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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/36753
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/36753
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Inspired by GGx's question [Will traditional publishers force you to remove brands?](https://writing.stackexchange.com/questions/36744/will-traditional-publishers-force-you-to-remove-brands)

I would probably not want to mention a brand name of a small brand in my work: a small brand might not want to be associated with a fictional work because of suspected endorsement, and might get replaced next year by a better brand, turning my work into a period piece. Readers might also be unfamiliar with a small brand. So it's all-around advantageous to make up my own.

But what about a big known brand, like Google? In a story set in our time, it would be rather weird for the characters to use a search engine that isn't google - we even use 'google' as a verb, as in "why don't you google it?".  
Similarly, I haven't yet heard of characters driving _InventedCarBrand_ rather than Porches and Rolls-Royces if they're rich, or Volkswagen Beetles if they're poor. Depending on the setting, characters drink coke or Dom Pérignon, not _BlackSugarWater_ and _FancySparklingWine_.

So where does one draw the line? Is there a rule of thumb regarding when to use the existing brand, and when to make up one's own?

Original score: 19