Culturally significant or common household names always found a way into literature but it is the first time I find two mentions of brands so blatantly placed that the only conclusion I’m led to reach is of paid product placement.

The book in question is “The House in the Woods”, by Mark Dawson. In the very first few paragraphs there is a mention to Hello Fresh, with a not so subtle description of the service, along with an admission of a character on how the instructions to prepare a meal are so simple even they can follow it, and a mention to Spotify. Deeper into the book I’ve already noticed a mention of Nescafé instant coffee.

None of these mentioned brands needed to be there. The writer seems proficient enough to be able to write without resorting to such name placements. The story telling is fluid, with a smooth but dense tone to it, which is something I enjoy in crime/drama/mistery novels.

Has this been a thing for a long time and only now I’m noticing the elephant in the room or is this a rising trend?

Everyone needs and deserves to make a living but not like this.

    • qyron@sopuli.xyzOP
      17·
      10 days ago

      She wasn’t as good a cook as he was and, not full of confidence that she would be able to pull it off, she had bought a meal box from Hello Fresh after seeing one of their ads on Facebook. She had a turkey, all the vegetables and sauces, and a booklet of instructions that even she could follow. She had selected her Christmas playlist on Spotify and had found, to her surprise, that she had enjoyed herself more than she had expected.

      And now I notice I even overlooked Facebook.

        • qyron@sopuli.xyzOP
          2·
          9 days ago

          I wouldn’t put it above it.

          The author has been active since 2011 and is phenomenally productive.

          Old school pulpers were pretty capable of sitting down and putting out a story in a week or less. Being self published, autocorrect can pass for all the editing and reviewing a work from this author gets. Yet there are only so many hours a person can write.

      • Sirence@feddit.org
        6·
        10 days ago

        “not full of confidence” Who writes like that? “Lacking” is a word that exists.

          • Sirence@feddit.org
            6·
            10 days ago

            Also in three sentences they used “she had” 5 times. This sample reads as if it never even passed an editor.

            Edit: actually there is another “she had” in the first sentence. Crazy.

            • qyron@sopuli.xyzOP
              4·
              10 days ago

              Regardless this disastrous opening, the story actually flows well and is quite nice to follow. Overlooking the endless brand dropping throughout the text.

              “He passed the Aldi on his way to”[…] “He filled a large Ikea bag with clothes”[…] etc.

              • Cricket@lemmy.zip@lemmy.zipEnglish
                6·
                10 days ago

                I don’t know when this book was first published, but is there a chance that it was at least partially written by or with “help” from AI?

                • qyron@sopuli.xyzOP
                  3·
                  9 days ago

                  March, 2020

                  At least that is the date I’m being able to find.

                  Would I put that option out of the table? No. But it seems this author is highly productive and self published, churning out three or four books a year, since 2011. Either the guy writes at a tremendous pace or he has a host of shadow writers.

                  It may just be this is an old school pulper capable of sitting down and in three or four days having a story written. No review or editting beyond autocorret.

                  • Cricket@lemmy.zip@lemmy.zipEnglish
                    1·
                    9 days ago

                    That makes sense. Maybe they just throw out all these references to brands as a way to help them fulfill some quota with the length of their books?