LKF #10 - Off Brands

Little Known Fact #10 - Off Brands

In ERIS (Eternal Truths, Book 1), I mention a few companies that are very reminiscent of companies that actually exist -- Black Horse Comics and KyotoPop, to name a few. This is more than me being cute/clever.

I do not want to mention copyrighted/trademarked properties in my books in case the copyright/trademark holders get pissy and decide to sue. That is always a worry when mentioning a company or brand in a commercially available product, like a book. So I change one little thing that keeps it close to the original name. This is a trick I learned watching anime.

If the anime production company doesn't get sponsorship or permission from a company to use their brand or copyright/trademark, they simply change one letter in the name or change the colors of the brand. For instance Pocari Sweat (a very popular drink in Japan) becomes Pocari Sweet or Podari Sweat in most anime. Close enough that everyone knows to what product the anime is referring, but far enough away that the company cannot sue them for using the name without permission.

I also mentioned a very famous action actor, whose movies I absolutely love, in ERIS -- Van Petrol. How many people realized who I was talking about?