Shooting first music video; need help

[Sonrise]

Hi,

For the last 8 years I've been writing parodies ala Weird Al Yankovic and I'm about to shoot my first video within the next month (hopefully). The song I'm doing is a parody of the rap song Its Hard Out Here for a Pimp. My song is called It's Hard Out Here for a Wimp.

Anyway, my director and I were discussing the outline of the video (it's going to be a literal storyline of the lyrics) and he brought up a point that I hadn't considered and neither of us knew the answer to. After a lot of research and talking to other people I'm still no closer to the answer. Some of my lyrics contain name brand products and were going to be used in the video, but my director is concerned that we could potentially get in trouble if we don't get permission. For example, one of my lines is, " But I gotta use my Ben Gay, keep arthritis away, spf 80 to protect me from the suns rays" and we were going to do a quick shot of Ben Gay. Another line is "I never skinny dipped, all my shoes are wing tipped, you might ask what's my vice: watching Monk and model ships." and we were going to have a shot of me on the couch building a ship in a bottle with Monk on the tv screen. Another line is "I tried some protein shakes, didn't gain a pound, the trainers laughed at me, looks like Curves is where I'm bound." and have a shot of buff gym trainers pointing me in the direction of a Curves across the street. I also have a line in the song, "I got ninety pound weaklins kickin' sand in my face, even Kip Dynamite thinks that I'm a disgrace" and planned on hiring the actor who played Kip Dynamite from the movie Napoleon Dynamite, or a look alike, if we couldn't come to terms with the actor. The last line of the song is, "But that's the way my life is gotta keep it strictly wimpin', gotta give props to my hero, he's Milhouse from the Simpsons!" and show a poster on the wall of Milhouse.

So, long story longer we haven't sought out or received permission to use any of these "brands" in the video, because quite frankly, I hadn't thought about it. The engineer who's mixing my song, said that it shouldn't be a problem, because, "It's free advertisement." However, a good friend of mine who works in the communications dept. at USC, said the opposite, that I would need permission, but since it's going on youtube, facebook, myspace, etc, it might not be a problem. I watched Weird Al Yankovic's White and Nerdy video and he has a lot of name brands in his video, i.e Gap, X-Men, etc. But he's Weird Al, and is rich, and I'm not. I've been doing a ton of research the last day and a half and am still no closer to an answer then I was before. Someone please steer me in the right direction, I'm at my wits end. Thanks

[AlexInCali]

Originally Posted by Sonrise

So, long story longer we haven't sought out or received permission to use any of these "brands" in the video, because quite frankly, I hadn't thought about it.

I'm no attorney, but isn't this why logos on t-shirts and hats and the like are always blurred out on TV? Just from that alone, I would think you'd need permission.

I do know there there are provisions in copyright law for parody, but I'm guessing that this somehow doesn't extend to actual trademarks.

Hopefully someone who actually knows can give you a real answer, but in my opinion (worthless as it is) it sounds like a pretty slippery slope.