Back in the 80’s when I worked at an advertising agency that shall remain nameless (you can spell it using only the letters B, D, and O), the research department calculated brand strength using an “affinity score.” The theory was that the greater the affinity consumers had for a company’s brand, the more likely they were to respect it, engage with it, buy its products, etc.

Today one marketer is going the opposite way, by utilizing “a branding tactic of using words with negative connotations to communicate something edgy.” The product is a new line of whiskies, funded by London entrepreneur James Green, who is gambling that his brand will appeal to high-powered financial types, especially if it is synonymous with a high-profile financial failure.

However, back in 2014, before he could bring his product to market, Green ran into a rather large legal problem. Barclay’s Bank of London attempted to block the launch, arguing that they owned the rights to all the intellectual property of the failed financial firm for which Green wanted to name his brand. A long legal battle ensued, until a court concluded that Barclay’s had tried and failed to resuscitate the brand as an actual financial services firm, so Green was free to use the brand to name his line of spirits.

And so now we are all free to taste the sheer panic of the 2008 financial meltdown.

Ladies and Gentlemen, presenting Lehman Brothers Scotch Whiskies.

In three provocative flavors! Consider “Ashes of Disaster,” a lovely American whiskey that offers “a wicked suggestion of burning banknotes, a hint of ripe autumn fruit about to fall, tempered with humility to demonstrate the lack of activity that follows devastation.” Or perhaps you’d prefer “Snapfire,” an old-world Scotch that goes “perfect with reckless maneuvers, long gambles, and explosive consequences. Drink alone, if possible.” Or, if you’re not all into gloom and doom, you can opt for “Evergreen,” a blended whiskey which has “notes of growth and promise. Tastes best when sitting on top of the world.”

Green is taking orders online, and suggests you begin your descent into misery with Snapfire, which has a taste that “almost offends the senses.” And he’s looking for investors to help him launch a line of Lehman Brothers-themed bars, which would open first on Paternoster Square and Wall Street.

Barclays has declined to comment. Cheers.