Monday, October 24, 2016

'Nasty Woman' rules US election T-shirts


T-shirts inspired by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's "such a nasty woman" comment on Democrat Hillary Clinton in last week's debate were flying off internet retailers' shelves, offering a possible hint on the Nov. 8 election result.

Speaking on Monday (October 24) at Gowanus Print Lab in Brooklyn, New York, Bob Bland, CEO and founder of Manufacture NY and nastywoman.co, said that demand came swiftly.

"Pretty much all women in the country (went), 'I could not believe when he said that.' And so immediately I started thinking to myself, 'Oh shoot, if she's a nasty woman, so am I.' So is like basically everyone I know who I respect and think is cool. So I guess we're all nasty women, right?" she said.

Bland created nastywoman.co the morning after Trump's comments and within 48 hours, nearly 1,500 orders of T-shirts and totes with the words "Nasty Women Vote" were placed and she's already been able to give $20,000 (USD) to reproductive healthcare provider Planned Parenthood. Everything except for the actual cost of making and shipping the T-shirts goes to charity, she said.

Merchandise retailers typically see a profit boost during election season as voters on both sides seek to wear support for their candidates, particularly around conventions, voting and this year, debates.

"A lot of the people that are involved with us, the main reason why they bought a shirt is because they're thinking, 'It would be so fun to wear a nasty woman T-shirt on Election Day.' And if it helps people to have a reason to go and vote on Election Day, that's even more exciting to me because, you know, a lot of us have felt not really excited about the election this time, especially those of us who were really rooting for Senator Sanders. And so for us to be able to find another reason to coalesce, to come together and step out and vote on November 8th is really exciting," Bland said.

After the third and final presidential debate on Wednesday (October 19), Trump's "nasty woman" comment gave life to a new merchandise line aimed at assailing him.

Pop star Katy Perry wore another "Nasty Woman" creation, designed by Amanda Brinkman and offered online at Google Ghost. Brinkman's "Nasty Woman" T-shirt, featuring the phrase with a heart around it, was sold more than 6,000 times since she designed and posted it during Wednesday's debate.

Brinkman is donating half of the proceeds to Planned Parenthood, which Trump opposes because it offers abortions.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com