Liquid Death, a Santa Monica-based canned-water brand experiencing substantial retail growth, recently changed the name of one of its latest products from “Armless Palmer” to “Dead Billionaire” after the estate of late golfer Arnold Palmer, who is credited with inventing the tea-and-lemonade drink, threatened legal action.
In an Instagram post to its 2.6 million followers in late November, the company announced the rebrand of this beverage it launched earlier this year.
“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,’” the company said in the post’s caption.
Liquid Death was born out of Science Inc., an incubator based in Santa Monica, and has since brought on other notable investors including Live Nation and celebrities such as comedian Whitney Cummings and members of the Swedish House Mafia music group.
Describing itself a “funny beverage company,” Liquid Death has carved a niche out of the highly saturated bottled water space through its heavy metal marketing campaigns and branding.
When initially deploying its iced tea and lemonade drink this year, the name choice of “Armless Palmer” hinted at the late golfer, who claims credit for the drink’s invention in 1960 and later partnered with the AriZona Beverage Co. to mass produce it under the name Arnold Palmer. According to AriZona, it’s grown to become the fifth largest tea brand in the U.S.
Liquid Death’s updated version of the beverage is now available on Amazon. The company said updated packaging will hit retailers this coming spring. In a statement to Forbes, Mike Cessario, the company’s founder and chief executive said the media coverage from its post publicizing the legal threat saved the company $1 million it would have spent on advertising.
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