Absolutely brutal.
By now everybody knows what an Arnold Palmer is – and I’m talking about the drink, not the golfer.
A favorite of its namesake golfer, an Arnold Palmer is half iced tea, half lemonade. And when beverage company Liquid Death released their own version, they kept with their branding theme by calling their drink an “Armless Palmer.”
But apparently that didn’t sit well with the golfer’s estate.
The company says that Palmer’s estate sent them a letter threatening litigation over their use of the word “Palmer” in their name. The estate has partnered with Arizona Beverage Company to market Arnold Palmers, and the trademark for the drink is owned by Arnold Palmer Enterprises.
And according to Liquid Death, both Arnold Palmer Enterprises and the Arizona Beverage Company have “far more $$$ to burn on legal fees” than they do. So they had to come up with a new name for their iced tea and lemonade drink.
In keeping with the death theme of their company, and in what can only be a subtle shot at the legendary golfer’s estate, Liquid Death announced that they have renamed their drink “Dead Billionaire.”
All-time power move.
The rebranded cans, which are the exact same drink as their Armless Palmer, are being rolled out on Amazon, and will hit store shelves in the spring – alongside Arizona Beverage Company’s Arnold Palmers.
Gotta think that maybe Arnold Palmer’s estate should have just let this one slide.
“If you like our Armless Palmer tea/lemonade, then you are going to LOVE our new Dead Billionaire tea/lemonade.
Why? Because it’s the EXACT same thing, only now it has a way cooler name that won’t require us to fight a senseless legal battle with a large enterprise who sent us a letter saying we can’t use the word “Palmer” and who are also partnered with a giant iced tea corporation. Both of whom have far more $$$ to burn on legal fees than we do.
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.”
