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In the anime, primarily ep2 when Kirino first come to Akihabara, I noticed
many of the brand name or billboard was altered, `リバティー/Liberty` was changed
into `ワバチィー/wabaty`, `タカラダ/Takarada` to `タカダ/Takada`, `ガシャポン` to `ガチャポン`,
`Laox` to `Taox`, `Labi` to `Labla`, `Gee!` to `Guu!`, `McDonald's` to
`McDoneld's` etc.

[![example](https://i.stack.imgur.com/JCW9l.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/JCW9l.png)

I wonder why they made such changes. They could have kept all the brand and
billboard the same as they are in real life, but instead, they made so many
subtle changes (while the maid cafe remains almost entirely intact).

Since many of these easter eggs are placed in a very obvious position, and
animating such a complicated background asks a large amount of effort. I don't
really believe these are purely the animator having fun. Are there any other
reasons? Like copyright or advertising?

* * *

P.S. I am asking this for my essay, so please do think of it

P.P.S. image retrieved from [this
website](https://ameblo.jp/pachuca33/entry-10678117022.html).

P.P.P.S. feel free to leave any other thoughts about this


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oreimo
Why Oreimo changed the actual brand name in Akihabara


TV Tropes has an entire page dedicated to this phenomenon: [**Bland-Name
Product**](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BlandNameProduct).

[![obvious brand name parodies are obvious \(source: Ouran High School Host
Club\)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/2jWLz.png)](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BlandNameProduct)

Replacing brand names is a fairly common phenomenon in media. As [Dimitri mx
mentions](https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/51011/why-oreimo-changed-
the-actual-brand-name-in-akihabara#comment65979_51011), this is probably
because the studios want to avoid using
[trademarks](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/UsefulNotes/Trademark) to
play it safe. This is why parody names like "WcDonalds" and "EcDonalds" are so
common in anime.

_Toradora_ casts a snarky lampshade on this practice:

[!["Sudoh-bucks" / "Why hasn't this place been sued
yet?"](https://i.stack.imgur.com/RC7ZY.png)](https://www.reddit.com/r/animeoffbrands/comments/7q966u/sudohbucks/)

Sometimes the anime actually does use the real names, if they get the product
placement properly arranged behind the scenes. For example, this was the case
with Pizza Hut in _Code Geass_. (Hence the "Pizza Hut supports the Rebellion"
memes.) For more detail, see [Have there been any anime with actual product
placement?](https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/4257/have-there-been-
any-anime-with-actual-product-placement)

However, taking the steps to formally arrange this kind of thing requires more
effort and comes with more risk, so I can see why anime productions tend to go
with the less risky parody names.

For example, consider [_High Score
Girl_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hi_Score_Girl). This manga got into legal
trouble because it directly featured lots of 90s video game content, even
though its publisher, Square Enix, took steps to secure formal consent for the
use of the games' characters from the various companies. In 2014, SNK Playmore
[launched an IP violation
claim](https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2014-08-06/hi-score-girl-manga-
recalled-after-snk-copyright-charges/.77361) against Square Enix because of
this manga, which resulted in the recall of all the volume and digital
publications of the manga. It took about a year before the two parties reached
a settlement and the lawsuit was withdrawn.

This case had more to do with copyright than trademark, but it's still a good
example of the kind of trouble that could come arise if you're not careful
enough with handling the intellectual property of others... _High Score Girl_
really did include a lot of stuff though, so this was a particularly complex
case. For reference, here's the copyright notice in volume 1 of the manga:

![lots and lots of \(c\) company names](https://i.stack.imgur.com/OfaQy.png)

So many...


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