Ernest Hemingway Sofas, Frida Kahlo Tequila, Renoir Mineral Water, and Now Lady Chatterley Thongs?
Travel Blog • Jim Benning • 12.16.05 | 12:35 PM ET
Oh yes, and those are just the beginning. There’s also Jane Austen writing paper and the Virginia Woolf Burger bar. The Times of London today offers an amusing overview of the products bearing the names of artists and novels of yore, as well as the controversies that surround them.
Take the use of D. H. Lawrence’s “Lady Chatterly’s Lover” to sell lingerie at the Ann Summers sex shop. “Lawrence’s literary executors are not going to take it lying down; they are writing a letter of bitter complaint to Ann Summers, arguing that the name of Lawrence’s novel has been traduced,” the paper reports. “This will, of course, have no effect whatever, except to sell a few more blindfolds, since Lawrence is dead and Lady Chatterley is not a trademark.”
Cracks writer Ben MacIntyre about the Ernest Hemingway Collection of furniture in the United States:
“[T]his includes the Corrida Sofa and the Pilar Bookshelf (‘with distinctive signature H and marlin symbol’), but not, oddly, the Hemingway drinks cabinet, gun rack or the beginner’s guide for elderly sea anglers.”
MacIntyre has other ideas, too:
Most artists and writers (Lawrence perhaps excepted) would probably be more flattered than offended to see their names or their works taken in vain by commerce. The arrival of the Lady Chatterley Thong certainly opens up new vistas of marketing possibilities. Damien Hirst’s homemade pickles has a certain ring to it. How about the Anna Karenina guide to train-spotting, the Bertie Wooster cocktail shaker or Albert Einstein’s patented hair conditioner?
My first thought was that Travelers’ Tales needs to get in on the act, considering it just published The Thong Also Rises, which alludes to the classic Hemingway novel and offers rich marketing possibilities for underwear. 
Perhaps, the Travelers’ Tales Collection of Rising Thongs for Misadventure-Seeking Travelers?
And why not take advantage of some contemporary travel writers’ names and works? The possibilities are endless:
* The Tony Hawks Round Ireland with a Fridge Portable Refrigerator (with Built-In Ice Maker!).
* The Pico Iyer “Video Night in Kathmandu” Go-Anywhere (Even Nepal!) DVD Player.
* Robert Young Pelton’s “Come Back Alive” T-shirts and baseball caps? Oh wait, he already has that covered.
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Jim Benning is the editor and co-founder of World Hum.
l g 10.16.06 | 10:14 AM ET
if she was alive today i’m sure she would love to have her name on a bottle of tequila. (her favoritr drink i have read)
i will come back later in the week with my view on all three types
Seo n Design 01.20.08 | 6:26 AM ET
But don’t you think that its look odd that somebody’s name is on the bottle of tequila ?
Beneficial Association 01.24.08 | 3:16 PM ET
These books are great for travelling but in other context they really can’t compare to the real books in literature.
mobiler 09.28.08 | 3:29 AM ET
Unless some products that may cause profanity or personal attacks, it is a good idea to name them after artists and novels of yore. However, if the family member of the celeb is unpleasant for this, I do not think it is a good way to do like this. So I support Lawrence’s literary executors, although there is no law or rulers to protect them.