Saying that your MC doesn't like the taste etc is fine. Cheers, Greg.
You are allowed to use brand names in your fiction. Though, it is probably a good idea not to use them in a way that might make the mother company look bad. Because they wont hesitate to sue you for defamation.
i was wondering this myself, as i wanted to write this Brandon sat and stared out of the train window, he could still sense a presence near him, it had followed him from the PI Training everyday for the past month and a half. Getting fed up with this, Brandon switched off his music, pulled his Motorheadphones round his neck, unplugged them from his phone and called his superior I wanted to use Motorheadphones as the specific brand oh headphone he used, and to lean toward the type of music he listened to, would this be considered acceptable
Good one. Really funny. Anyway there are like 10 threads on the same question in 2013 alone. Just read one of them.
Sometimes brands are good ways to help with setting too. A real company gone out of business or if a company has changed named will show you know the time period . I always appreciate little details like that in stories =D
