That could be one reason why merchandise from memes made popular by the likes of TikTok has exploded on Amazon, spawning dozens of listings for nearly-identical T-shirts that say "Yeet" in block letters across the chest. If a popular word or phrase hasn't been trademarked, it's fair game for many merchandisers to put on a T-shirt. However, there may be more opportunities to make merchandise off of internet slang. "We produce them as they start to sell."Ĭopyright and trademark laws have made it so that some memes are harder to monetize, such as those that use imagery from the video game "Fortnite," which is copyrighted. "If we create a design that doesn't work, it's not like we've got a thousand shirts sitting on the shelves," Garriss said. Garriss said print-on-demand services like Merch By Amazon have made it easier to try out different memes and see what sticks, instead of wasting money and time on merchandise that flops after a meme flames out. It also prevents wasted inventory, since the company only sells the T-shirts that shoppers want to buy. Merch By Amazon can be more cost-efficient than a seller handling the process on their own. The program became invite-only after Amazon received an overwhelming number of submissions from sellers. Sellers can upload an image for free, then Amazon lists the item and handles all the backend processes, including printing, packing and shipping, in exchange for a cut of each sale. The sites allow users to upload an image and have it printed on clothing, pillows, tapestries and other items.Īmazon made its first foray into the print-on-demand T-shirt business when it launched Merch By Amazon in 2015. The stuff has been sold via print-on-demand sites like CafePress or Redbubble for at least the last five years. "The general use is annoying, but I personally think it shows that boomers, which aren't necessarily an age group as much as an ideology, should join us in the digital age so that it's not just young people trying to create change." "The OK boomer meme is a rare meme that's actually kind of important," Lukasiewicz said. In some cases, meme merchandise can extend the shelf-life of a certain topic, as is the case with the Epstein merchandise, or it can shed light on an important issue. Taking a "fast fashion approach" to meme merchandise is often a gamble, he said. Like other retailers, Lukasiewicz tries to choose memes that he feels will last more than a couple days or weeks. The site offers T-shirts with classic memes like poorly drawn Sonic and the Shiba Inu doge, but also offers merchandise with newer memes including the conspiracy theory meme "Jeffery Epstein didn't kill himself" and "OK boomer." Shirtwascash Founder Ardon Lukasiewicz, who goes by the pseudonym Based anon, said he doesn't sell his merchandise on Amazon because he likes to remain "under the radar" to avoid copycats. The site started by crowdsourcing memes from 4chan, then Reddit and later expanded to include original designs. Online clothing retailer Shirtwascash has witnessed meme merchandising evolve over the years since the site launched in 2014. While the company dabbles in meme merchandise, it doesn't represent the majority of Gotham City's sales because "it's tough to have a business that just chases those trends," Garriss said. Slang terms used both on and off TikTok, like "and I oop," which is used when someone catches you by surprise, and "bet," a replacement for "OK sure," are also inscribed on T-shirts. In the video, a teen instructs Karen (a moniker that makes fun of a particular type of Generation X woman) to respect his outfit. Other memes like "Yeet," "I'm baby" and, of course, "OK boomer" are plastered across T-shirts, sweatshirts, hats and socks, forever immortalized despite the internet's increasingly short attention span.Įlsewhere, shoppers can buy a T-shirt that says "Respect the drip, Karen," a meme popularized on TikTok. Vibe check, which essentially equates to a wellness check-in from a friend, is just one of many memes made popular on social media platforms like TikTok, Facebook 's Instagram, Reddit or Twitter and is now being monetized via merchandise on Amazon. The sprawling e-commerce site that sells everything from furniture to pet supplies has also become home to a busy community of meme merchandisers looking to make a quick buck off of popular internet slang phrases like "Vibe check."
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