Rockstar Games's "Grand Theft Auto V" (GTA 5) is poised to be the most successful video game ever based on initial sales, and that's largely due its intricately drawn setting. The game takes place in Los Santos, a faux Los Angeles so detailed that video game website IGN called it "an extraordinarily well-realized world" unto itself.
That realism is only heightened by the game's abundance of fake, yet recognizable, brand names.
But GTA 5's brands don't provide flattering representations of their real-life counterparts. Instead, the game's parody brands provide a cutting satire of American consumerism and how it pervades our culture.
GTA 5 characters can go to their local 24/7 (7-Eleven) to pick up a Sprunk (Sprite), a Blarney's (the game's Irish beer brand) or a Barracho (a beer brand which plays on the word for "drunk" in Spanish). There's a jewelry brand called Vangelico whose tagline is "Replacing Charm Since 1852." The local burger chain is Up-n-Atom Burger, a spoof on In-N-Out Burger, this being a fake Los Angeles after all. For gamers who prefer Yum Brands fast food, Los Santos has a Cluckin' Bell (KFC) and Taco Bomb (Taco Bell).
"I think it's a really interesting and great thing for the companies overall," Chet Gulland, head of digital strategy at ad agency Droga5, said. "I tend to believe that when it comes to parody, being parodied is one of the greatest signs a brand has influence on culture."