Fictional references that became true

The Nautilus from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, in a manner of speaking.

Mark would be proud.

Johnstown, PA, where the movie Slapshot was filmed, changed the name of their minor-league hockey team to “the Chiefs”, after the movie came out.

Anaheim Ducks

In the 1999 novel Flashforward, Robert J. Sawyer correctly predicts that the Pope in 2009 would be named Benedict XVI.

The Book of Love. I wonder, wonder who wrote it.

Several Sherlock Holmes adventures only briefly alluded to by Conan Doyle have been treated at full length by admirers and pastiche writers.

The evil book Necronomicon referred to by Lovecraft and others has had several variants since published, perhaps most graphically by H.R. Giger.

And finally from Wiki:

One of [Pittsburgh radio host Rege] Cordic’s most memorable running gags at both WWSW and KDKA were fake advertisements for “Olde Frothingslosh,” “the pale stale ale with the foam on the bottom.” The beer was supposedly brewed by Sir Reginald Frothingslosh at Upper Crudney-on-the-Thames. In 1955, the Pittsburgh Brewing Company began issuing special Christmas-season cans and bottles of Olde Frothingslosh filled with real beer. The humorous labels changed every year and became favorites of collectors. The brewery released new editions of Olde Frothingslosh even after Cordic left Pittsburgh, continuing until 1982 and then reviving the brand in 1998, and more recently in 2007 (currently available).

That is just classic. I had no idea. :smiley:

I already adore the Farside, this just makes it so much better.

It didn’t appear in a work of fiction, but a group of guys created a falkse brand of wine, Hiney Wine, just so they could build an ad campaign around it in the 1980s. They sold hats with their distinctive logo, and had radio spots.

Well, you can now buy Hiney Wine:

http://www.wallawallahiney.com/

The prototype space shuttle Enterprise was named for the “Star Trek” ship. (Wiki Cite)

This circled back in Star Trek: The Motion Picture when Kirk gives a tour of the ship to an alien entity. At one point he shows an array of previous ships known as Enterprise – including the shuttle.

My radio station played those “ads” all time. They were pretty funny. The best part was you couldnt quite ever decide if it was a gag or a REAL wine company that was pushing the boundaries of ad humor and political correctness. Since the extent of my families and friends wine knowledge topped out at the Boone’s farm level, the fact we never actually saw any hiney wine wasnt a very helpful clue.

Really? That’s cool. The quotes from The Book of Counted Sorrows are often the best part of a Koontz novel. I look forward.

tv tropes has a page devoted to Defictionalization. Not mentioned so far: “Where’s My Cow” from Discworld.

The shuttle was named Enterprise in 1976 (here’s a photo of the occasion, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Space_shuttle_enterprise_star_trek.jpg), but the movie came out three years later (here’s a picture of the Rec Deck display, Memory Alpha | Fandom).

Otis Day and the Knights, the band created for the movie Animal House, was created as a real band that’s been around for a few decades now. IIRC, the guy played Otis Day {DeWayne Jessie) fronted (and I think still does)

http://www.otisdayandtheknights.com/

http://www.cmt.com/artists/az/day_otis/bio.jhtml

Sure, but the Starship Enterprise, of course, debuted on TV in 1966. They named the real ship after the fictional one, then subtly hinted in the 1979 film that it was the other way around. I just thought that was a fun little in-joke in a mostly humorless movie…

A Cleveland brewery, inspired by the Drew Carey Show, actually produced Buzz Beer - complete with caffeine.

It’s about time Jules Verne’s A Trip to the Moon got mentioned - a century before Apollo 11, he had his moonship, named “Columbiad”, take off from Florida.

You can buy Brawndo, the fictional drink from Idiocracy, online.

The same company that markets Brawndo also markets Tru Blood and Sex Panther cologne. That company’s name? Omni Consumer Products Corporation.

I forgot about Ruben and the Jets. First, the Mothers of Invention put out an album called “Cruising with Ruben and the Jets”, a parody/tribute to the Pachuco doo-wop Zappa loved. A few years later, a real doo-wop band fronted by Ruben Guevara asked Zappa if they could use the band name. Zappa agreed and also produced the band’s first album, called “For Real!”.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cruising_with_Ruben_&_the_Jets