Thoughts on Parody Names in Stories?

[SinclairGroupLLP]

When it comes to movies and stuff, I tend to go with it like it exists in the world - I had the characters watch the Godfather and threw in a lot of easter eggs from the Godfather in one of the stories, for instance. Certain things, like cars and other objects that people use all the time, I don't bother changing the name. I did fictionalize a lot of stuff about companies and the like, but that was to give me some freedom in how the story played out. For instance, in one case, a strip club, I fictionalized the name. In another instance, I used an actual bar name. So, I know I'm not always consistent.

But I do tend to change people's names if they're going to be interacting with the characters. I had a number of very high ranking people, like the President and the King of the UK in the series, but I didn't name them, and I changed the names of the King's kids and the President's spouse. I had a famous hockey player as a character and I changed the name, but it was still pretty obvious in all of those situations who I based the fictional characters around, but it made the legalese "any relation to real life people is coincidence" a bit less boilerplate-y.

 

[KittyOfSteele]

Aside from the obvious legal issues that is using real brand names when it comes to trademark laws (and possibly other laws that I am not aware of), doing what you said is really common, and it goes beyond books. TV Tropes has entries for most of it: Brand X, Bland-Name Product, Acme Products, No Celebrities Were Harmed, and Captain Ersatz, for instance.

Changing the names also gives you a chance to poke fun at it, something that you're already doing, so there's no need to be afraid of being cheeky.

Seriously. In my D&D group, by the rule of fun, my DM decided to modify the way Sending works and essentially turned it into Discord voice chat, so we couldn't resist looking for Discord sounds whenever we used Sending. I also made up a website called "OnlySimps" as part of the universe, which you already know what is a parody of. We're not even making an actual play or anything; we're just two millenials and two zoomers having fun on a high fantasy version of medieval Russia, satirizing every single thing from the Internet culture and pop culture.

If I was you, I'd ignore that email. That's a criticism I wouldn't take because it's comically missing the point.

 

[Bramblethorn]

To do this, I made parodies of certain popular media. For example, instead of Grey's Anatomy, I created something called "Hospital Doctors in Love" or "HDL." This was helpful in a couple ways. For example, I have never watched a single episode of Grey's Anatomy. I didn't want to watch an entire damn series just to comment on it. So, I made up my own and I can say whatever I want happened. I had two people arguing; one likes HDL, one likes the show Planet Trek Wars(I assume you can guess what that's a parody of). I had a fun argument where they discussed how unrealistic they both were. I've also never watched Star Trek, so I couldn't make that seem realistic without making things up that didn't happen in the actual show. Another reason is that the main character from HDL is a famous fictional actor, and I had him actually appear in the story.

That all seems fine and normal. I've done similar things here and there in my stories; e.g. I invented a fictitious Eastern European country because I didn't want to get tangled up in the finer points of "that's not how a Belarussian would say it" or have RL politics overshadow my story.

Many, many professional writers have done similar things, either to avoid nitpicking or for legal reasons. An obvious example akin to yours is "Galaxy Quest", which is very obviously based on Trek.

I don't think it's wrong to mention Star Trek, but I don't see a real issue with what I did. I realize not everyone will like it, but well, that would be true no matter what I wrote.

Exactly so. It's worth thinking about reader feedback and considering whether they have a point, but you'll go insane if you try to cater to every reader's preferences.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

I frequently use real names for places and businesses, but I also enjoy the occasional parody (whether readers get it or not).

I one story, I did a parody on Samsung with a fictional Korean company named, "Sagikkun", which translates into Korean as "junk". They sold their products through a retail chain in the U.S. named, "Good Buy", because they weren't the "best" and frankly, aren't even that good.

 

[jaF0]

So, I can't use Knob's Landing instead of Knott's Landing?

 

[WittyUserName]

Aside from the obvious legal issues that is using real brand names when it comes to trademark laws (and possibly other laws that I am not aware of), doing what you said is really common, and it goes beyond books. TV Tropes has entries for most of it: Brand X, Bland-Name Product, Acme Products, No Celebrities Were Harmed, and Captain Ersatz, for instance.

Changing the names also gives you a chance to poke fun at it, something that you're already doing, so there's no need to be afraid of being cheeky.

Seriously. In my D&D group, by the rule of fun, my DM decided to modify the way Sending works and essentially turned it into Discord voice chat, so we couldn't resist looking for Discord sounds whenever we used Sending. I also made up a website called "OnlySimps" as part of the universe, which you already know what is a parody of. We're not even making an actual play or anything; we're just two millenials and two zoomers having fun on a high fantasy version of medieval Russia, satirizing every single thing from the Internet culture and pop culture.

