Have you ever been in a discussion, online or in meatspace, when someone makes a pop culture reference and you have no idea why everyone is laughing? Sometimes that's a mention of a fictional company, like when a coworker refers to your own workplace as Dunder Mifflin, or someone says they ate at Los Pollos Hermanos because they couldn't recall the name of the restaurant. Yeah, that happens to me, too. While I am aware of popular movies and TV shows, I don't actually watch them. But you can quickly learn about the fictional businesses and government agencies made up for TV and movies at the Fictional Brands Archive.
It's a database of these companies listed in alphabetical order, with the pop culture world they come from. Click on an entry, and you'll be taken to a page with more information, like a description, logo, backstory, and pictures. Read up on the businesses of your favorite franchise, or bookmark the archive so you can refer to it in the future. -via Kottke