The Internet is proving to be a lifeline for those seeking information about the ongoing investigation into the officer-involved fatal shooting of an unarmed black teenager in an otherwise quiet suburban Missouri town.
Unfortunately, the Internet is also serving as a reminder that will always be those who seek to make a dollar off the chaos and misfortune of others.
Some online merchants have begun selling T-shirts and other merchandise in an apparent attempt to financially benefit from the shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown, whose death has sparked widespread civil unrest in the Missouri town of Ferguson since Aug. 9.
At least nine separate merchants on two online marketplaces are selling apparel emblazoned with the rallying cries of protesters in Ferguson, including “Hands Up,” “Don’t shoot” and “Justice for Mike Brown.”
Almost all of the merchants appear to be in the print screen business — many sell T-shirts, hoodies and other apparel printed with other phrases, cartoon characters and the logos of major league athletic teams. The apparel sells for anywhere between $5 for buttons to $30 for a hoodie (average price of a shirt: $18).
Of the nine merchants reviewed by TheBlot Magazine, only one appears to be donating a portion of sales to charity: The maker of a “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” short-sleeved t-shirt priced at $16.99 pledges to donate 10 percent of proceeds to the National Urban League, a socioeconomic charity benefitting the African-American community.
The seller of a similar “Hands Up” T-shirt on Etsy wrote that the apparel was being sold “at cost.” The price listed was $8.50.
Other merchants wrote messages of support to the Brown family and the community of Ferguson, but offered no inclination that they were selling the apparel at cost or donating any portion of money earned to charity.
Two years ago, merchants also capitalized on the death of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teenager who was shot by 28-year-old George Zimmerman at an apartment complex in Florida. At a rally in support of Martin, a Huffington Post reporter noted that they saw “saw piles of merchandise for sale with Martin’s face on it” being sold by individuals who did not appear to be affiliated with Martin’s family.
One month after the shooting, Martin’s mother Sybrina Fulton filed a trademark on her son’s name as well as the rally cry “Justice for Trayvon Martin.” While some saw Fulton’s trademark as an attempt to capitalize on her son’s image, a patent attorney told the Huffington Post that Fulton was likely driven by a desire to curb potentially negative uses of her son’s name.
“If you trademark the name, that’s going to prevent others from doing it and potentially capitalizing on it in a negative way or a different way than you want,” attorney Victor Baranowski told the website. “In a case like this, there’s gonna be others who would want to. So does she want to let somebody else do something with her son’s name or does she want it for herself?”
TheBlot searched for the terms “Hands Up,” “Don’t Shoot” and “Mike Brown” in an online database maintained by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Tuesday. So far, it does not appear anyone has attempted to trademark the words.
Matthew Keys is a contributing journalist for TheBlot Magazine.
One Comment
Leave a Reply