Why do TV and movies use fake names for products

[gremcint]

If they use the product it may be interpreted as that company endorsing the movie or tv show. also there is no chance of being sued by a fake company for accidentally saying something about their product they don't like.

[wraiths_crono]

Funny, I can think of only one show I have ever seen so far that didn't replace brands: Babylon 5 they served Zima.... If that brand lasted that far into the future imagine the stocks...

[RecoveringKinkoid]

I used to work in TV and yeah, if we produced a show, we had to obscure product labels.

Here's a scenario for ya...I occasionally did some acting in some of the home grown shows we did at public television. One show we used to produce was a training series for cops. In one episode, I played the hungover, nighgown clad girlfriend of a murder suspect, talking to cops and trying to turn over on said boyfriend.

So here's the scene where product placement was relevant: Cops come to door, disheveled and clearly hungover skank who has obviously just woken up opens the door and invites them in. Skank staggers to nasty, trash covered sofa, plops down and lights up a cigarette. Coffee table has empty Jack bottles and one unopened one. Skank then picks up unopened Jack bottle, cracks the seal and start in on it like it's a cuppa joe while turning over on her murderer boyfriend.

Pretty sure Marlboro and Jack Daniels probably don't want their products associated with this sort of scene. So not only is it a matter of "they're not paying us for advertising", but it's also a matter of "we don't want to pay them for having sullied the image of their product", either.

[Ginger Tea]

IIR "Things to do in Denver when you are dead" had a line where it was said it was a coke bottle used in a sex act not a generic cola/soda bottle.

Want to bottle fuck someone?
"Coke is it"

[Dreamstalker]

CSI has done some creative brand replacement, but the logo is still recognizable (the name is changed, but the logo design/colors stay the same).

FedEx=FastEx or IssEx
Dunkin Donuts=Donuts Donuts
Twinkies=I think it was changed but not sure, I'd have to grab/blow up the frame to figure it out

There are probably many more, but those are just the examples I remember off the top of my head.

[HYHYBT]

Funny; I remember "Donuts Donuts" from Murphy Brown.

Can you get in trouble for using someone else's fake product?

[Andara Bledin]

IIR "Things to do in Denver when you are dead" had a line where it was said it was a coke bottle used in a sex act not a generic cola/soda bottle.

I suspect that this is a case of trademark genericization. "Coke bottle" has become an adjective as well as a noun and no longer necessarily refers to Coca Cola brand products. Kleenex lost that battle and as much as Styrofoam fights it, they don't have a chance in hell (since almost nobody knows what Styrofoam [the company'] actually makes or that everything that most people call Styrofoam is actually a different form of foam styrene).

Can you get in trouble for using someone else's fake product?

Only if they've trademarked it.

^-.-^

[BeenThereDoneThat]

I remember how they purposely played up the product placement in Wayne's World (the first movie). Loved it

[smileyeagle1021]

My favorite fake brand that everyone knew who they were talking about was in Meet the Parents, Atlantic America Airlines... with the logo that looked almost exactly like American Airlines, and the crew that wore almost identical work uniforms, and the plane interior very similar to American's standard interior.
Like they did such a good job of ripping of American Airlines, it took me two watchings of the movie to realize that it wasn't American Airlines.

[El Pollo Guerrera]

If a company decides they don't like that you used their product in a movie they can and will sue you for it.

It's basically a likeness rights issue.

When Spielberg shot ET he had to get permission to use a brand name candy. M&Ms turned him down.

Reese's Pieces said yes.

Guess whose sales shot through the roof.

This also happened with "Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle".

For some reason, the CEO's of McDonald's, Burger King, KFC, Wendy's and a bunch of other fast food chains didn't want their restaurant associated with a movie about drug use. The only reason White Castle went ahead with it is because it's privately owned and doesn't have to answer to shareholders.

[Ginger Tea]

It was called "... get the munchies." over here as we don't have white castle, tbh I prefere our title even if we had that franchise and I think the BBC film shows would have just called it "Harold and Kumar" as they wouldnt want to give unfair advertising to a company.

[Rapscallion]

I've eaten at White Castle. Once.

The experience was enough to make me recommend it to others as an experience to do before you die, but it's best done shortly before you expect to die.

It was definitely an experience.

Was it actually shown on BBC over here? I wouldn't have thought it was their usual offering.

Rapscallion

[Ginger Tea]

I don't have a TV and only watch Dr Who on bbc iPlayer so I have no idea what films they show.

I was refering more to BBC film review programs, I doubt they would have called it by the full title if we did not have the alternate title.

Sure in the news they might say "sony playstation" and "apple iphone" but it's hard to do the news if you cannot say who or what.

[Jetfire]

Funny; I remember "Donuts Donuts" from Murphy Brown.

Can you get in trouble for using someone else's fake product?

Because product placement can be such a sticky issue. (As mentioned, sometimes you want a company to pay you to place the product in; other times the company will refuse to let you do it). There are large scale companies out there that just make these products for use in the industry.

Oceanic Airlines, of Lost fame is just one example of these fictional products from those companies. (And why it keeps popping up in other places.)

[jackfaire]

Products are also faked depending on how long the product is needed. In a movie asking for a corona is no big deal but in a TV show say the main character works in a bottling plant. They don't want it to be a bottling plant for a real product because then your limited by what you can do that wouldn't be considered slander or unbelievable.

Say you make the company look bad. If it were a real company whose products you love then your more likely to defend the company than relate to the character getting screwed over.