Trendy Is As Trendy Does

You know how every few months or so a song comes out that, whether you like it or not (and it's usually NOT), once you've heard it you can't get it out of your head?
The latest version of this bubblegum radio virus is a silly song by an Australian boy band about a girl standing there in the songwriter's American Apparel underwear.  He made her a mix tape straight out of '94 and got her ripped skinny jeans lying on the floor...   (Probably as a result of the mix tape, I'm guessing, although how the little kid singing this song even knows what a mix tape is, is beyond me.  Haven't kids these days gone digital?  Huh.)
So this earworm got me thinking.  Firstly, that this group's five seconds of fame can't be over soon enough;  and secondly, that when this song is featured on a "One Hit Wonder" or "Where are They Now" TV show 15 years from now those lyrics are going to sound terribly dated. When ripped skinny jeans are no longer "cutting edge" - and really, how long can they hold the top spot now that Mom jeans are making a comeback? - this song will sound even sillier.
And American Apparel?   Well, I was going to say something pithy, like this:  "that label will join the likes of Calvin Klein, Joe Boxer and Underoos in the memories of those who paid too much for plain cotton underpants."  Then I actually looked at their ads and reconsidered.  Reconsidered a lot of things, actually, including how offensive the lyric actually is when you've seen the ads showing women wearing their underwear.
Jeez. Now I've forgotten the point.
*Regroup*
This is how my mind works.  One day while trying to forget that some teenybopper's ripped skinny jeans were laying on some tattooed boy/man's floor it occurred to me that there is a parallel in fiction.  Let's talk about that, and see if you follow...
Have you ever read a romance novel (or any novel, for that matter) and found it chock-full of references to brand names, whether it is the heroine's Louboutin shoes, the hero's Hugo Boss suits, the coffee chain they frequent, the phones they use or the music they listen to?  Now think about how the imagery from the book will hold up 10 years from now, when technology is even more advanced than now, and coffee is forbidden, just like cigarettes.  
Same with books you have read years ago.  Re-reading my LaVyrle Spencer contemporaries from the 1980s is downright painful.  Angst, that lady could write.  Love scenes - oh my goodness!  No one compares to her.  Her Americana historicals (romances set in rural America from about 1890 - 1940) were exquisite. But her contemporaries?  Hoo boy.  Heavy on the big hair, shoulder pads and long nails.  Perhaps she was very deliberately setting her contemporaries squarely in the 1980s - if so, she was a master.  If she wasn't, and was merely writing a contemporary that she hoped would stand up as timeless three decades later, she wasn't nearly so successful.
This is where, in my humble opinion, the skill of the writer really comes into play.  
Think of a book you enjoyed more than you thought possible - one of your all-time favorites, perhaps; a desert-island keeper.  A book that you can re-read over and over without it losing its charm.  
I'm going to venture a guess that one of the best things about your book is the imagery brought to mind by the author as they are spinning their tale.  You were probably able to imagine the main characters and the locations for the book; when the heroine took off in a sports car or a carriage (or a space ship, for that matter) you had no problems picturing the scene in your head, down to the very last detail.
I'm going to venture another guess - this one almost a certainty - that if you went back and re-read that book today, looking for specific descriptions, brand names and trademarks, THERE WOULDN'T BE ANY.  
Somehow, with their gift for the written word the author has been able to paint pictures - using broad brush strokes, just detailed enough to give us the basics and allow our imaginations to fill in the rest.  A sports car becomes a brand-new Maserati to one reader, and a classic Corvette to another.  To use my silly song from the beginning as the example, one listener's skinny jeans would be another listener's Wranglers.  When you say "ripped skinny jeans" you are telling, not showing.  Put another way, you are providing us with a pre-selected visual of what you are telling us, instead of giving us just enough detail to show us what you mean, and letting our own imaginations take care of the rest.
Aha! You say.  Is THAT what you mean by that phrase?  Well, sort of.  It's one way to use it.  
The better the author is able to describe their story to the reader, the more involved that reader will be.  We've all read books where we are subjected to pages of nothing but tell - the author telling us what is happening, telling us what the characters are thinking, describing in minute detail every little bit of their story - as THEY visualize it, giving the reader nothing to do but watch.  It's like watching a movie from the porthole window of the door to the theatre.  You can see it, maybe even hear it, but you are not engaged in the slightest.
So, back to my point.
Writing is a skill.  Do not confuse it with a talent for telling a story; for creating characters who engage us, stories that enthrall us, twists that thrill us, endings that amaze us.  Many creative people with minds chock-full of interesting story ideas don't know how to write.  Instead, they believe providing us with tons of unnecessary detail (including brand names) is needed in order to tell their story.   Spicy cologne becomes Old Spice.  Jeans become skinny jeans (or boot cut jeans, or acid-washed, or patchwork). Designer heels become Louboutins or Jimmy Choo, manicures become French on acrylic nails and beautiful shiny hair becomes crimped, curled or ironed.  Delicate floral perfume becomes Giorgio or Burberry, Calvin Klein's Eternity or even Chanel No. 5, and the magic is lost.  What if the reader DETESTS Eternity?  Better to describe it as delicate floral and let the reader smell Christian Dior, Balenciaga or even Justin Bieber, if they wish.  There's a reason that men smell like leather, a hint of sweat and "man" in romances.  It's so that author doesn't date themselves with a brand reference.
On another note entirely (pardon the pun for those who caught it), writing that doesn't rely on brand-name dropping is not only more enjoyable to read, but saves the author/publisher having to do tons of acknowledgements and permissions at the front of the book.  Because if you use the brands, you have to get permission.  
I hope next month's top-forty ear worm has better lyrics than this one - my kids laugh when I sing along about how "I'm so down".  What the heck does that MEAN, anyway?
Until next month, my friends!