Name Brands

By a stroke of luck, I've had time to read lately. And one of the things I've been noticing is when authors either use name brands or skillfully dodge using name brands. such as saying soda or cola instead of Pepsi or Dr Pepper.

This is something I've been thinking about for a while. Is it okay to use name brands? Is it good to use name brands? As in, does it help your story, or is it unnecessary?

I did what any rational person would do--I turned to the Google Machine. There I found this nice, wow-it-makes-sense article (a rarity) that I thought I would share with you:

http://www.rightsofwriters.com/2010/12/can-i-mention-brand-name-products-in-my.html

What are your thoughts? Are name brands in fiction a good idea?

Kieryn

www.kierynnicolas.com