If I was you, I'd ignore that email. That's a criticism I wouldn't take because it's comically missing the point.

Always happy to hear about Dungeons and Dragons! You can probably tell from my avatar. But, yeah, I like having my own name for things. A couple are kind of hard to figure out. Instead of "Sex in the City" my universe has "Sluts About Town"

 

[WittyUserName]

That all seems fine and normal. I've done similar things here and there in my stories; e.g. I invented a fictitious Eastern European country because I didn't want to get tangled up in the finer points of "that's not how a Belarussian would say it" or have RL politics overshadow my story.

Many, many professional writers have done similar things, either to avoid nitpicking or for legal reasons. An obvious example akin to yours is "Galaxy Quest", which is very obviously based on Trek.



Exactly so. It's worth thinking about reader feedback and considering whether they have a point, but you'll go insane if you try to cater to every reader's preferences.

Thanks! I do think about reader feedback. A big reason I went this route is the fact that I haven't watched those shows. I am NOT watching Sex in the City for research purposes

 

[designatedvictim]

I agree, you can't please everyone. I'm just surprised by how upset people seem to get about it. Then again, I've seen some weird complaints.

Not exactly your situation, but in my most recent story, I had the main characters watching a nightly movie marathon and I picked Star Wars as the franchise because the number of movies closely fit the timeframe of the story.

In, all, I'm kind of shocked that only two of the dozen story comments complained about my editorializing about the movies. And doubly so because it took until after 18K views before someone did so. (I expected complaints after much fewer views.)

I gave them a mini-MST3K treatment. Comments on ten movies combined comprised less than 4% of the word count spread throughout the story.

I'm a big fan, but some fans can't take criticism.

Because of the way I used it, it was easier to do a real movie series. Everyone would say I was wasting words if it was something I just made up for the story.

I often metaphorically flip a coin as to using real brands. In my main series, the MCs go to a 'chain pizza place' (in mind was a Pizza Hut I used to frequent), but they also specifically went to a McDonald's, later.

YMMV.

 

[RetroFan]

I do use some local landmarks, real colleges, etc... I did one story set in Maine involving climbing a very famous mountain. I used the real names and people seemed to like it. I did use fictional television shows still.

I have had fun making up fictional movies and TV shows for my stories, like an early 1990s Australian soap opera called 'Sea Breeze' which one reader thought was an actual TV show.

Sometimes I'll hint at an actual TV show without directly naming it. For example, in one of my stories set on Halloween night in 1959, the narrator Cindy notes that her father and grandfather are watching a TV show where Jackie Gleeson has had a difference of opinion with some trick or treaters, with these kids now putting the 'trick' part into action. Most everyone would know given the era that the show they are watching is 'The Honeymooners'.

Another example from one of my stories takes place in early 1991 where the narrator Andrew is watching TV with his friends - a twin brother and sister - and notes that the show in question is about teenagers in a rich area of Los Angeles and counts in its cast a twin brother and sister. The description alone and given the story takes place in the very early 1990s immediately tells a reader the show the three are watching is 'Beverley Hills 90210'.

I tend not to use actual brand names, for example I'll say 'Cola' rather than 'Coke' or 'Pepsi', but I'm tempted to deviate from this in a story I'm writing at the moment about an alternate universe where the young male narrator notices people eating Arch Deluxe hamburgers from McDonalds and finds out that they are extremely successful in this timeline, while in the real world from which he came the Arch Deluxe was a massive flop when released in 1996-1997.

 

[KittyOfSteele]

Always happy to hear about Dungeons and Dragons! You can probably tell from my avatar. But, yeah, I like having my own name for things. A couple are kind of hard to figure out. Instead of "Sex in the City" my universe has "Sluts About Town"

"Sluts About Town" sounds okay. Stuff like "Desperate Housewives" is a bit harder though because the name already sounds like a parody on its own.

I tend not to use actual brand names, for example I'll say 'Cola' rather than 'Coke' or 'Pepsi', but I'm tempted to deviate from this in a story I'm writing at the moment about an alternate universe where the young male narrator notices people eating Arch Deluxe hamburgers from McDonalds and finds out that they are extremely successful in this timeline, while in the real world from which he came the Arch Deluxe was a massive flop when released in 1996-1997.

