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Long Earth - Whoops! What a twit I am!

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poohcarrot

Sergeant-at-Arms
#1
Sep 13, 2009
8,317
2,300
NOT The land of the risen Son!!
#1
If I read a Terry Pratchett book, I have no desire to be bombarded with the product placement plugs of US multinational corporations. :eek: :eek: :eek:

I have managed to read a paltry 29 pages of my US Long Earth proof so far. At page 17 I threw the book down in disgust when Coca-Cola was gratuitously mentioned! On page 27 I again threw the book down in disgust when Starbucks was gratuitously mentioned. :devil: :devil:

Far from being the cutting edge Sci-fi sizzler I was expecting, it appears to be merely a vehicle for promoting American hegemony! :devil: :devil:

I just hope that Harper Collins (the US publishers) have added these bit without TP knowing. If not, I'm disappointed to put it mildly. :devil: :devil: :devil:

(For more information about "product placement" and TP's 1999 view on it, check out "The Pooh Pit" in the non-Discworld books section.)
 
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raisindot

Sergeant-at-Arms
#5
Oct 1, 2009
5,317
2,450
Boston, MA USA
#5
Re: Long Earth - I'm absolutely disgusted!!!

You're just mad because there's no mention of skimpily dressed Japanese tweenybooper bands or provincial English football teams. :laugh:
 
R

raisindot

Sergeant-at-Arms
#8
Oct 1, 2009
5,317
2,450
Boston, MA USA
#8
Re: Long Earth - I'm absolutely disgusted!!!

poohcarrot said:
You two are Yanks, so you wouldn't understand! :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
Ummm, I think, language barrier aside, that scantily clad Japanese schoolgirls are quite well understood by men the world over. :laugh:
 
Jan Van Quirm

Jan Van Quirm

Sergeant-at-Arms
#9
Nov 7, 2008
8,524
2,800
Dunheved, Kernow
www.janhawke.me.uk
#9
Re: Long Earth - I'm absolutely disgusted!!!

Well if the book starts in the US and people are going to places where they drink coke and Dr. Pepper how else are you going to describe it without people wondering what you mean? What the hell is Dr. Pepper anyway? :eek: If you said it was dandelion and burdock with carbonated sick (or possibly marmite :p ) in it then the UK readers might recognise it but US ones certainly wouldn't and most people under the age of 30 would be completely clueless anyway.

You're reading the US proof aren't you? What's the big deal if Terry and Stephen refer to US brand commodities in context when it's set in Madison or whever? Perhaps in one of the parallel stream there's going to be different international conglomerates featuring in the action so the point will become clear eventually... :naughty: This isn't Discworld and there's another author involved so it's not just Terry's style prevailing so perhaps you should just give it a chance huh? :eek: :shhh:
 
P

poohcarrot

Sergeant-at-Arms
#12
Sep 13, 2009
8,317
2,300
NOT The land of the risen Son!!
#12
Re: Long Earth - I'm absolutely disgusted!!!

You're absolutely right, Jano. :dance:

Obviously the multi references to Coca-Cola are simply there as texture to root the piece into a place and time. :cool:

I'm sure there won't be any further references. :cool:

Gosh! Am I a silly-billy or what? :oops:

Right! I'm off to the 7/11 to get a drink. I don't know why, but I've come over dead thirsty. o_O
 
raptornx01

raptornx01

Sergeant
#14
Jan 13, 2012
2,337
2,600
South florida, US
www.youtube.com
#14
as i said in the other thread coke is a generic brand now. just because it was mentioned doesn't mean he got paid to say it. same with starbucks. be realistic. you set a story in the modern world real people are going to be doing REAL things with REAL products.

frankly, i find it far more distracting when books, tv shows, movies etc try to shoehorn a fake brand in to it. because its clearly obvious whatever it is is there for a reason, but they are too cheap to use a real product (or in the case of books want to avoid the EVILS of real world products). when they do it it stands out like a sore thumb, its so phoney and really destroys the illusion.

also, if you are so afraid of product placement, you might want to change your sig, and your avatar, and your username.
 
P

poohcarrot

Sergeant-at-Arms
#15
Sep 13, 2009
8,317
2,300
NOT The land of the risen Son!!
#15
raptornx01 said:
as i said in the other thread coke is a generic brand now.

also, if you are so afraid of product placement, you might want to change your sig, and your avatar, and your username.
Click to expand...
Oh tush and fie my little tiddly! :rolleyes:
If you believe the generic name for the soda we're talking about is "Coke" (with a capital "C"), then you've been brainwashed. :laugh:
The generic name is "cola" (with a small "c").
Is Budweiser the generic name for beer? :dance:

Anyhoos, I'm not afraid of product placement in the slightest. I just don't want my TP books polluted with it. Is that such a bad thing to want? :dance:

