Sponsorship of Titanic book launch party by Iceberg Vodka described as “poor taste” by survivor’s family
The sponsorship by Iceberg Vodka of a party to promote the launch of ‘Titanic: The Tennis Story’, a book about two tennis players who survived the disaster, has been described as “poor taste, really disheartening and upsetting” by descendants of the pair.
The book by Lindsay Gibbs tells the story of Richard Norris Williams, a 21-year-old tennis star who was on the vessel with his father – who was crushed to death in the disaster, and Karl Behr, who went on to have a successful tennis career.
The descendants of both were already angry with the book, which they believe provides inaccurate accounts of what their family members went through, before the sponsorship deal was announced.
Iceberg Vodka, manufactured by the Newfoundland and Labrador Liquor Corporation, uses the Titanic as part of its marketing strategy, with its website saying: “In 1912 the ‘unsinkable’ Titanic found that out all too tragically, we do not take our Icebergs lightly.”
Sunday marks the 100th anniversary since the sinking of the Titanic.