Airline company Icelandair offered an “Apartheid” cocktail composed of vodka, stout liqueur, cream, and hazelnuts to guests at its Hotel Reykjavík Marina.
Twitter user @AfricasaCountry noted the offensively named cocktail on Friday and tweeted to the company.
The Apartheid cocktail, on sale at the Marina Hotel, Reykjavik (owner: @Icelandair) pic.twitter.com/IyrQkx60bU
— AFRICA IS A COUNTRY (@AfricasaCountry) December 19, 2014
The user received this cheery response from Icelandair that same day:
@AfricasaCountry Simply scrumptious, enjoy! Happy Holidays
— Icelandair (@Icelandair) December 19, 2014
Icelandair eventually issued an apology for the cocktail name, along with an explanation.
@robtashima We apologize. Our Iceland-based team member was unaware of word’s meaning. We have contacted the hotel to remove the drink.
— Icelandair (@Icelandair) December 19, 2014
@AfricasaCountry She thought the word just meant separation and did not understand the connotation and historical significance.
— Icelandair (@Icelandair) December 19, 2014
h/t GrubStreet