What brand of healing potion does Julio endorse?

[Shining Wrath]

Drink "a potion" is NOT good enough. Potions must have brand names. They MUST! And slogans.

Your mission is clear. Supply names and tag lines. It is ... your destiny.


Thor's Potions: Lightning Fast Help!
New Castle Potions: For What Ales You
Weird Sisters Potions: Fix Your Trouble on the Double
Wicked Witch Potions: For When You Feel Like A House Dropped On You

[Olinser]

Drink "a potion" is NOT good enough. Potions must have brand names. They MUST! And slogans.

Your mission is clear. Supply names and tag lines. It is ... your destiny.


Thor's Potions: Lightning Fast Help!
New Castle Potions: For What Ales You
Weird Sisters Potions: Fix Your Trouble on the Double
Wicked Witch Potions: For When You Feel Like A House Dropped On You


I assume that there is a very clear label on the potion bottle in the advertisement that stick figures can read. Zoomed out, we can't make it out, the bottle is only a few pixels wide.

Also, this is essentially an advertisement for, "Screw clerics, drink potions!" The potion manufacturer may have a monopoly in the area that the Julio ads are present, and as such, doesn't NEED to specify a brand.

[Keltest]

I assume that there is a very clear label on the potion bottle in the advertisement that stick figures can read. Zoomed out, we can't make it out, the bottle is only a few pixels wide.

Also, this is essentially an advertisement for, "Screw clerics, drink potions!"

As long as they're drinking SOME potion, the manufacturer that paid for the advertisement should come out ahead.

Or maybe the bottle shape is iconic or something. Apparently several "finer" drinks do that.

[wyrmhole]

I think it's funnier that there isn't a brand name, because these things are never branded in D&D worlds and are always completely fungible. It's always just "healing potion" or "potion of heroism". Never "Tito's Handmade Healing Potions".

Which makes advertising for a specific brand kinda pointless, which is also funny... Unless you imagine the brewer is just one of the National Potion Brewers Association and this is in the same vein as "Got Milk?" or other ads for generic products, which is kinda funny itself.

But you did say that they must have brand names, and so in honor of the rules set forth in this thread, how about...

Dos Épées?

[Jay R]

The name is unnecessary. There's no mass medium for this ad to appear on. I assume that it's a poster in the window of the potion brewer's shop

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

The name is unnecessary. There's no mass medium for this ad to appear on. I assume that it's a poster in the window of the potion brewer's shop

Quite the contrary! Julio has been known to appear in comic books and magazines. There's also Fox News (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0539.html), but that doesn't work as well.

My guess is Menos Equis. You know, because you have fewer of them in your eyes.

[Shining Wrath]

The name is unnecessary. There's no mass medium for this ad to appear on. I assume that it's a poster in the window of the potion brewer's shop

There are no magic item shops selling competing brands, similar to liquor stores? Maybe in YOUR OotsVerse, but mine is replete with such.

[Fnordius]

Quite the contrary! Julio has been known to appear in comic books and magazines. There's also Fox News (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0539.html), but that doesn't work as well.

My guess is Menos Equis. You know, because you have fewer of them in your eyes.

The original version was:

para evitar las dos equis
bebo esta poción

Something just got lost in translation.

[Amphiox]

Consider the evidence!

All potions in D&D within the same type have exactly the same effect.
All said potions have the same appearance (colour, etc).
All have the same price, which is fixed and never changes.

Thus the only reasonable explanation is that the potion market in D&D must be a single monopoly/cartel with standardized recipes and price controls. That's why the advert does not need to name a brand. There's only one brand! (The adverts exist just to fool the peons into thinking they actually have a choice...)

Probably some long-lived elf decided centuries ago to spend five decades brewing the perfect potion, and she or her descendants then just took over the market....

[wyrmhole]

Huh, well if we're thinking that way, wouldn't the ability of magic users to craft potions that are similarly identical in appearance and effect mean the recipes are (relatively) common knowledge and not proprietary?

There still could be a monopoly in large-scale distribution that controls enough of the market to make branding irrelevant. Or a union/association of some kind that advertises on behalf of all potion makers and sets prices (without prohibiting individual franchise's to have sales).

