The home appliance company Bosch would like to be excluded from the narrative after Jason Isaacs used their blender to nearly poison his entire family on The White Lotus.
During the season 3 finale on Sunday, April 6, Isaacs’ character, Timothy, tried to kill his wife and their children by blending poisonous seeds into a cocktail that he ultimately stopped his loved ones from drinking. Timothy’s youngest son, Lochlan (Sam Nivola), however, almost died the next morning after not cleaning the blender before making himself a smoothie.
“While we’re very appreciative of the creative flair and immense popularity of the show in the United States, BSH is clarifying that the Bosch product featured was not provided or placed by the company,” Bosch said in a statement. “However, we can confirm that the production team did purchase the product on their own while filming abroad.”
Bosch noted that the blender isn’t available in North America and “can only be purchased in other select global regions,” adding, “We appreciate the attention the Bosch brand is receiving as a result of this pop culture moment.”
This isn’t the first time The White Lotus caused an offscreen stir with the fictional Ratliff family. Frank Tramble, Duke University’s vice president for communications, marketing and public affairs, recently released a statement saying the Blue Devils do not want to be associated with the hit HBO series.
“Duke appreciates artistic expression and creative storytelling,” Tramble wrote. “But characters prominently wearing apparel bearing Duke’s federally registered trademarks creates confusion and mistakenly suggests an endorsement or affiliation where none exists.”
Tramble emphasized that The White Lotus “not only uses our brand without permission, but in our view uses it on imagery that is troubling, does not reflect our values or who we are, and simply goes too far.”
The response came after Isaacs’ character went on a downward spiral while trying to prevent his family from discovering his connection to questionable business dealings. The patriarch’s troubling behavior started after he began taking his wife’s (Parker Posey) lorazepam prescription to calm his nerves. Eventually, he stole a gun from the hotel’s security guard and contemplated using it — and dream sequences showed him harming himself and his family, which included three children (played by Novola, Sarah Catherine Hook and Patrick Schwarzenegger).
In the sequences, Isaac wore a Duke T-shirt as a nod to his character’s alma mater.
“As imagery from the show is being shared widely across social media, we are using our brand to promote mental health awareness and remind people that help is available,” Tramble added in his statement.
The White Lotus is currently streaming on Max.
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