"Bland-Name Product" and "Fictional Counterpart"

Somehow these two pages don't have their contrasting right. Bland-Name Product says Fictional Counterpart is not for copyright-related name changes while Fictional Counterpart itself admits that this can be a reason and seems to draw the line between institutions and products to distinguish the two tropes. Which definition is correct?

Bland-Name Product is (or should be) a subtrope of Fictional Counterpart specifically talking about brand-name products. "Enjoy a Kook! It's better than Poopsi!" Examples would use the most specific applicable trope as per our standard policy.

Again, to be clear:

• The company of Minisoft, which makes computer software, is a Fictional Counterpart.
• Their product, Minisoft Doors, a computer operating system, is a Bland-Name Product.
• Their former CEO, Gill Bates, a billionaire and philanthropist, is an example of No Celebrities Were Harmed.

Edit: Actually, you are right that Fictional Counterpart says it's about an institution. This seems unnecessarily restrictive, never mind vague. And the description of Bland-Name Product does indeed misrepresent the relationship between the tropes. To add to the confusion, This Index Is Copypasted shows Fictional Counterpart as the supertrope.

Edited by Fighteer on Feb 27th 2019 at 11:04:56 AM

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

So you are saying Microsoft is not a brand and that's why Minisoft goes under Fictional Counterpart? Is Puma a brand? Not sure I am able to draw this line correctly every time.

Fictional Counterpart's name is too broad for its own good. Or, its description is too narrow.

TRS?

We can never truly eradicate the coronavirus, but we can suppress its threat like influenza

Microsoft is a brand, but it is not a product. The things it makes are products.

If a fictional work features the Mikey shoe company, that's a Fictional Counterpart. If it features Mikey shoes, that's a Bland-Name Product.

Edited by Fighteer on Feb 27th 2019 at 7:38:39 AM

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

i believe BlandNameProduct.Wc Donalds should be moved to be a subtrope of Fictional Counterpart.

Yep, although there's a line to be drawn. Riffs on McDonald's, the fast food chain, go in Fictional Counterpart. Riffs on their specific menu items, like a Big Mac, would be a Bland-Name Product.

• Fictional Counterpart: Alice and Bob visit a WcBonald's restaurant in Episode 12 and have a terrifying encounter with its clown mascot.
• Bland-Name Product: During their visit to WcBonald's in Episode 12, Alice orders a Big Whack and a WcSlurry. Bob orders a Dr. Pooper and large fries.

Edited by Fighteer on Feb 28th 2019 at 11:41:03 AM

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

I just don't like how this trope (disguising trademark entities) has been split into two tropes while they are often used side-by-side in fiction (see Zootopia or Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse) where the creators probably never gave a thought about what's a brands and what's a product. But we list a Preyda banner as one thing and a Preyda handbag as another.

^^ The first line of Bland-Name Product refers to brands and not products which is not in line with your argument that it's all about products. I am confused again.

I get the difference https://aytm.com/blog/brand-product-differenc/

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I'm not sure we benefit by splitting the Preyda advertisement and the Preyda handbag into different tropes because branding is about name-recognition. You're supposed to associate the product with the name, even when they're doing something unrelated like sponsoring race cars.

Link to TRS threads in project mode here.

^ How does this help us to tell the two tropes apart?