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines introduced "Cepsi™" as part of their line-up of soft drinks. Also, there's a design that went around online for years that was the Coca-cola™ logo, but it just said "Enjoy Cock™"

 

[CyranoJ]

Thoughts?

Let a thousand fictional shows, bands, company names, brands and ridiculous character names bloom.

I make a lot of use of real-world media and brands in my stories. OTOH I wrote like a half-dozen novellas and an equal number of short stories based on off-brand parody Star Trek featuring Bikini Girls in Space and one of the star characters in one of my rude-grrrl porn stories is literally named "Johnni Too-Bad" after a Slickers song, so I would most definitely be throwing stones in a glass mansion if I gave you anything other than a thumbs-up on this.

 

[Belegon]

No parodies in names here, either. I use all kinds of local landmarks in my stories. People that been to Austin seem to appreciate it.

I do the same with Pittsburgh and San Diego. I've gotten a couple of comments along the line of, "hey, that place close down" or even "it doesn't look like that anymore. ya know" . But I moved in 2007. so a few things back home in San Diego are bound to have changed. Sometimes I've written back and teased that the story is set in 2007...

 

[Nynah]

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines introduced "Cepsi™" as part of their line-up of soft drinks. Also, there's a design that went around online for years that was the Coca-cola™ logo, but it just said "Enjoy Cock™"

They mimicked the actual font pretty well. The colors were the same as well, but they obviously had to vary up the logo a little bit..

I'm curious to see what the legally distinct Mountain Dew and Dr. Pepper were called. Plus whatever that white one is at the right end.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

To do this, I made parodies of certain popular media. For example, instead of Grey's Anatomy, I created something called "Hospital Doctors in Love" or "HDL." This was helpful in a couple ways. For example, I have never watched a single episode of Grey's Anatomy. I didn't want to watch an entire damn series just to comment on it. So, I made up my own and I can say whatever I want happened. I had two people arguing; one likes HDL, one likes the show Planet Trek Wars(I assume you can guess what that's a parody of). I had a fun argument where they discussed how unrealistic they both were. I've also never watched Star Trek, so I couldn't make that seem realistic without making things up that didn't happen in the actual show. Another reason is that the main character from HDL is a famous fictional actor, and I had him actually appear in the story.

Those aren't really parodies, they are just fictional parallels. Nothing wrong with that at all. I can't imagine anyone getting upset over these. if they do they have mental issues and could use a therapist. Not your problem.

I guess these folks sent death threats to the folks who made the movie Galaxy Quest. (rolleyes)

I too will often use fictional parallels in stories. In my car racing romance I decided to not use any real world companies. The tyres were Goodwin (instead of Goodyear) for instance and no one has made any mention yet that the cars are sponsored by fake cigarettes like Maestro Extra Milds and Red Band Kings, or that my photographer character uses two fictional brands of camera, one called Nippon and another called Kirsch.

I can't understand for the life of me why anyone would get upset by any of that. Do they seriously feel like it's some sort of diss of their fave show or something? Holy shit that would be fucking childish as all fuck. If that's the case, fuck 'em.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

That all seems fine and normal. I've done similar things here and there in my stories; e.g. I invented a fictitious Eastern European country because I didn't want to get tangled up in the finer points of "that's not how a Belarussian would say it" or have RL politics overshadow my story.

Leutonian, jah!! Gypsy, p-tui!!

 

[pink_silk_glove]

Let a thousand fictional shows, bands, company names, brands and ridiculous character names bloom.

Matsuo Basho?

 

[TheLobster]

I know that OP isn't really asking for opinion or advice, but rather to reaffirm what he is already doing. Which is fine, obviously, but doesn't mean I have to go along with it.

Things is, fictional names stick out like a sore thumb. They immediately draws the reader's attention to the fact that the story is, well, fictional. When they appear in a passage, they break both the flow of the text as well as the reader's immersion in your world.

You can mitigate this effect, of course, by choosing the fictional name very carefully, so that's not immediately associated with the specific real world counterpart but rather with all the things that the brand name or title represents. "Sluts Around Town" is a good name, for example, because the inspiration isn't immediately obvious and yet it (presumably) describes precisely what the fictional show is about. But this ain't easy, to pick a memorable name; if it was, marketing wouldn't be nearly as huge an industry as it is.

A bad example is something like Parabook, which I remember seeing in some Lit story. Everyone knows exactly what social network it stands for, and all it does is leave you wondering why the author didn't just say Facebook already.

