Have you paid close attention to CNN.com lately? Noticed any strange icons lurking next to a headline, perhaps?
See it yet?
Down there, next to "Nude model tells why she bared all" (classy, by the way), on the other side of the video camera icon, it's a ... T-shirt?
Yes, someone down in Atlanta thought that the true way to appeal to the youths was to start competing with Threadless for the hipster T-shirt demographic. And really, who wouldn't want to be seen at the show wearing this:
While most of the shirts currently available skew towards the "nude model" demographic (fully three of the ones currently available involve being drunk or hungover at work), it's the more serious ones that truly make you scratch your head. Like, who's walking around with this on:
I mean, that doesn't even make sense.
While CNN offers an extensive FAQ on their shirts (though, oddly, "Why on earth did you think this was a good idea" isn't one of the questions), they don't give any insight as to the seemingly random selection of headlines. Though it's interesting that they've built a scarcity logic into the designs--they're only available while the headline remains on CNN's front page.
Anyone care to wager on how long this feature will stick around? And what they'll replace it with? My money's on phat pants.
2 comments:
I don't get it. None of the shirts are even funny! Who the freak is buying them?
Well that's the problem right--if they were funny, I would understand it. And some of the shirts play up the "news of the weird" aspect, but that seems to diminish CNN's image in the process, so it doesn't make sense.
The weirdest thing is why they don't go with shirts that would obviously sell:
"Obama wins Edwards' endorsement"
"Mississippi election loss is GOP 'wakeup call'"
That kind of thing. Political junkies have no fashion sense, so why not cater to them?
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