Maybe Bandana's text balloon is hiding a tiny copyright indicator that would tell us. :)

[Keltest]

Huh, well if we're thinking that way, wouldn't the ability of magic users to craft potions that are similarly identical in appearance and effect mean the recipes are (relatively) common knowledge and not proprietary?

There still could be a monopoly in large-scale distribution that controls enough of the market to make branding irrelevant. Or a union/association of some kind that advertises on behalf of all potion makers and sets prices (without prohibiting individual franchise's to have sales).

Maybe Bandana's text balloon is hiding a tiny copyright indicator that would tell us. :)

in real life, there are different brands of water. if the demand is large enough, there will be competitors.

[wyrmhole]

in real life, there are different brands of water. if the demand is large enough, there will be competitors.

In the real world not all water is identical, though as long as it's clean drinking water most buyers don't care -- what they want is water, they don't care which municipal water service fed the tap it came out of. It's the bottlers who care about branding. Still, you're right, in real life there would be brands.

Which is why I think it's funny to not have a brand. Because it would only confuse things for no benefit to the players to have different names for healing potions, therefore they don't and it's always just "a healing potion". So in fantasy life, even ads follow the rule.

[rbetieh]

Consider the evidence!

All potions in D&D within the same type have exactly the same effect.
All said potions have the same appearance (colour, etc).
All have the same price, which is fixed and never changes.

Thus the only reasonable explanation is that the potion market in D&D must be a single monopoly/cartel with standardized recipes and price controls. That's why the advert does not need to name a brand. There's only one brand! (The adverts exist just to fool the peons into thinking they actually have a choice...)

Probably some long-lived elf decided centuries ago to spend five decades brewing the perfect potion, and she or her descendants then just took over the market....

No no....Tarquin and Elan both explained that Items can be Good-crafted or Evil-crafted...even Qarr makes the same case with his virgins blood comment. I assume Julio, being good, is endorsing a good-aligned crafted potion. Perhaps a CG potion...."all of our ingredients were stolen from the wealthiest of robber barons...."

[Porthos]

I think Amphiox is close, but ultimately not quite there. There are probably a bunch of Name Brands running around the Stickverse, along with microbreweries. However, there IS a dominant brand. One that is known by its name alone. So Iconic that when one thinks of the things itself, one is likely to call it by this brand name.

Much like soda pops are Cokes, copying machines are Xeroxes, and tissue papers are Kleenex, what Julio Scoundrel endorses are:

Potions.

The Brand Name of some centuries old company (Potions Brewing Company?) that has become so engrained into the lore of the StickVerse that all potions are called Potions whether they are made by Potion or not.

I figure they used to send Jones and Rodriguez after people for copyright infringement, but gave up after awhile when they realized it was a losing battle. Instead they turned to Julio Scoundrel to make sure that they kept the hearts and minds of the general public.

Apparently, it's been a success. :smallamused:

[AKA_Bait]

The potions are obviously Eve and Larry's (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0135.html). No one moves potions in volume like them, and now we know that they do because of a massive advertising campaign. How is this even a discussion? :smalltongue:

[Benthesquid]

I assumed it was an ad put out by the Potion Industry in cooperation. Like the Got Milk campaign that didn't advertise any specific brand of milk, but was originally commissioned by the California Milk Processor Board. Or whatever specific group is behind the "High Fructose Corn Syrup isn't that bad for you after all," campaign.

[Qaanol]

Dos Épées?
Dose Épées

[Amphiox]

Huh, well if we're thinking that way, wouldn't the ability of magic users to craft potions that are similarly identical in appearance and effect mean the recipes are (relatively) common knowledge and not proprietary?

There still could be a monopoly in large-scale distribution that controls enough of the market to make branding irrelevant. Or a union/association of some kind that advertises on behalf of all potion makers and sets prices (without prohibiting individual franchise's to have sales).

Maybe Bandana's text balloon is hiding a tiny copyright indicator that would tell us. :)

Well, it isn't always easy to enforce copyright when beings capable of telling the laws of physics to sit in a corner are involved....

[Jaxzan Proditor]

The potions are obviously Eve and Larry's (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0135.html). No one moves potions in volume like them, and now we know that they do because of a massive advertising campaign. How is this even a discussion? :smalltongue:
Seconded. Clearly, they are trying to work themselves into debt even faster!

[Kalmegil]

If they're potions of cure moderate wounds, they should be called Dos Ochos.

