Is this mall section, in Brown Girl In The Ring, a 1999 book, more likely avoiding trademarks, or talking about knockoffs?

Question

Is this mall section, in Brown Girl In The Ring, a 1999 book, more likely avoiding trademarks, or talking about knockoffs of "Kentucky Fried Chicken" and "Burger King"?

I've never seen anyone avoiding trademarks in written works in our modern era, except in Japanese works, see TV Tropes: Bland Name Product. But is 1999 sufficiently a foreign country that I'm wrong in my assumption?

Especially in my assumptions of how big "Kentucky Fried Chicken" and "Burger King" were, back then, unlike now-ish?

General George Fried Chicken, proclaimed one sign; Divine Burger, another.

Answer 1

According to the author:

I invented the names. They weren't meant to represent those specific restaurants (which are, in any case, American not Canadian) but I see you do understand the kind of fast food chain I was invoking.

And also:

I just had a look at the link. You might tell them that it's still a bad idea to use trademarked names in fiction. You risk having a corporation with deeper pockets than yours force you to cancel your book or be sued for infringement. I know writers who've had that experience.