A few people mentioned that TV shows and movies routinely substitute real-world brands for made-up alternatives. They do, but that's irrelevant. Product placement is a practice that is carefully delineated by broadcasting regulations, intended to clearly distinguish advertisement from original programming. No such regulations apply here, and Lit is quite good at visually separating user content and ads.

All in all, don't try this. There is no need to be cute. Yes, I know it's tempting to try and dazzle readers with your incisive wit and brilliance -- which I believe is the real reason for coining those fictional names -- but why don't you expend those creative juices on original things that are relevant to the plot and to your characters? Your story will be better for it.

 

[PennameWombat]

<snip>

To do this, I made parodies of certain popular media. For example, instead of Grey's Anatomy, I created something called "Hospital Doctors in Love" or "HDL." This was helpful in a couple ways. For example, I have never watched a single episode of Grey's Anatomy. I didn't want to watch an entire damn series just to comment on it. So, I made up my own and I can say whatever I want happened. I had two people arguing; one likes HDL, one likes the show Planet Trek Wars(I assume you can guess what that's a parody of). I had a fun argument where they discussed how unrealistic they both were. I've also never watched Star Trek, so I couldn't make that seem realistic without making things up that didn't happen in the actual show. Another reason is that the main character from HDL is a famous fictional actor, and I had him actually appear in the story.
<snip

This illustrates key points about using real versus fake 'brands.' Using a real brand, readers either know it, or they don't. But generally they have a specific viewpoint in mind and that will definitely affect their appraisal of the story. And, if your portrayal clashes with their personal view, that can affect their views. Usually negatively.

But using real brands also limits you, in that they work the way they work. I use them sparingly, when I simply want something that I know is essentially universal (like Coca Cola) and I can have it in the scene and move on.

In a recent story, I wanted two bookstores, where some interesting events were to occur. I used "Mewes & Peer" and "John Wesley's." Why? The first one is identified as the more staid, corporate one, and the latter is the spunkier independent. And, they were chosen both because they're Easter eggs, but also meant to be neutral for the vast majority of readers who won't see the hidden meanings, the stores had the natures that I gave them for the purpose of the story. If using them has bothered anyone, they haven't mentioned it. And in the overall context of creating story, the creative effort burned wasn't of consequence.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

A few people mentioned that TV shows and movies routinely substitute real-world brands for made-up alternatives. They do, but that's irrelevant.

If people were noping out of their fave TV shows over it then you would have a point, but they don't, so it is in fact completely relevant.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

All in all, don't try this. There is no need to be cute. Yes, I know it's tempting to try and dazzle readers with your incisive wit and brilliance -- which I believe is the real reason for coining those fictional names -- but why don't you expend those creative juices on original things that are relevant to the plot and to your characters? Your story will be better for it.

I don't always make up fake brands, but when I do, it's usually because I'm rather anti-commercial myself and don't feel the need to give the brand a free ad. I'm not trying to look or act clever or brilliant at all.

 

[Trionyx]

Assuming that you're talking about your work on Lit, you can point out to this person that "unprofessional" doesn't really apply since none of us are being paid to post our stories here so you can use whatever you want.

Gasp! You mean we don’t get paid?

 

[Kumquatqueen]

This illustrates key points about using real versus fake 'brands.' Using a real brand, readers either know it, or they don't. But generally they have a specific viewpoint in mind and that will definitely affect their appraisal of the story. And, if your portrayal clashes with their personal view, that can affect their views. Usually negatively.

This illustrates key points about using real versus fake 'brands.' Using a real brand, readers either know it, or they don't. But generally they have a specific viewpoint in mind and that will definitely affect their appraisal of the story. And, if your portrayal clashes with their personal view, that can affect their views. Usually negatively.

Very much so. If you make up a brand, you know the reader doesn't know it, so you make sure you tell them what connotations it has. But authors often think they know what others think of real brands, which can backfire.

For example, I've never heard of The Honeymooners or Jackie Gleeson, mentioned upthread. I get the impression I wouldn't be missing anything major from the story, but I might glean that there's an in-joke there that I'm not getting. If there were a bunch of those, I might conclude the story isn't for me.

Opinions of brands change hugely over time. Skoda has gone from a joke (How do you double the value of a Skoda? Put petrol in it/two sacks of potatoes in the back.) to a sensible and popular choice of family car. Possibly more likely to occur in a Lit story, McDonalds is perceived very differently by different age groups. Back in the 1980s it was quite aspirational in Europe and a luxury. That plummeted in the 90s as other and better chains came along, and students etc started to avoid it thanks to the McLibel trial. Not sure that happened in the US.

