Using famous places/things?

[thequotegal]

The other poster who wanted her MC to work at Wendy's got me thinking. My novel mentions Nordstroms in passing (nobody works there!) but also mentions Oprah (a few times, though still in passing...i.e. wonder what Oprah would think? Etc.) Is this okay? I thought for sure the Oprah part was okay because isn't she in the public domain? Is the Nordstoms mention a no-no because it is a private company? The novel is in the midst of being self-published so I can't really change it now.

[Dreamer3702]

It's okay as long as you don't say anthing bad about it.

Okay:
Better Buy is evil.

Not okay:
Best Buy is evil.

[Matera the Mad]

Hmm...what if a character hates...let's say Taco Hell, for instance? :D

[CDarklock]

I draw the line like this.

You can write people talking about something or someone famous.

You just can't write the something or someone famous directly.

A character can say McDonald's served her a rat sandwich.

But you cannot write "Looking at her tray, Julie was horrified to discover that McDonald's had served her a rat sandwich."

I'm having real difficulty figuring out how to explain this concisely, but it comes down to whether someone could mistake what you've written for fact. Your characters can say outrageous things, but they have to be in dialogue. Well... not entirely... you can...

Look, it's complicated, all right?

[Dreamer3702]

Write it as you want it. If a publisher has issues with it, they will simply ask you to change it.