Arnold Palmer was one of the most legendary (and wealthiest) players in the history of golf over the course of his career, but his name has achieved an even wider exposure thanks to the drink he purportedly invented back in the 1960s: half lemonade, half iced tea. Canned water brand Liquid Death has their own version of the product, known as Armless Palmer, but the brand recently took to Instagram to announce a name change after a purported legal threat from the Arnold Palmer estate.
"They wanted to sue us," reads the splashy Instagram post. "So we changed the name." A lengthy caption explaining the situation goes on:
"If you like our Armless Palmer tea/lemonade, then you are going to LOVE our new Dead Billionaire tea/lemonade. Why? Because it's the EXACT same thing, only now it has a way cooler name that won't require us to fight a senseless legal battle with a large enterprise who sent us a letter saying we can't use the word "Palmer" and who are also partnered with a giant iced tea corporation. Both of whom have far more $$$ to burn on legal fees than we do."
Mike Ehrmann/WireImage/Getty Images
Clearly, Liquid Death is opting for the path of most publicity in their response to the threat of a lawsuit from the Palmer estate. The iced tea corporation referred to is, of course, AriZona Beverages, which has had its own officially licensed Arnold Palmer beverage since back in 2002.
The caption goes on:
"Our new Dead Billionaire cans have started to trickle out on Amazon and will begin hitting retail shelves in the spring. Experts are predicting potential brawls in retailers as customers fight over remaining Armless Palmer cans before they become extinct forever and reselling as collectors items for billions of dollars."
From a pure publicity perspective, the move is working, getting write-ups all across the internet (including the one you're currently reading!), but not all of Palmer's many fans approve of his being referred to so irreverently. Sports broadcaster Jeff Eisenband spoke for many in a post on Twitter on the subject:
"By all accounts, Arnold Palmer was one of the most humble and philanthropic star athletes ever. His estate is protective of the brand because @DrinkAriZona holds the distribution rights and sells their product for an affordable 99 cents. Not the flex Liquid Death thinks this is."
Whatever your feeling may be on the publicity stunt, the name change itself is reported to be legitimate, and you just might be seeing Dead Billionaire from Liquid Death on your local supermarket shelf before too long.
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