I work at a magazine. In one of the stories I’m editing (it’s a sometimes wacky alternative health column–but I won’t get into that mess now…), the author’s recipe calls for V-8 juice.
The problem is that we don’t like to mention specific brand names. I wanted to change it to simply “tomato juice,” but the author was insistent that it be V-8 juice.
The food editor, copy editor, and I are stumped on what to call it. “Tomato juice cocktail” came to mind, but that’s misleading, as it implies the juice is adulterated with sugar and water (a la cranberry juice cocktail). The V-8 bottle reads “100% vegetable juice” … but “vegetable juice” is pretty vague. I fear if we get too esoteric–“tomato-vegetable juice drink,” etc., that readers will have no idea what we’re talking about.
Is there a generic name for V-8 juice? I just ran over to the grocery store, but could only find tomato juice and tomato juice cocktail (added sugar and water) from other brands. I suspect we may have to bite the bullet and just list V-8 (or say “vegetable juice, such as V-8” or something).
Any insights (today, if you can) would be appreciated.
I’m not a big fan of the stuff but is there any generic subsitute for V8? If not it would make sense to specify a name brand where something different would change the result.
An AltaVista search on vegetable juice cocktail shows that it is a widely used generic substitute; some of the usages are even in recipes. “Cocktail” does not necessarily imply added sugar and water.
Man… get OVER your “wacky” selves.
If I specified “Tabasco” sauce and you said “hot pepper sauce” or somesuch, you could destroy the integrity of the recipe in that there are any number of hot pepper sauces with wide variations in taste.
A brand name with a specific or unique taste should be mentioned as being integral to the final desired flavor of the food. Some things, even if you can’t find a lower priced, more politically correct generic version in your local coop or charge an ad fee for mentioning it, are unique enough in taste or importance to be mentioned.
SHOUT IT OUT!!
I COULD have had an mixed vegetable drink!!! YES!!
If you read the recipes in Bon Appetit and Gourmet and Cooks Illustrated and all the dozens of other food mags, you’ll see that, when a recipe calls for V8 juice, the magazine SAYS V8 juice.
Sorry – “wacky” was me trying to be kind. How about, “crackpot-and-nonsensical-alternative-health-column-which,-due-to-bizarre-politics,-we-must-keep-running-and-I-must-edit”
It’s not about us not squeezing ad revenue out of the mention–it’s about us pissing off OTHER advertisers because we mention a particular brand and snub theirs.
In this case, I think that V8 juice is unique enough that we may mention it by brand name. “Vegetable juice” alone seems too vague, so we’re now thinking about “vegetable juice (such as V8).”
I never suspected that V8 would elicit such emotional responses.
“tomato-vegetable juice cocktail,” “vegetable juice cocktail,” or even just “vegetable juice” may not clearly define, in the legal sense, what you’re talking about, but I have very little doubt that readers of the recipe will know exactly what you’re referring to. I suggest “vegetable juice cocktail” as the most likely to clearly communicate the implied “V8.”
And yes, Kleenex and Xerox are still trademarks, but they work very hard to protect them. If someone were able to prove in a court (in my understanding) that either one has come to be perceived as a generic term, they could stand to lose them. Margarine and Aspirin both began as trademarks, but their holders were not vigilant enough in separating them from the generic product. If they had militantly called it “Margarine Brand Whale Blubber Spread,” rather than just “Margarine,” it might still be a registered trade mark.
I see ads in writers’ magazines all the time, reminding writers that DayGlo and Crayola and Plexiglas are trademarks, and asking writers to please capitalize them and include the trademark symbol. I presume this is to fight their respective slides into the murky pool of public domain.