Question regarding brand names in writing

[elfin_odalisque]

thanks, all for your input. I think I might just use the nick name 'Wally World' instead of Walmart and play it safe. I only intend to use it once at the beginning of the story but the entire story is based on the store itself...so i can't leave it out.
crossing fingahs and hoping the story actually gets written and submitted.

Not only isn't it a problem - if you ask Wal-Mart, you'll prolly get sponsorship!

 

[LadyJeanne]

Remember "American Psycho"? Long litanies about the perfection of Brioni and Gucci. That was all about brand names - in fact, whatshisname's shallow, brand-name fetish drove the gory plot.

Go ahead and put them in Walmart! Surely, there must be a "Debbie Does Disneyland" out there???

 

[Weird Harold]

i guess im ganna hafta stop being so lazy and seriously look it up. i would hate for my story to be declined because it contained a store's name

I don't think Literotica would reject a story on the basis of a brand name being used.

As far a problems with the trademark holder, it all depends on how they perceive your use of their brand name and it's almost impossible to predict how a corporate mentality will perceive the use of a brand name as the central feature of an erotic story. There is a fine line in corporate perception between "any mention is a good mention" and "our good name is being besmirched" and a fine line between parody and corporate character assassination.

Personally, I wouldn't worry too much about setting a story in a Walmart store or using any other brand name, because I don't write stories any reasonable person could mistake for reality.

Authors and their characters are permitted to have opinions -- even opinions about real corporations with trademarked names -- and those opinions don't necessarily have to be favorable.

 

[hurricane64]

I worried a lot about this on my last story, as I used the actual names of a couple of existing restaurants and bars. I felt it was important to name them for the sake of the story (they were major landmarks and standbys in New Orleans), but I still worried about using them.

After reading here, it would seem that I was OK in doing it.

 

[Guest]

ive gotten some excellent advice here and im pretty certain that i will stay away from naming the store outright. lucky says that you just 'know' from the descriptions what store im talking about. only worry is that someone from another country might not understand it...

 

[Penelope Street]

When I consider what Tom Cruise said about K-Mart in 'Rain Man', I gotta think you're gonna be ok.