# Fictional products that have become real brands? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 19, 2016, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-products-that-have-become-real-brands/746553 "2016-02-19T14:17:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2016, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-products-that-have-become-real-brands/746553/41 "2016-02-21T06:46:56Z")
Besides, Asimov’s company was called U.S. Robots and Mechanical Men, Inc. Ironic, because Asimov coined the term “robotics” from the pre-existing term “robot”. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2016, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-products-that-have-become-real-brands/746553/42 "2016-02-21T08:12:31Z")
> [@Chihuahua](#): > > Richard Castle’s “Nikki Heat” novels are real and available for purchase. There’s also an enormous series of mystery novels by Jessica Fletcher (and Donald Bain). ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2016, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-products-that-have-become-real-brands/746553/43 "2016-02-21T09:11:18Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > No mention of _Christmas Story_? > > The infamous “Major Award” is still available > > [http://www.redriderleglamps.com/products/leg-lamps](http://www.redriderleglamps.com/products/leg-lamps) > > IIRC, Daisy (or someone) actually produced a reasonable facsimile or the “Red Rider” BB gun. Don’t know if it had a compass in the stock. > (do little boys still consider a BB air rifle as the ultimate gift?) The Red Rider BB gun was introduced in 1938, long before the film “A Christmas Story” was made. Daisy still makes it. It has a wooden stock, a lanyard ring, and the name “Red Ryder” was burned into the stock. It does not and never did, however, have a compass or sundial on the stock. The Daisy “Buck Jones” model did have a compass and a sundial in the stock. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2016, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-products-that-have-become-real-brands/746553/44 "2016-02-21T14:11:22Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Similarly, some of the sweets from the Harry Potter novels are available in non-magical Muggle versions, like [Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jelly_Belly#Bertie_Bott.27s_Every_Flavour_Beans). And you can get butter beer at Universal. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2016, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-products-that-have-become-real-brands/746553/45 "2016-02-21T14:44:30Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > The Red Rider BB gun was introduced in 1938, long before the film “A Christmas Story” was made. Daisy still makes it. It has a wooden stock, a lanyard ring, and the name “Red Ryder” was burned into the stock. It does not and never did, however, have a compass or sundial on the stock. The Daisy “Buck Jones” model did have a compass and a sundial in the stock. Well according to the site **usedtobe** linked to, Daisy did make a version of the movie weapon for a short period around the time the film came out, and currently offers a 30th anniversary version with the requisite features. [http://www.redriderleglamps.com/products/collectibles/red-ryder-bb-gun/the-30th-anniversary-christmas-dream-bb-gun](http://www.redriderleglamps.com/products/collectibles/red-ryder-bb-gun/the-30th-anniversary-christmas-dream-bb-gun) ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Me](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@Mr.Me](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Me)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2016, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-products-that-have-become-real-brands/746553/46 "2016-02-21T15:45:37Z")
Sometimes the [April Fool’s](http://www.thinkgeek.com/brain/whereisit.cgi?t=april+fool%27s) items at [ThinkGeek.com](http://ThinkGeek.com) get made for real, like the [Tauntaun Sleeping Bag](http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/bb2e/?pfm=Search&t=star%20wars%20tauntaun%20sleeping%20bag). ---
**Author:** ![Sangahyando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sangahyando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangahyando)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2016, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-products-that-have-become-real-brands/746553/47 "2016-02-21T16:13:47Z")
A fictional product which I’d love to have become real – just because of its wondrous name – is the one in the short story by “Saki”, _Filboid Studge_– the story title, is the product’s name. A cynical little tale of how public relations and the power of the media, backed by lots of money, succeed in promoting a new breakfast cereal (which in fact tastes nauseating) so that it becomes hugely popular and a great money-spinner. (The genius who thinks up the name and the advertising-poster which does more than anything else to popularise the stuff, comes to a bad end himself.) The satirical short stories by “Saki”, who almost exactly a hundred years ago was killed in World War I, often surprise me with: what a lot of stupid / lurid / morally-shabby doings of kinds which we tend to think very much, the stuff of present-day society, were going on (with pretty well the identical sorts of shenanigans) a century ago. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2016, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-products-that-have-become-real-brands/746553/48 "2016-02-21T16:51:32Z")
