June 10, 2005
T-SHIRT CONSPIRACY
From time to time, I've alerted to the newest shirts available over at T-Shirt Hell.
You might remember these two faves:
Well, it turns out that running a t-shirt operation that jokes about pedophilia, religious desecration and illegitimate babymaking has a bit of a dark side to it.
About a month ago, the Worse Than Hell section of shirts - none of which I have posted in the Salad bowl (they're that bad) - was removed from the site with only vague explanation.
Well, it's back. And its nastier, raunchier and more offensive than ever.
And there seems to be a bit of a story behind all the shifting:
LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 7, 2005—Las Vegas based internet company T-Shirt Hell.com made a name for itself by selling t-shirts that no other site would dare to offer. They had shirts that satirized 9/11; racial and religious stereotypes; even the recent Tsunami. Last month, they took down their most offensive shirts and went as far as to issue an apology. Today, those same shirts are available, again. Why the sudden change of heart, and change of heart, again?Founder, Owner, and President Aaron Schwarz released the following statement: “Towards the end of April I believe an attempt was made on my life. This was not an idle threat: this was a trip to the emergency room. The doctors tell me that whatever I ingested, it came close to killing me.”
“I believe the motivation behind the attack was the ‘Worse Than Hell’ section of my website.” said Schwarz. “Someone was so offended; they decided I deserved to die or to at least be seriously hurt.” Unfortunately for Schwarz, the list of people with that motive includes just about everyone on the planet. “Who have I offended?” asked Schwarz. “How much time do you have?”
“I took down ‘Worse Than Hell’ because we needed some time to sort things out.” said Schwarz. “I was concerned for the safety of my family and my employees. So, we let everybody know what happened and that the stakes had been raised. Anybody who didn’t want to stay was free to go. With the exception of one employee, everyone has decided to stick it out. My family and friends have supported the decision to bring the shirts back.”
“I take great comfort from the fact that my employees and my family stood behind me. We’ve also received an enormous amount of support from our fans. Most continued to shop with us while they called us cowards and sellouts. That was nice, too.”
Schwarz is sticking with one change he announced last month: that is his desire to help those less fortunate than himself. “Which is pretty much everybody.” jokes the millionaire entrepreneur. He is still going to donate up to 30% of his profits to charities that are involved with the groups, and events he satirizes on his site, as well as groups that support free speech.
"I’ve decided that I'm willing to be a martyr for freedom of speech and even though I may be risking my life, it’s a chance I’m willing to take for a philosophy I believe in." said Schwarz. "If people can’t take a joke, that’s their problem. What I do is comedy. I have no ill intentions, just a passionate, crude sense of humor. If someone wants to kill me over a funny t-shirt, so be it."
Comedy Central should make this into a made-for-cable movie. You heard it here first.
I was wondering what was going on. I just received my order, bought a few shirts to reward the guys who helped us move. One of them is very sincere about his religion, so I got him the adorable "WWJD...for a Klondike Bar?" shirt.
Glad they're going to be back to their old ways.
Potsie? Offensive? Pshaw.
Posted by: cessna at June 10, 2005 12:24 PMNothing like whipping up a "conspiracy" to boost sales, hey?
Posted by: Margi at June 10, 2005 03:04 PM