(Of course, cure light wound potions are more cost efficient, but he gets them free.)

[CombatOwl]

I assume that there is a very clear label on the potion bottle in the advertisement that stick figures can read. Zoomed out, we can't make it out, the bottle is only a few pixels wide.

Also, this is essentially an advertisement for, "Screw clerics, drink potions!" The potion manufacturer may have a monopoly in the area that the Julio ads are present, and as such, doesn't NEED to specify a brand.

Possibly some sort of Potion industry trade group doing general advertising in favor of potions?

[Sylthia]

Maybe, like Kleenex and Band-aid, Potion is the brand name.

[Gorfnod]

I assumed it was an ad put out by the Potion Industry in cooperation. Like the Got Milk campaign that didn't advertise any specific brand of milk, but was originally commissioned by the California Milk Processor Board. Or whatever specific group is behind the "High Fructose Corn Syrup isn't that bad for you after all," campaign.

This is exactly what I thought, was even going to say the same thing about milk.

[Jay R]

There are no magic item shops selling competing brands, similar to liquor stores? Maybe in YOUR OotsVerse, but mine is replete with such.

Huh? Stores, including liquor stores, put signs advertising their wares in their front windows all the time, even if other stores sell similar products.

I go to a store regularly that has the words "Beer ... Wine ... Liquor" on the storefront, with no brand names

[Amphiox]

Huh? Stores, including liquor stores, put signs advertising their wares in their front windows all the time, even if other stores sell similar products.

I go to a store regularly that has the words "Beer ... Wine ... Liquor" on the storefront, with no brand names

If you live in a jurisdiction with an Alcohol Control Board, "Beer/Wine/Liquor" may well be the only thing on the storefront, since it's a government monopoly. Depending on the regulatory environment, even that might not be allowed.

[Shining Wrath]

Will no one play my game of punny potion names and slogans? I has a sad.

[rbetieh]

Will no one play my game of punny potion names and slogans? I has a sad.

Wait, you actually thought you could control your own forum topic? :smallbiggrin:

[Darakonis]

Dos HP: Stay conscious, my friends.

[Jay R]

I think Amphiox is close, but ultimately not quite there. There are probably a bunch of Name Brands running around the Stickverse, along with microbreweries. However, there IS a dominant brand. One that is known by its name alone. So Iconic that when one thinks of the things itself, one is likely to call it by this brand name.

Much like soda pops are Cokes, copying machines are Xeroxes, and tissue papers are Kleenex, what Julio Scoundrel endorses are:

Potions.

The Brand Name of some centuries old company (Potions Brewing Company?) that has become so engrained into the lore of the StickVerse that all potions are called Potions whether they are made by Potion or not.

I figure they used to send Jones and Rodriguez after people for copyright infringement, but gave up after awhile when they realized it was a losing battle. Instead they turned to Julio Scoundrel to make sure that they kept the hearts and minds of the general public.

Apparently, it's been a success. :smallamused:

They also have almost all of the market. The Philter Brewing Company tried to compete with them for awhile, but has since dropped back to just their core business of love potions.

[mikeejimbo]

Siglo X. Originally brewed near the turn of the century to celebrate the coming of the year 1000, and has been brewed for over 184 years since!

[andre3w]

I am pretty sure they are these healing potions :)

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0135.html

[Tiiba]

No no....Tarquin and Elan both explained that Items can be Good-crafted or Evil-crafted...even Qarr makes the same case with his virgins blood comment. I assume Julio, being good, is endorsing a good-aligned crafted potion. Perhaps a CG potion...."all of our ingredients were stolen from the wealthiest of robber barons...."

Julio is, apparently, CN. So he endorses CN potions - Cartoon Network, Canadian National, maybe Chinese.

[Jay R]

I am pretty sure they are these healing potions :)

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0135.html

I doubt it. Those were purchased. Julio gets his from the endorsement deal.

[Ghost Nappa]

Bland Co. Brand Potions: Tastes Like Role-Playing

[Jay R]

Bland Co. Brand Potions: Tastes Like Role-Playing

I've known some role-playing that tasted pretty bitter.

[AstralFire]

I think it's funnier that there isn't a brand name, because these things are never branded in D&D worlds and are always completely fungible. It's always just "healing potion" or "potion of heroism". Never "Tito's Handmade Healing Potions".

