And what do we say about name-dropping (as in brands) in present-day fiction?

Stephen King is famous for this. I've torn him a new one for it a number of times. (Not where he can actually read it, unfortunately.)

The point, of course, is verisimilitude. In our consumer culture, most people are superficial enough that the mere suggestion of identifiable name brands is sufficient to fool them into feeling like the story is both authentic and relatable.

Hey if it weren't for Stephen King, I'd never have heard of Hershey's. Or Twinkies ( oh wait, that was ghostbusters too) I still have no idea what they are, apart from, erm, cakie things?

If you really must, please think of those who don't live in the US and may not have a bloody clue what you're on about.

In the same way I'd not pop in a bit of dwile flonking without at least a hint as to what it is.

Used sparingly, it can add to realism and character development. After all, we do call some things by their brand names. If I have Twinkies[SUP]TM[/SUP], I'm going to offer you a Twinkie[SUP]TM[/SUP] not a generic "creme filled snack cake." A label conscious character such as Carrie from Sex and The City is going to be thinking about her Prada purse and Jimmy Choo sandals, because she spent her rent money on them.

But it's almost too easy to overdo, gets old fast, and perhaps is now abused a a shortcut to characterization (much like saying "he looked like a blond Hugh Jackman" - I hate that!).

I found the brand consciousness tedious in Sex and The City. It made the characters feel shallow. But maybe it was realistic for single professionals in NYC.

SPMiller said:

Stephen King is famous for this. I've torn him a new one for it a number of times. (Not where he can actually read it, unfortunately.)

The point, of course, is verisimilitude. In our consumer culture, most people are superficial enough that the mere suggestion of identifiable name brands is sufficient to fool them into feeling like the story is both authentic and relatable.

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I either dismiss it and miss it or just have not seen what you see. I've not come across much of it, I do concede in Lisey's Story that he does mention the name of vehicle brands but who doesn't. Buick 8 was a hard not to brand name drop title to one of his books.

He's done it briefly in the DT series only to give a description of the time frame the 'slinger ends up in when passing through the doors to other worlds...other than that I must have missed the rest.

Can you tell I'm a major SK fan nutcase? I've read almost every piece he's ever written. I'm working on Duma Key right now.

TT

Perks said:

Besides, who wants a blond Hugh Jackman?

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Okay, Hugh Jackman with a pot belly.

The worst is when the author compares the character to some daytime soap star I've never heard of. Double ugh to that.

TabithaTodd said:

I either dismiss it and miss it or just have not seen what you see. I've not come across much of it, I do concede in Lisey's Story that he does mention the name of vehicle brands but who doesn't. Buick 8 was a hard not to brand name drop title to one of his books.

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I find it more forgivable with cars, up to a point. A car may tell you a lot about a character. My only quibble would be similar to the example Perks gave in her OP: Silver Pine Mica 2009 Toyota Prius. This is ridiculous when Prius alone would tell us what we need to know.

A character in my novel drives an aging Toyota Land Cruiser and gets annoyed when people refer to it as a Jeep.

Perks said:

You just killed a puppy out there somewhere.
Blasphemer.

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Hugh Jackman with acne and armpit stains.

*neener*

I think this is one of those things that bothers writers about a million times more than it bothers readers. I think for the most parts, readers don't care.

It doesn't bother me that much. What does bother me to no end is when writers try to leverage other worlds or characters in their stories. Like a story about Luke Skywalker's cousin set in the Star Wars world.

Mel...

Perks said:

I have to say that with King, I usually remember any specific brands being used in the context of the it being relevant to the character or the setting. I can't remember being annoyed with S. King about it. For me, I guess he got away with it.

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For me too - mainly because it wasn't too often ( afair) and I could work out sort of what they were in context. Occasional is fine. Like many, many things, it's only a problem when overdone.

Prada, Dolce and Gabbana, these things pin me into a certain place. Sometimes description can be distracting. What if I like some other designer and want to imagine the heroine wearing some other slinky, black dress?

Product dropping in novels, when lightly done, can be fine. Larger doses leave me feeling like I'm supposed to be so impressed, and I'm really not. I don't care if the sunglasses are D&G or Target. I only care that they obscure the fact that my eyes are glued to Hugh Jackman as he walks down the street.

IdiotsRUs said:

Hey if it weren't for Stephen King, I'd never have heard of Hershey's. Or Twinkies ( oh wait, that was ghostbusters too) I still have no idea what they are, apart from, erm, cakie things?

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Don't worry. No one really knows what they are.

I hate brand dropping because it is most often useless, and screams that the author thinks that (s)he is just so v. clever. But in women's fiction, where designer names are thrown around like tomatoes at an unfunny standup comic, it gives the book that extra dash of superficiality.

That and it makes me feel really bad/angry about my destitution, not gonna lie.

Devil Ledbetter said:

But it's almost too easy to overdo, gets old fast, and perhaps is now abused a a shortcut to characterization (much like saying "he looked like a blond Hugh Jackman" - I hate that!).

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*cough*DaVinciCode*cough*lookedlikeHarrisonFord*cough*

The following is the opinion of a reader, not a writer...

This reminds me of Ian Fleming's notorious brand name-dropping in the Bond books.

Bond isn't known for brand loyalty. He's a world traveler, and has been known to partake heavily in a wide variety of vodkas, whiskeys and cognacs. He's known for liking Bollinger champagne, but in the books he loves Dom Perignon so much he can name his favorite vintages.
He prefers Thurston baces when he needs to keep his pants up, and Floris #89 when pants are optional, but he'll drive an Aston Martin, a Bentley, whatever gets the job done well. His watch was a Rolex, then an Omega. Bond is a sampler more than a stickler, in more ways than one.

This sort of brand name-dropping is part of the whole Bond series, and it rounds out the character in a memorable way.
I think the old rule applies here-have a reason to do it, and do it with the same care and attention as you would any other part of the narrative.

It's like character description. Most folks are happy with it if it's sprinkled through the text as a support to action or dialogue. I wouldn't give a laundry list, but I'd use them if they added good tone to a scene.

dgiharris said:

I think this is one of those things that bothers writers about a million times more than it bothers readers. I think for the most parts, readers don't care.

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It's always kind of bothered me as a reader, mostly because I read a lot of books from other eras, especially the 30s and 40s. If a current author uses a current brand, I'm usually okay with it because I'm part of the same era and I'll understand the reference. But that's not the case if I'm reading a book published in the 1930s, say, and the reference is to a brand that no longer exists and whose status in that time is a mystery to me. When that happens, I can't help but feel that I'm missing out on something. Maybe it's important, maybe it's not, but I'll never know.

Personally I think that writers who overdo the name-dropping are simply seeking a shortcut, one that might make their works inaccessible and too dated to last in the long run.

It does go overboard in some instances, but I can let it go in realistic fiction. Still, it makes me squirm just a little to see Wal-mart or Nike show up on a page.

I avoid it if at all possible in my own writing. Sure, your writing will be dated pretty much no matter what eventually. Though I like to prolong that effect from occurring. Plus I'm a writer--if I can get my characters out of the twisted situations I think up, how hard is it to come up with a brand name?

you won't read a Dean Koontz book without falling over some Levolors.

IdiotsRUs said:

Hey if it weren't for Stephen King, I'd never have heard of Hershey's. Or Twinkies ( oh wait, that was ghostbusters too) I still have no idea what they are, apart from, erm, cakie things?

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I'm so sad for you that I am actually crying.