Now McDonalds UK tries to capture people wanting a coffee and to look more adult - to get that market who were kids in the 80s. But GenZ and Gen Alpha (current teenagers and 20s) see it as a place for old people and not somewhere they'd dream of going, unless trapped at a services with little choice. A bunch of Lit authors have someone take someone else to McDonald's for a casual lunch and I'm left thinking 'so they're 20s-40s who doesn't care about health or food standards, and thinks that's an OK impression to give a stranger?' Unless it's the only food within half an hour's travel, why would you?

Seriously, my teenager was insulted when Grandma suggest McDonald's. Couldn't believe it was intended as a treat! And the youth just don't drink Coke, much. Even the tradies who work on our house drink water, juice drinks, or Polish knock-off fizz, or beer. The Coke expanse in the supermarket is because Coke pay for it, not because there's so much demand!

Clothes brands are the ones that really stick out when the author clearly means something by them, but for foreign readers or ones 20 years later, it's meaningless.

I've had various characters eat at a typical greasy-spoon cafe called Mario's, which is a typical name because so many were opened by Italians in the 50s. Apparently there's at least 6 in London. Similar for ordering Indian from 'the Raj'. I mention various real things, but despite having a bunch of characters who work in fire engineering or as firefighters, I refuse to mention the name of a traumatic incident around 2017. Using such a tragedy as a springboard for pure porn just seemed tacky. If I did a much more nuanced story about the effect of the trauma on a firefighter and his sex life, I might, but given the last story was mostly about his sex life 8 years on, it didn't seem appropriate.

 

[WittyUserName]

Those aren't really parodies, they are just fictional parallels. Nothing wrong with that at all. I can't imagine anyone getting upset over these. if they do they have mental issues and could use a therapist. Not your problem.

I guess these folks sent death threats to the folks who made the movie Galaxy Quest. (rolleyes)

I too will often use fictional parallels in stories. In my car racing romance I decided to not use any real world companies. The tyres were Goodwin (instead of Goodyear) for instance and no one has made any mention yet that the cars are sponsored by fake cigarettes like Maestro Extra Milds and Red Band Kings, or that my photographer character uses two fictional brands of camera, one called Nippon and another called Kirsch.

I can't understand for the life of me why anyone would get upset by any of that. Do they seriously feel like it's some sort of diss of their fave show or something? Holy shit that would be fucking childish as all fuck. If that's the case, fuck 'em.

I can understand the breaking of the immersion aspect, but yeah, some people get way, way too upset.

 

[WittyUserName]

I know that OP isn't really asking for opinion or advice, but rather to reaffirm what he is already doing. Which is fine, obviously, but doesn't mean I have to go along with it.

Things is, fictional names stick out like a sore thumb. They immediately draws the reader's attention to the fact that the story is, well, fictional. When they appear in a passage, they break both the flow of the text as well as the reader's immersion in your world.

You can mitigate this effect, of course, by choosing the fictional name very carefully, so that's not immediately associated with the specific real world counterpart but rather with all the things that the brand name or title represents. "Sluts Around Town" is a good name, for example, because the inspiration isn't immediately obvious and yet it (presumably) describes precisely what the fictional show is about. But this ain't easy, to pick a memorable name; if it was, marketing wouldn't be nearly as huge an industry as it is.

A bad example is something like Parabook, which I remember seeing in some Lit story. Everyone knows exactly what social network it stands for, and all it does is leave you wondering why the author didn't just say Facebook already.

A few people mentioned that TV shows and movies routinely substitute real-world brands for made-up alternatives. They do, but that's irrelevant. Product placement is a practice that is carefully delineated by broadcasting regulations, intended to clearly distinguish advertisement from original programming. No such regulations apply here, and Lit is quite good at visually separating user content and ads.

All in all, don't try this. There is no need to be cute. Yes, I know it's tempting to try and dazzle readers with your incisive wit and brilliance -- which I believe is the real reason for coining those fictional names -- but why don't you expend those creative juices on original things that are relevant to the plot and to your characters? Your story will be better for it.

Breaking the immersion is something I can understand, which is tough. I try to be careful with the names for that reason to limit that impact. I'm definitely trying to be cute or 'dazzle readers' though!

 

[ChuckWolf]

Always happy to hear about Dungeons and Dragons! You can probably tell from my avatar. But, yeah, I like having my own name for things. A couple are kind of hard to figure out. Instead of "Sex in the City" my universe has "Sluts About Town"

"Sluts About Town" is a much better name than "Sex In The City".