Me, I’m still waiting for my Sproing Boots. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2016, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-products-that-have-become-real-brands/746553/49 "2016-02-21T17:27:52Z")
You can get [Romulan Ale](http://www.amazon.com/Star-Trek-Energy-Drink-Romulan/dp/B00290DOQ6), apparently legally. You can now buy your own [turret](http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/ee85/). Unfortunately, none of the profit goes to support the Aperture Science Self-Esteem Fund for Girls. You can still donate one or all of your vital organs though. ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2016, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-products-that-have-become-real-brands/746553/50 "2016-02-21T18:20:21Z")
Eric Idle wrote a Monty Python routine about a rock group where he “was trying to think of a name that would be so silly nobody would ever use it, or dream it could ever be used”. Later, “a song came on the radio, and the DJ said, ‘that was by [Toad the Wet Sprocket](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toad_the_Wet_Sprocket)’, and I nearly drove off the freeway”. According to the Wikipedia page, there have been legal battles over a number of attempts by companies to produce their own version of Duff beer. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2016, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-products-that-have-become-real-brands/746553/51 "2016-02-21T18:25:40Z")
Somebody in Cleveland makes Buzz Beer the way Drew Carey’s character did - mix beer and coffee. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2016, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-products-that-have-become-real-brands/746553/52 "2016-02-21T19:38:28Z")
> [@whitetho](#): > > Eric Idle wrote a Monty Python routine about a rock group where he “was trying to think of a name that would be so silly nobody would ever use it, or dream it could ever be used”. Later, “a song came on the radio, and the DJ said, ‘that was by [Toad the Wet Sprocket](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toad_the_Wet_Sprocket)’, and I nearly drove off the freeway”. > > According to the Wikipedia page, there have been legal battles over a number of attempts by companies to produce their own version of Duff beer. I wonder if anyone in Sweden has tried to make Düff. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2016, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-products-that-have-become-real-brands/746553/53 "2016-02-21T19:50:44Z")
I’d still like to have my own Acme anvil. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2016, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-products-that-have-become-real-brands/746553/54 "2016-02-21T20:06:27Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > I’d still like to have my own Acme anvil. [Here ya go.](http://www.chuckjones.com/acme-anvil/) ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2016, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-products-that-have-become-real-brands/746553/55 "2016-02-21T20:11:50Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > And you can get butter beer at Universal. You can also get butter beer at Wynott’s Wands in Salem, Massachusetts. (Wynott’s itself is modeled after Ollivander’s) ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2016, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-products-that-have-become-real-brands/746553/56 "2016-02-22T01:02:09Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > I’d still like to have my own Acme anvil. Yeh, I thought of that one too - it turns out that a real “Acme anvil” predates Chuck Jones’ version by several decades. The word 'Acme" goes back many centuries, just as does ‘Zenith’ or ‘Pinnacle’. ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2016, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-products-that-have-become-real-brands/746553/57 "2016-02-22T04:15:16Z")
apparently you can [buy](http://shop.harcoslabs.com/gamers/) healing and mana potions ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2016, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-products-that-have-become-real-brands/746553/58 "2016-02-22T04:23:46Z")
Not sure if this counts since it’s not illegal drugs, I believe Albuquerque has a lot of Blue Ice products now, everything from candy to vodka. There’s even a company called [Blue Ice Enterprises](http://www.manta.com/c/mr0459t/blue-ice-enterprises). Based on _Breaking Bad_. ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2016, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-products-that-have-become-real-brands/746553/59 "2016-02-22T07:15:36Z")
A few months to a year ago a Pizza Planet restaurant opened up near me. I haven’t been in to see if they have a claw machine with little green plastic aliens. I also haven’t seen a pick-up truck with a rocket on top delivering pizza around town, but I keep my eyes open for it. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2016, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-products-that-have-become-real-brands/746553/60 "2016-02-22T09:34:13Z")
Not a consumer product, but I think [SKYNET](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SKYNET_(surveillance_program)) qualifies… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-products-that-have-become-real-brands/746553.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-products-that-have-become-real-brands/746553.md?page=4)