I'm sure you know that at the moment in New York, they are considering a ban on the large "bucket" size cups of soda, because they claim Coca-Cola et al is the largest contribution to obesity. :cool:

In 2001, Fay Weldon got paid a five figure sum for mentioning one product 12 times in one of her books.
Let's see how many Coca-Cola related products are mentioned in total before jumping to any more conclusions, shall we? :cool:
 
P

poohcarrot

Sergeant-at-Arms
#16
Sep 13, 2009
8,317
2,300
NOT The land of the risen Son!!
#16
raptornx01 said:
frankly, i find it far more distracting when books, tv shows, movies etc try to shoehorn a fake brand in to it. because its clearly obvious whatever it is is there for a reason, but they are too cheap to use a real product (or in the case of books want to avoid the EVILS of real world products). when they do it it stands out like a sore thumb, its so phoney and really destroys the illusion.
Click to expand...
How about the fake car brand in Good Omens? The Wasabi? :laugh: :laugh:

Why is there need for a product name in this sentence?
"She thought of her partner, Clancy, drinking the day's fifth cup of coffee out in the cruiser, thinking she was an idiot."
"She thought of her partner, Clancy, drinking the day's fifth Starbucks out in the cruiser, thinking she was an idiot."

Or is "Starbucks" now the generic name for coffee! :laugh:
 
Jan Van Quirm

Jan Van Quirm

Sergeant-at-Arms
#17
Nov 7, 2008
8,524
2,800
Dunheved, Kernow
www.janhawke.me.uk
#17
I've got the book on order and I want to approach it with an open mind on the basis that Stephen Baxter smiled in a really friendly way at me (in it's proper sense :eek: ) at the last convention so I'm disregarding all this 'anti' product hype you're stirring up on the basis that this is 'cultural context' and nothing more.


The fact that the girl's bloke getting a starbucks coffee says a lot about him (too much disposable income, vacuous consumer habits and superficial and predictable/unimaginitive socialization in his peer group) without a lot of unnecessary wordage...? :p

In the art of writing saying he was making weak instant coffee at home re-reading a Discworld novel could be construed as inferring he's on a strict budget, too tight to buy superfluous refreshments, penny-wise in his ways and afraid to try something new? Cola/coke are interchangeable in normal speech; Wasabi is humourous point-making and Starbucks the doyenne of the neo-bourgeois - who cares? :twisted:
 
raptornx01

raptornx01

Sergeant
#18
Jan 13, 2012
2,337
2,600
South florida, US
www.youtube.com
#18
poohcarrot said:
If you believe the generic name for the soda we're talking about is "Coke" (with a capital "C"), then you've been brainwashed. :laugh:
The generic name is "cola" (with a small "c").
Is Budweiser the generic name for beer? :dance:
Click to expand...
Coke IS the generic name if when anyone mentions soda, or cola they say Coke. Maybe you don't see that over there, maybe its a cultural thing, buts that's how it is here.

Anyhoos, I'm not afraid of product placement in the slightest. I just don't want my TP books polluted with it. Is that such a bad thing to want? :dance:
Click to expand...
no, but I just don't see it being as blatant as you make it out to be. You just seem to be on the defensive when there is no cause to be.

I'm sure you know that at the moment in New York, they are considering a ban on the large "bucket" size cups of soda, because they claim Coca-Cola et al is the largest contribution to obesity. :cool:
Click to expand...
Thats a whole different discussion/argument.

In 2001, Fay Weldon got paid a five figure sum for mentioning one product 12 times in one of her books.
Let's see how many Coca-Cola related products are mentioned in total before jumping to any more conclusions, shall we? :cool:
Click to expand...
so it would have been ok with you if hadn't gotten paid for mentioning the brand? There is no general rule that says you can't use brand names in books.

http://www.rightsofwriters.com/2010/12/ ... in-my.html
 
Sister Jennifer

Sister Jennifer

Sergeant
#19
Nov 15, 2011
3,310
2,650
Aust.
#19
^ Gawd, that's depressing. I thought the book was about parallel worlds. The product placement thing has gotta be important for the story hasn't it?? Please say it's so.

For the record, no amount of coke, macdonalds or starbucks references could ever induce me to eat the shite. I can't be the only person that thinks this way.
 
Sister Jennifer

Sister Jennifer

Sergeant
#20
Nov 15, 2011
3,310
2,650
Aust.
#20
poohcarrot said:
Why is there need for a product name in this sentence?
"She thought of her partner, Clancy, drinking the day's fifth cup of coffee out in the cruiser, thinking she was an idiot."
"She thought of her partner, Clancy, drinking the day's fifth Starbucks out in the cruiser, thinking she was an idiot."
Click to expand...
5th coffee? Cruiser?? she's the idiot???
Starbucks or not, Clancy is already a wanker in my mind.
 
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