This is one of many, many things Eberron dispenses with, for the better, imo. You'd better believe that House and Guild marketing are things.

[CletusMusashi]

I believe the brand name of his healing potion is Dose Ache-ies.

[Socksy]

Much like soda pops are Cokes, copying machines are Xeroxes, and tissue papers are Kleenex, what Julio Scoundrel endorses are:

Potions.



I've never once heard anyone refer to anything but Coke as Coke, and I've never so much as heard "Xerox" spoken IRL. And people call Kleenex and every other brand "tissues", not the other way around... ?

[Rodin]

I've never once heard anyone refer to anything but Coke as Coke, and I've never so much as heard "Xerox" spoken IRL. And people call Kleenex and every other brand "tissues", not the other way around... ?

Depends where you live.

Around where I live (Southern US), Coke is the default brand most people ask for in a restaurant, whether or not they specifically want a Coke instead of a Pepsi. And Kleenex is very much the standard.

Xerox was the standard for years, but the relatively recent proliferation of multi-purpose printers has kinda torn that definition to shreds.

For some other examples, Band-Aids, Aspirin, Roller-blades (I really can't remember anyone actually calling them "in-line skates"), and tons more.

[Socksy]

Depends where you live.

Around where I live (Southern US), Coke is the default brand most people ask for in a restaurant, whether or not they specifically want a Coke instead of a Pepsi. And Kleenex is very much the standard.

Xerox was the standard for years, but the relatively recent proliferation of multi-purpose printers has kinda torn that definition to shreds.

For some other examples, Band-Aids, Aspirin, Roller-blades (I really can't remember anyone actually calling them "in-line skates"), and tons more.

Ah. I live in the UK, so perhaps that's the problem.

[factotum]

Ah. I live in the UK, so perhaps that's the problem.

The same thing happens in the UK...for instance, you'll struggle to find anyone older than a certain age who doesn't refer to a vacuum cleaner as a "hoover", even though they're nowhere near the dominant brand that they used to be. Xerox never became the standard term for photocopiers over here, though, no idea why.

[Jay R]

Bayer's trademark name for its pills of acetylsalicylic acid was originally "Aspirin". They lost the exclusive right to the name (except in Germany, Canada, Mexico, and some other places) after World War I. It is now a generic term for anybody's acetylsalicylic acid in the US, UK, France, etc.

In the 1950s, Coca-Cola became almost a generic word for soft drink in the southern US. Similarly, people referred to Xeroxing documents exclusively. (It particularly annoyed IBM that people would buy their machine to Xerox documents with. I heard people talking about "xeroxing" on an IBM machine at IBM.) Both Xerox and IBM spent a fair amount of money trying to get people to call it "copying". IBM did it because it gave them a competitive disadvantage, and Xerox did it to avoid losing their trademark.

Other trademarks lost for similar reasons are cellophane, dry ice, escalator, heroin, kerosene, thermos, and zipper. Most recently, Apple lost their trademark term "App Store".

[xroads]

Thor's Hangover Helper: For the priest who puts the party in piety.

[MesiDoomstalker]

I've never once heard anyone refer to anything but Coke as Coke, and I've never so much as heard "Xerox" spoken IRL. And people call Kleenex and every other brand "tissues", not the other way around... ?

Coke, referring to soft drinks in the general sense, is a regional thing like calling soft drinks pop, soda or soda pop.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Other trademarks lost for similar reasons are cellophane, dry ice, escalator, heroin, kerosene, thermos, and zipper. Most recently, Apple lost their trademark term "App Store".

Also, Microsoft's attempt to get people to call "searching the Internet for stuff" "Bing-ing" rather than googling.

GW

[ChristianSt]

I would just roll with the brand of the potion Julio endorses is just Potion.
But since Potion is the most famous brand of potions, all people int the Stickverse call potions from all vendors Potions, whether they are in fact from Potion or not. :smallbiggrin:


Here in Germany "Tempo" is a word that is used as a synonym for "(Papier-)Taschentuch" (=handkerchief) despite it actually is only a brand name. So not all "Tempos" are from "Tempo", but all "Tempos" are "Taschentücher" :smallbiggrin:

EDIT:

Also, Microsoft's attempt to get people to call "searching the Internet for stuff" "Bing-ing" rather than googling.

