Long Earth - Whoops! What a twit I am!

[poohcarrot]

If I read a Terry Pratchett book, I have no desire to be bombarded with the product placement plugs of US multinational corporations.

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.

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

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.

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

[pip]

I take it you're miffed then

[poohcarrot]

...and you're not?

I can't wait for Mc-Dodger-alds and The Tea Party's Science of Discworld IV.

TP doesn't need the money, so why is he prostituting his art?

[poohcarrot]

I've just read a bit more.

Page 17 Coca-Cola
Page 29 Starbucks
Page 39 Dr Pepper (part of Coca-Cola)

[raisindot]

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

[raptornx01]

[poohcarrot]

You two are Yanks, so you wouldn't understand!

[raisindot]

You two are Yanks, so you wouldn't understand!

Ummm, I think, language barrier aside, that scantily clad Japanese schoolgirls are quite well understood by men the world over.

[Jan Van Quirm]

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? If you said it was dandelion and burdock with carbonated sick (or possibly marmite ) 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... 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?

[poohcarrot]

Page 17 Coca-Cola
Page 29 Starbucks
Page 39 Dr Pepper (part of Coca-Cola)

Page 77 Coca-Cola.

[Jan Van Quirm]

well - they're getting farther apart. Stop whinging

[poohcarrot]

You're absolutely right, Jano.

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

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

Gosh! Am I a silly-billy or what?

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

[Who's Wee Dug]

Well you know how they say the UK books are sometimes different we shall have to see or at least I will as I have ordered the two and the other one is POO as in the book of.

[raptornx01]

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.

[poohcarrot]

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.

Oh tush and fie my little tiddly!
If you believe the generic name for the soda we're talking about is "Coke" (with a capital "C"), then you've been brainwashed.
The generic name is "cola" (with a small "c").
Is Budweiser the generic name for beer?

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?

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.

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?