Discuss the fun task of marketing a t-shirt shop. Where to advertise, local marketing tips, word of mouth, press releases, search engine marketing, keyword advertising, magazines, etc.
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St Patrick's Day Marketing Q's.
What's up all. Question about marketing shirts on the major holidays, in this case, St. Patrick's day. I noticed that there are probably 8-15 very common 'themes' / 'worded statements', that seem to be used and re-used by many different shirt companies. In most cases, everyone does their own graphics with a slight twist; but the statements are nearly (if not exactly), the same in every case.
I've designed corporate logos for 10+ years, and I'm pretty familiar with common copyright laws for identity, service and trade protection. But I also understand that there are protections in place for 'parodies' etc., hence half of the t-shirt industry. In this case, we're talking about those drunken statements that are so common to St Patrick's day. In other words, how many t-shirts have you seen w/ "Kiss me I'm Irish", yet it'll keep selling, and wouldn't it be nearly impossible to copyright that statement? Whereas, if you straight up copied someone's artwork, they 'could' (if they had the time, money and intention) come after you for breaking their unique artwork's copyright that was created the second they created it. But these are statements... So.. I'm curious what you've all experienced. It has to be common across the major holidays.
I'm wondering if it's really ok to re-use these commonly themed 'statements' on your own shirts to sell, or what sort of issues might arise. Any other thoughts on successfully marketing the repetitive themed concepts for the major holidays would be greatly appreciated.
I'm pretty sure you can copyright a phrase, so long as you can prove that you originated it, it has commercial value, and that it is a legitimate asset of your business. With that said, a phrase like "kiss me I'm Irish" is almost definition of public domain (I think), and as for others, I can't imagine a non-branded t-shirt company seeing the cost/benefit of trying to prosecute it.
Interestingly enough, I believe some gourmet chefs have successfully copywrited recipes.
I'm too lazy to lock up the url of the copyright website right now, but I remember it specifically stating that you can not copyright a phrase. You can however Trademark a phrase, but that's 100's of dollars.
you can't copyright a list of ingredients, but you can copyright the wording of the instructions to combine those ingredients.
I'm not a lawyer, so don't bet your farm on my advice. However I'm pretty sure I understand it correctly.
Totally off topic:
I'm also in the rock business. You CAN polish a turd after it's fossilized! I've sold several! [please take this as the humor it's intended to be]
Last edited by Adam Selene; January 29th, 2009 at 10:27 PM.
Reason: spelling
Really? you've never been there? I thought by this point everybody in MI had been there at least once in their lives!
Hmmm. there are so many levels to it. a good basic quick description would be a themed craft show with entertainment and costumes. there is the main theme of the european renaissance, with sub themes of fantasy (D&D, elves, Tolkien, (sp?) even the occasional star fleet or Klingon). Then there are all the crafters, way back when it was required that everyone there made everything they sold, over time people doing buy and sell have wriggled in ( which makes it ever harder for us crafters to make a living). Then there is the entertainers, mostly semi-period performers. Lot's of really good musicians, stage acts (comedy, jugglers, sword swallowers). and a joust (real guys in real armor on real horses smacking the sh** out of each other(and then they used to go out slam dancing all night(but I don't know any of the current jousters))). and street characters. and a copious amount of drinking. and wenches. and rogues ( for the wenches).
One of my St. Patty's day shirts last year said I RISH B{TCH and it was a big hit but later I saw it on the net. I wasn't surprised, it's not like I'm the only one who watched the Chepelle Show. But I was the only one making them in my neck of the woods. Ideas are free and stem from one another and it's all about getting them out there. Don't quote me on this but didn't Bell beat Edison on the patent for the telephone by a few hours.
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Re: St Patrick's Day Marketing Q's.
I'm sort of surprised there aren't 50+ posts of other screen printers in this thread talking about how many St Patty's shirts they do (for their own lines and their clients') each year... Hrmpf. I suppose they're off printing and making $. Go figure. I figured this would be a huge topic. Suppose I guessed wrong.
Or is it just that screen printers (not shirt companys/apparel lines) are too busy printing shirts to think about the potential of marketing holidays themselves?
St Patrick's Day Marketing Q's. 
[please take this as the humor it's intended to be]
