The Earthquake in DC. When I wore my DC Quake shirt to the first game of the MLB playoffs at Nationals Park this fall, at least 4 other fans asked me about it. They remembered the earthquake that we all felt in Washington a couple years ago, and were compelled to comment on the shirt that commemorated it. We hear lots of similar stories from our customers. My favorite one recently was when a guy was wearing his Spurs' 5-Time Champs tee at the gym, and someone tried to buy it off his back right on the spot and wouldn't take no for an answer.
So it seems BreakingT shirts can stir up emotion. But can they impact change?
Taxation Without Representation. As a former resident of Washington, D.C., I was always dumbfounded by the fact that we paid taxes yet had no voting representation in U.S Congress. Sure, we have Eleanor Holmes Norton sitting in with the House of Reps on behalf of DC residents, but she can't vote. She's about as badass as it gets, but she's constitutionally powerless. It makes no sense.
So when a U.S. Senate committee drafted a bill to grant statehood to the district this fall, for the first time in two decades, there was a buzz throughout the city. We launched our New Columbia tee, in honor of the proposed 51st state's name, and it was a hit. But, alas, despite New Columbia shirt sitings in all four quadrants of the city, DC did not become a state.
We're Fed Up. I've been a Washington Redskins fan my whole life. But the memories of watching Super Bowl XXVI on my dad's lap at our next door neighbor's house is fading. Like the vast majority of my fellow fans, I love the team, but the front office and ownership drive me bat-sh*t crazy. Truthfully I've been fed up for a long time, but it was Bill Simmons' article "The Book of Daniel", which describes Dan Snyder claiming the 'Worst American Professional Sports Owner' throne from Donald Sterling, that sent BreakingT over the edge.
Within a couple hours of Simmons' article being published, we launched the FedUp shirt. Thanks to our friends at Hogs Haven, it became clear that many, many other fans are also fed up. You have to wonder, if we fill up FedEx field with FedUp shirts, will Dan finally get the message? If he's a true Redskins fan, maybe he'll do the right thing.
