T-Shirts are a Big Fucking Deal

T-Shirt vendors have been making money from slips of the tongue of politicians since I before I was born but with the advent of PODs like Cafepress and Zazzle it really took off. The risk is small. Basically all you risk is wasting time and I have wasted time on some designs. You don’t know that when you are designing them though, you always think that this design could be the next big money maker. Anyway, I digress. What  I really wanted to talk about is how the world is realizing that there is money in t-shirts and if this example I am about to show you doesn’t convince you I don’t know what will.

I’m sure you remember but just in case I will remind you. Not that long ago when the Health Bill passed in the US Joe Biden in his excitement dropped the f-bomb. Yes, he said fuck. Actually he said “this is a big fucking deal” while his mic was still on. As you can imagine t-shirts sprang up pretty quickly and I am sure some money was made.

But the surprising thing for me was that Barack Obama himself wanted in on the action and the above t-shirt went on sale in this official store. If the staff of the President of the United States of America spends some time to get these t-shirts printed there must be a lot of money to be made. Right?

Step Outside Posh Boy!

During the US elections there were many stories of people getting sent home from school for wearing political t-shirts but I didn’t really expect to see it happening in the UK. But then again they are having US style political debates so they might as well add some US style ridiculousness to the mix. One teenager was sent home from school for wearing a t-shirt with this poster printed on it.

You can read more details at the Guardian who surprisingly enough are the ones selling the t-shirts (through Spreadshirt) that caused the issue. The tees are a bit crap and they made me think two things. I should be making British political tees are there is apparently a market for them and the Guardian must be struggling if they have to supplement their income peddling tees through Spreadshirt.

You can check out the offending tee and this much better Reservoir Dogs parody tee below at Spreadshirt.

It’s genius on the part of the Guardian if you think about it for a second. They created the t-shirt that caused the issue and then they had something to write about in their paper. Awesome.

Poll: Should Zazzle censor Obama Psalm 109:8 T-Shirt

Zazzle have just announced they won’t be allowing users to sell goods connecting President Barack Obama to Psalm 109:8. Here is an excerpt from their announcement:

after great thought that we have determined that these products, in the context of the full text of Psalm 109, may be interpreted in such a way as to suggest physical harm to the President of the United States. In deference to the Office of the President of the United States, and in accordance with federal law prohibiting the making of threats against the physical wellbeing of the President of the United States, Zazzle has therefore determined that these products are in violation of the Zazzle User Agreement and not appropriate for inclusion in the Zazzle Marketplace. We have begun efforts to remove them from our website, and we will be vigilant to the publication of similar products moving forward.

What do you think?

Congratulations President Obama

While there are some disappointed today, clearly there are more people celebrating than not. I’m not American but I did and do support Barack Obama for President.

Wear a Tuxedo on Election Day

Cafepress have just released a video telling you not to wear your political t-shirts and flair to the polling booths. They are trying to make your that your vote gets counted as in some parts of the county wearing your flair may be considered electioneering and you will get turned away. I am not American but I urge you to vote if you are.

[youtube]5St7g_dWYKw[/youtube]

I never expected to hear Cafepress tell you not to wear their products but it makes sense and even makes you smile. “Choose something safe to wear, like a button-down or a nice tuxedo.” Perhaps they mean something like this tuxedo t-shirt from Vintage Cotton.

Joe the Plumber at Tee Fury

T-Shirts for Joe the Plumber sprang up unbelievably quickly. I waited for the debate, where Joe the Plumber was introduced to the world, between Obama and McCain to end before I put mine up but I was beaten to the punch by many at Zazzle.  I will probably post a larger list of Joe the Plumber t-shirts later but for now you have only about 4 hours left to get your hands on one of these sweet tees from Tee Fury for only $9. Tee Fury sell their shirts for $9 and they are available only for 24 hours. If you click on the image and you see a different shirt, it’s too late. Sorry.

Local Celebrity Sale

Local Celebrity is a pretty cool t-shirt store selling a selection of tees with retro stylings. They are having a sale on their election t-shirts and I think that this is something we are going to see more of day by day as the election is coming up quick and once it is over the market for these tees will decline faster than the US Sock Market after the collapse of Lehman Bros. To be honest I am not all that impressed by these shirts and I really don’t think that they will become collectors items like they say in their email but you never know.

Fukuda ASCII T-Shirt

It seems that Japanese PODs are picking up on the fact that there is money to be made in political tees. In Japan the latest Prime Minister has announced his resignation which was no big surprise really and in a  press conference he said  「あなたとは違うんです。」 which translates as “I’m different from you.” I guess this statement riled a few people and the video was posted on youtube and the infamous ni-channel where it is said this gun-toting ASCII version of Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda appeared first. Then it was quickly snapped up by ClubT to become one of their best selling t-shirts. The t-shirt is pretty cool and the design is available on a selection of items and shirts.

Back on the Campaign Trail

In a previous post we reviewed some shirts from Retro Campaigns. It was a glowing review simply because the products were flawless. (See previous review.) Retro Campaigns have a special niche and that is politicians and politics of yesteryear. They have recently added about seven new designs to their collection so if you want to be political without being… err… political that is the place to get your shirts. The designs are simple with few and muted colors that just give the impression that the tees were taken from a chest in your parents attic. Except, of course, they are in mint condition with no mothball smells. Quite the opposite in fact. You’ll understand that comment when you get the shirt (or you could check my previous post).

Below are two new shirts featuring the Kennedy brothers. I especially like the JFK shirt as I can really imagine people wearing a shirt like that 40 or 50 years ago. There were no JFK is my homeboy t-shirts back then. (*Light bulb goes on, opens up Photoshop*)

The next two though are my favorite of the new t-shirts. I especially like the first t-shirt. It is a one color design but the detail is great and the message is pretty cool too. I almost thought the draft was going to come back to the US too. The next is a very cool campaign shirt for Lyndon B. Johnson.

If you are looking for an American retro political t-shirt there is no reason to look at any other site. The shirts are designed and printed in the US by US designers and printed on American Apparel. When you are going to buy your cool retro political t-shirts at Retro Campaigns be sure to stick around a little to read about American political history. You might just learn something too.

Paris Hilton for President

It’s been a while since I promoted one of my own shirts here but I thought these were pretty funny so I thought I’d share. Those who have seen the recent Paris Hilton video will understand the designs. If you haven’t seen it though, don’t worry. We have included the video below.

Next Page »