"
. With In Consumed: False Endorsement
Last Exit To Nowhere: Why imaginary brands can be even better than the real thing.
There is no shortage of logos in the world, no dearth of brands striving for consumer allegiance and no chance that the creation of new brands and logos will cease. In fact there’s an interesting subset of brands and logos that don’t bother with what seems like a crucial component: an actual product, service or company. Consider the Weyland-Yutani Corporation. It’s part of the fictional universe depicted in the 1979 film “Alien” and its sequels; Nostromo, the spaceship freighter in the first movie, is a Weyland-Yutani vessel. The company doesn’t do much in the way of branding in, you know, reality. But as it turns out, it’s possible to buy yourself a Weyland-Yutani T-shirt, or even a Nostromo T. It also turns out many people have….
Continue reading at the NYT Magazine site.
Additional links: Last Exit to Nowhere; more on imaginary brands on this site, and elsewhere.
* Bonus link: The column mentions that the creator of Last Exit to Nowhere used to be in a band called Consumed. You can hear a couple of their tracks (and buy CDs) at the Fat Wreck Chords site.
Murketing readers know this imaginary brands topic is a regular point of interest for me, and I thank everyone for past comments on this site that helped prod me toward today’s column. Update: See comments for more examples.
.
.
Kim Fellner's book 
.
A
Reader Comments
I would definitely smoke Darth Vader cigarettes. So, George Lucas, if you’re paying attention…
This should come as no surprise*, but some of the fictional concerns in Joss Whedon’s Firefly series have led to consumer products:
Mandel & Earls Ltd. (spaceship builders).
Blue Sun Corp (food products, etc.).
*Because pretty much every viral/fan-driven marketing thing that can be done has been done by those who style themselves Browncoats.
I thought you might be interested in our company Lucky Seven. We have been making custom made hats bearing the fictional logos from cult films such as Tron, Bladerunner, Star Wars, Battle Star Gallatica etc etc for the past 4 years.
We are too based in the UK but have no connection to Last Exit to Nowhere, although we recently became aware of their t-shirts.
Our caps are only available to order online and have attracted a celebrity following with everyone from Madonna and Hayden Christensen to Kevin Spacey and David La Chapelle requesting their favourite film logos on a custom built cap.
Have a look at the website http://www.luckyseven.tv
I bet plenty of people would smoke Red Apple cigarettes, which also appear in Tarantino’s films.
Thanks for the extra examples/feedback. Re Red Apple cigarettes, I should have used that in the piece, instead of Kahuna burgers, it’s a better example. Ah well .
An interesting reader email from Cyril M. educated me about another example: Apparently “A Prairie Home Companion” used to sell T’s for Powder Milk Biscuits, an ersatz sponsor of the show (which I don’t listen to, so I can’t say much about it). Those don’t appear to be around anymore, although this site has some other PHC fakery.