e.politics: online advocacy tools & tactics

Spreading Your Message in Wearable Form

December 16th, 2007

EVERYBODY’S getting in on the political act these days, even the T-shirt makers. On Thursday, online shirt/gear maker CafePress sent out a note promoting their services as a political message-spreader. CafePress works by letting people upload graphics and then have them placed on t-shirts, coffee mugs, yard signs, clocks and ton of other goodies. Once you’ve put your images up, anyone can order the items. And since they’re only printed on demand, you don’t have to invest in shirts or mugs and hope the sales materialize.

Political messages are a natural match, since why wait for someone else to make yard signs or shirts for your candidate or cause? The email includes some basic tips — pick a side, make a statement, tie your products to the election schedule — things obvious to experienced political communicators but useful for someone just starting out. Not surprisingly, the Ron Paul army’s already all over the site, in some cases with excellent imagery and messaging.

BTW, the band and I have been using CafePress for a couple of years as a channel to distribute Burning Sensation gear of the greatest possible quality and taste (for instance, can your life truly be complete without a patented Ring of Fire thong?). Thus has our influence spread around the world, as this picture of a particularly fetching fan sporting Burning Sensation colors on the Great Wall of China demonstrates.

– cpd

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