titanic slide (4)

Inflatable iceberg not included.

So Japan comes up with some weird things, right? Toy Story mecha robots, sure. Sumo wrestler assembly lines, no problem. But sometimes they come up with things that leave us cringing and shaking our heads.

Take for example this rentable slide that Japanese Twitter user @hystericdaisy posted for the world to see. Its design may look a little familiar.

▼ “Oh my… the ‘Titanic Slide.’ This is, well… hmm….”

▼ Hmm… what’s the odd-looking slide over there?

titanic slide (1)

▼ Oh. Ohhhh. Oh geez.

titanic slide (4)

▼ Look at that long line of children… all excited to climb up and slide down…
the sinking Titanic…

titanic slide (2)

▼ What? One of the deadliest ship disasters in history?
Sorry, I can’t hear you over all the fun I’m having sliding! Wheee!

titanic slide (3)

We’re not exactly sure what the inspiration was for creating a slide based off the sinking Titanic. It’s understandable that there’s only so many creative “sloping designs” out there, but why not a normal boat? Or a magic mountain? Or a dragon’s tongue or something? Why did it have to be a sinking boat, and why the Titanic?

And just in case you’re thinking this is just a generic sinking boat and not the Titanic, here’s the link to the product on the company’s website, clearly labeled as “Titanic Slider,” complete with fun little balloon graphics and everything. Order yours today!

It seems as though we’re not alone in noticing the absurdity here though, as evidenced by Japanese netizens’ comments:

“There is no way this is okay lol.”
“Maybe it was an abandoned design for practicing emergency boat escaping?”
“Am I a bad person for wanting to reenact Rose and Jack on it?”
“If only the slide ended in a pool of water, haha! …sorry.”
“Well some designer out there has a dark sense of humor.”

So what do you think? Is this a harmless cultural misunderstanding? Or is it on the same level of insensitivity as the Chinese ad for detergent that “turns black people Asian?”

Source: Twitter/@hystericdaisy via Hamusoku
Images: Public Relation