Quote Originally Posted by Venom View Post
Stephen King once told me (well, not me personally) that using brands or companies like Coca-Cola or IBM or Lufthansa in narrations creates a -let's say- familiar atmosphere for the reader. She or He is more eager to accept the story as "real" if things of their daily lifes appear.

I think he is right, but what are your opinions? (we are not talking abiout surreptitious advertising!)
I'll echo ER's words, go for the timeless steadfast brands. Coke is a no brainer, but the double entendre might be lost in a few years. Dockers could go the way of chinos and serve only to date your masterpiece, but Levies are forever. Common usage of brand names may change rapidly too. The original Automated teller machine was called a Barney machine some 20 years ago, now Barney is an annoying purple dinosaur and bank teller machines are ATMs. The world changes and real, relevant, and descriptive brands can sometimes fade away.

The opinionated Lews