Never heard of that "Bing-ing", maybe I should google it ... :smallcool:

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Never heard of that "Bing-ing", maybe I should google it ... :smallcool:

I attended a while back a Microsoft-sponsored event in which I actually felt pity at how the hosts kept telling us to "Just bing it" and "We should bing that" whenever we had to look up something (this was at the height of the Bing PR push). You could tell that even they knew it was a lost cause.

GW

[Olinser]

I attended a while back a Microsoft-sponsored event in which I actually felt pity at how the hosts kept telling us to "Just bing it" and "We should bing that" whenever we had to look up something (this was at the height of the Bing PR push). You could tell that even they knew it was a lost cause.

GW

It's their own fault.

Bing was a lost cause not necessarily because of Google, but because the stupid thing kept trying to install that worthless Bing bar into your browser. Why the hell would I want a stupid bar that takes up processing power when it is just as easy and fast to go to the site? You'd think they would have learned their lesson with Vista - consumers do NOT like applications that stealthily consume excessive processing power.

[factotum]

Bing was a lost cause not necessarily because of Google, but because the stupid thing kept trying to install that worthless Bing bar into your browser.

And the Google toolbar isn't pretty much exactly the same thing? :smallconfused: By that logic there shouldn't be a functioning search engine left, considering they all offer browser toolbars...

[b_jonas]

All potions in D&D within the same type have exactly the same effect.
All said potions have the same appearance (colour, etc).

Not in OotS. We've seen two different colors of heroism potions. And these healing potions seem to have a distinctively shaped bottle.

[brionl]

Dos HP: Stay conscious, my friends.

That's a better brand name than mine.

But I prefer: "Stay Sticky, my friends."

[FullStop]

No Equis -- Stay alive, my friends.

[Wardog]

I think it's funnier that there isn't a brand name, because these things are never branded in D&D worlds and are always completely fungible. It's always just "healing potion" or "potion of heroism". Never "Tito's Handmade Healing Potions".

Which makes advertising for a specific brand kinda pointless, which is also funny... Unless you imagine the brewer is just one of the National Potion Brewers Association and this is in the same vein as "Got Milk?" or other ads for generic products, which is kinda funny itself.

I suppose that - like generic a generic "longsword +1" - this could be something that you could assume was differentiated in fluff, but there's no need to differentiate in crunch.

So hypothetically you could have someone selling different flavours of potions, or Fair Trade / sweatshop (depending on alignment), etc. And if a community was large enough to have more than one potion maker or seller, they would still want some sort of advertising or branding even if there was absolutly no difference between the products whatsoever.

"Bob's Blueberry Healing Potions. They'll save your life, and they taste great!"
"Lian Leaflitter's Life-Restorer. Produced by the Westglade Druid Commune."
"Imperial Potions. As used by the Imperial Legionaries. Support Our Troop!"

[Jay R]

I suppose that - like generic a generic "longsword +1" - this could be something that you could assume was differentiated in fluff, but there's no need to differentiate in crunch.

So hypothetically you could have someone selling different flavours of potions, or Fair Trade / sweatshop (depending on alignment), etc. And if a community was large enough to have more than one potion maker or seller, they would still want some sort of advertising or branding even if there was absolutly no difference between the products whatsoever.

"Bob's Blueberry Healing Potions. They'll save your life, and they taste great!"
"Lian Leaflitter's Life-Restorer. Produced by the Westglade Druid Commune."
"Imperial Potions. As used by the Imperial Legionaries. Support Our Troop!"

Like having a Keoghtum's ointment (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0863.html) that requires the heart of a virgin collected on his/her wedding night.

[PhantomDennis]

Julio is, apparently, CN. So he endorses CN potions - Cartoon Network, Canadian National, maybe Chinese.

What is this China you speak of?

[Gorm_the_DBA]

Seconded. Clearly, they are trying to work themselves into debt even faster!

Thirded for Great justice...

[martianmister]

No no....Tarquin and Elan both explained that Items can be Good-crafted or Evil-crafted...even Qarr makes the same case with his virgins blood comment. I assume Julio, being good, is endorsing a good-aligned crafted potion. Perhaps a CG potion...."all of our ingredients were stolen from the wealthiest of robber barons...."

Julio is CN, not good.