With all manner of dreadful marketing gimmicks released to cash in on Titanic, sometimes it's easy to forget 1 500 people actually died in the disaster. Here's our top ten list of tack-tanic souvenirs, games and other stuff which should never have seen the light of day. Marketing people, hang your heads in shame.
1. Feeling peckish? - Northern Irish manufacturer Tayto has produced RMS Titanic crisps, with 18 packets costing €10. Available in lightly salted and salt and vinegar. Tasteless of course.
2. Bouncy slide - Unbelievably, billed as Australia's largest inflatable slide, the 10-metre high ride is a rubbery replica of the ill-fated cruise line where kids can climb the sinking keel and then slide down into the “ocean” - complete with iceberg.
3. Gin and titonic - A 'Gin and Titonic' ice tray available from The Gifted Man allows you “create your own mini-Titanic disaster in the comfort of your own alcohol.” Awful.
4. Titanic Sunset teddy bear - 11 inches tall, and sporting a T-shirt with a picture of the doomed vessel, it costs €15 and apparently makes a “great gift” for Valentine's Day or baby showers. Its manufacturers also promise it will “put a smile on someone's face.
5. Cute Titanic Throw pillow - Promising to add “stylish fun” to any room, owners can lounge in comfort on a pillow carrying a picture of the vessel. Just €17.
6. The 'funny' Titanic T-shirt - Costing a mere €20, it promises to remain in fashion “even after the zombie apocalypse”. Festooned with a “boarding pass” to the ship, it allows wearers to “look cool without breaking the bank”.
7. Coal - Not just any old coal, but the actual stuff supposed to be used on Titanic's maiden voyage and recovered from the seabed. Just €25, but the “size of the coal may vary”. .
8. 250 piece jigsaw puzzle -Try to piece together what happened to the ship with the White Star Line Titanic jigsaw, just $44.99. Each puzzle contains a unique “whimsy” piece, guaranteed to “entertain and delight”.
9. Arvel Bird's commemorative CD - An hour-long musical voyage dedicated to the passengers and crew. Enjoy tunes including “Farewell to Ireland”, “Fire & Coal” and “Adrift in the Dark” for just $24.95.
10. Snowglobe- Various incarnations humiliate the doomed ship including one which has it in mid-sink. The tack-factor is pretty high for these babies. - Irish Independent