Can mentioning products or brand names in a positive or negative light be considered advertising? What if there is no financial incentive?

It's only bad form if the company has paid you in order to mention them. Blogvertising has become all the rage, and it's a practice I wholeheartedly disagree with. The FTC is planning to crack down on these things by making it mandatory that if you were paid for your review, you must admit that publicly.

Who can prove it though? As far as in answers to questions online? You absolutely HAVE to give brand names sometimes.

I wrote this article about Alternative Uses for Dawn Dishwashing Detergent. You can read if here if interested: associatedcontent.com/article/76242/dawn... The point in mentioning this is: some of these things I suggest people to do I would never, EVER suggest they do with other products. For example, Dawn has been tested as safe on animals, so when I recommend it for washing fleas off puppies and kittens, I know it's safe.

I can't guarantee the same about just any dishwashing detergent. Now, is it advertising to mention a product? Sure it is.It's the oldest and by far best method of advertising for a company ever: Word Of Mouth Advertising.

The point is, if a product impresses you sufficiently to recommend it, you only know for sure if THAT BRAND is as impressive as you say. You cannot honestly speak authoritatively about another brand of the same type of product because you haven't used it.By the same token, if the brand is bad and it was a bad experience for you, that doesn't mean EVERY product like that by different companies would be the same. So when answering a question honestly, if it's a specific brand you're experienced with, it should be a specific brand you offer to the asker.

It really depends on the venue in which you are writing. Saying nothing but good things about a product or service without a balanced view can lead readers to question the motives and objectivity of the writer. If you are writing a review of a product or service, then balance is expected.

However, if you are adding detail into your fiction writing by mentioning a product, it can help the reader get a "view" of the character or setting more easily. Writing that your protag is drinking a Heineken is much more informative than saying he's having a beer. It speaks to aspects of his character that can advance the plot.

It depends on how relevant the brand name is to the question. I recently asked a question about http://www.whatsyourconundrum.com/food-and-drink/wine-and-chocolate-should-be-a-good-combination-does-anyone-have-any-good-pairings-which-wine-and-which-chocolate-works-for-you chocolate and wine and which combinations work well together. If somebody recommended a specific chocolate I'd be happy with that as it really helps to answer the question.

On the other hand if somebody answered this whatsyourconundrum.com/hobbies/i-have-ne... question about hobbies saying that you should start using Acme branded rocket boots, then that wouldn't be appropriate as any brand of rocket boots would be good (although neither will help you catch the Road Runner).

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.