Titanic coffeeWe had a department outing today – one of those team building exercises where we cube dwellers get together and find out we are actually individual people instead of just cogs in the great machinery known as Corporate America.
The cynical side of me (yes – there is a cynical side…a sarcastic side too) usually doesn’t think much of these things - “mandatory pep rallies.” You put the word “mandatory” in front of anything and you pretty much suck the fun right out of it. But…having said that…I must admit I had fun at this one. The fact it was all on the company dime didn’t hurt either.
We went to the Science Center of Iowa to see the Titanic Artifact Exhibit. I’ve always been fascinated with the story of Titanic and the exhibit was top-notch. When you enter the exhibit, you are given a ticket with the name of an actual passenger with some bio information. At the end of the exhibit, you find out if your passenger lived or died. I am happy to say - I lived. My passenger was a woman traveling in first class and if you know anything about the story of Titanic you know those two facts greatly increased the chances of survival.
The one thing about the exhibit I found puzzling was the gift shop. They had all kinds of Titanic souvenirs – hats, books, shirts, jewelry, coffee mugs…and coffee. No joke – Titanic whole coffee beans roasted and ready for grinding. My fellow writers and I just couldn’t resist coming up with some taglines…
Your morning will be full speed ahead with Titanic coffee!
While waiting for your rescue, enjoy a cup of Titanic coffee!
Damn the iceberg! Have a second cup!
…etc…etc…etc…
But the real kicker was when we considered the possibility of drinking Titanic coffee …over ice.
And then this occurred to me...
Enjoy a cup of Titanic coffee (hot or over ice) while you ponder the morality behind the cheap exploitation of human tragedy all in the name of making a quick buck. Guaranteed to keep you up at night.
It was kind of funny but then again...
Picture: www.wikipedia.com
UPDATE: Okay - I have to admit. This was pretty funny!
http://www.angryalien.com/0604/titanicbunnies.html
Thanks Kerner!
11 comments:
DMG - having been surrounded by death and the total lack of compassion or humanity - can honestly say the exploitation of suffering and tragic events does not surprise me. Even here, it is quite common to buy a shirt from the areas deployed or other momentos (like saddam posters for dartboards and such) to either take ownership of the issue or to use as a device to say, "yeah, been there...have you?". My personal thought - FUCK that. That kind of exploitation turns my stomach. *shakes head* "wonder if they have kiosks like that for the concentration camps..." - FUCK
"Each cup a blockbuster movie!"
Dantares
I think I saw that exhibition in Lonon......at Wembley? My mind is kinda fuzzy. But it was damn good, I do remember that.
I posted similar thoughts a couple of months ago. I heard that the last American survivor of the Titanic had just died, and I was doing a little research on her life when I found this.
Somehow dressing up in Titanic era clothes and pretending to have tea aboard the Titanic seemed to me to have the same level of tacky and exploitation as Titanic coffee. But then I thought the movie Titanic was kind of tacky too. Oh, and by the way there are two British survivors of the Titanic still alive, but both were under a year old when they were on the ship, so they have no memories. The American survivor did. It seemed to have ruined her life. She lost her father and twin brother that fateful day. :(
JT - I agree with you - when people try to profit from it that's what makes me mad.
Dantares - I love the exhibit. It was one of those things you could go back 2-3 times.
Barb - thanks for the link! I guess in some ways it's good people do these things because it keeps the event alive in people's minds, especially now that all eye-witnessess have passed on. The tea seems a bit over the top. I guess it depends on the "tone" of the guests - were they respectful? Or was it just another excuse to have a social event?
Would anyone think of having a holocaust party like that? "Let's all pretend we're in concentration camp! What fun!"
Bwahahah! Sorry that I couldn't be more eloquent.
Werner?!?!!? WERNER?!?!!?
should I start calling you Council Bluffs girl?
Aack! My evil (and stupid) twin, Duh_Moines_Girl, swiped my password and posted something on my blog! I hope she didn't say or do anything stupid!
(sorry Kerner!)
Not at all, my dear...I enjoy your blog enormously.
Thanks Kerner!
I've had a great time writing it!
DMG - I like your Titanic Coffee tag lines. They are giving the family a good laugh this morning.
Hey Quipper - glad you like the tag lines. Those are the ones I remembered. The Titanic jokes were flying thick and fast.
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