Generic Name, Real Brand Name or Fake Brand Name?

I know lots of us here focus more on sci-fi or fantasy but for those who deal with present day settings, how do you go about deciding when to use brand names when mentioning things like cars and the like; and when their generic terms suffice?

At the moment, as my viewpoint character isn't mechanically inclined, I treat a car as a car as a car; using terms like 'hatchback' and 'estate' when describing a vehicle. Same goes for everyday appliances.

However, there come a time where it would feel out of place to say that a character is drinking a cola rather than a Coke, or using a tablet instead of an iPad. In these instances, I use a brand name - either a real world one or a thinly veiled, made-up one.

I tend to use real world ones when they are unimportant, off-hand details (e.g. the aforementioned Coke drink) that are treated neutrally or when I am trying to use a reader's familiarity and preconceived notions about a certain brand (e.g. Stella Artois) to indirectly convey an overall picture to them.

On the other hand, items that feature prominently - especially locations - I tend to make up. So, there would be a fast food restaurant named MacDougall's or O'Donnell's with foods like the 'Big O', in place of McDonald's and the Big Mac. Or I use fake brands used in other works, like Morleys and S-Mart as random Shout Outs - especially if they're one-off comments/uses.

How do you all do it? And are there any potential legal problems with my current practice?

I don't think so.

If you're going for a work set in the real world, I would think the best thing to do would be to have real life things for any minor details, but if it's a major plot point about something, it'd probably be best to have it as a fake brand name.

For instance, if someone just mentions they're going to Wal-Mart, that's fine, but if they're an employee there and it's a big part of the story, it'd be best to have it be Q-Mart or something. The exception though is if it's meant to be based off of real life experiences or something—in that case, it contributes to the verisimilitude. (If you say the guy works at Wal-Mart and you've never worked there, you might break suspension of disbelief for any readers that have, whereas if it's Q-Mart, no one knows about Q-Mart's work practices but you and what you tell the reader about them, so there's no break in suspension of disbelief.)

Years ago, a friend of mine was let go from one business due to someone else's error. A while later, he'd written a short story about an individual who worked at a thinly-disguised lawyer-friendly version of the store (I forget all the details, since it's been nearly 8 years). In short, the story was basically a five-page Take That! at the business.

Oh yeah, I have no clue what legal considerations you'd need to make, but I'd imagine you wouldn't have to worry about that except for published for-profit stories.

I enjoy coming up with fake brand names myself, but I also do sometimes go with real products if there's something iconic about the product. For example, a Genius Sweet Tooth whose favorite snack food is Twinkies. "Cream-filled sponge cakes" is a bit too long-winded to use all the time, but if you call it something like "Winkies"—and Winkies have all the characteristics of Twinkies, but with a different name—you're not really fooling anyone, so you may as well just use the real product. However, I think the "If you've never had any experience with the real thing, making a fake version helps avoid errors" caveat is a good one.

But I think making everything generic is probably a bad way to go, because people in real life don't usually talk in generics about everything. I remember on the Comics Curmudgeon blog, they would always talk about the comic strip Harold And Jamaal, and how the characters would use vague generic terms for everything. It made them sound very unrealistic.

I just use the real brand name, unless my story is set in an alternate history or there's some other reason to use a made-up name.

I tend to use real brands - so far as I know that's perfectly acceptable for stories set in the real universe.

I'd even go as far as having characters arguing over Coke vs Pepsi if that's the sort of people they were - after all, the "opinions" are those of the characters and are there to convey what they're like (i.e. shallow enough to waste their time arguing over a friggin fizzy drink) and not a commentary on the companies concerned or their product.

I also use real-world makes and models so that I can get details correct and at least some readers are likely to be familiar with it - e.g. if my story calls for a front-engine, rear-wheel-drive car, I'll use a real make and model that suits.

And real brands do convey something about the characters - there's a hell of a difference between a character who drives a BMW X5 with vanity plate and one who drives a Toyota Corolla with standard licence plates.

My story is supposed to take place in alternate universe, so if it comes up, I tend to use fake brand names. Usually I'd just avoid mentioning a product name as namedropping things in the middle of the story feels kind of awkward unless it actually has a point.