- Title: "I would wear one" - Trump mug shot merchandise goes on sale
- Date: 25th August 2023
- Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (AUGUST 25, 2023) (Reuters) T-SHIRT WITH FORMER PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP'S MUGSHOT ON CAPS WITH MUGSHOT ON T-SHIRTS WITH MUGSHOT ON VARIOUS MUGS WITH MUGSHOT ON VARIOUS STORE ASSISTANT BECKA (NO LAST NAME GIVEN) PUTTING UP TRUMP MUGSHOT T-SHIRT IN WINDOW OF Y-QUE STORE (SOUNDBITE) (English) Y-QUE SHOPPER, CJ BUTLER, 37, FROM ATLANTA, GEORGIA, SAYING: "I think it's very classic consumerism for this country to already have, and it just happened maybe now 24 hours ago where former president Trump got arrested, and now his face is on a T-shirt. Like, hey, I don't even think he himself would be too mad about it, because, hey, it's Trump. He sells everything so why not have a T-shirt?" (SOUNDBITE) (English) Y-QUE SHOPPER, AARON CLARK, 25, FROM LOS ANGELES, SAYING: "I think it's funny. The second I saw that mugshot came out, I knew the T-shirt presses were going to be going crazy because it's just funny, like, it's crazy. I saw the Rudy Giuliani one came too and the second that came out, it was like T-shirts everywhere but this place is going to make a killing because I know everyone's going to want one, for sure." RUDY GIULIANI MUGSHOT ON T-SHIRT TRUMP AND GIULIANI MUGSHOTS ON T-SHIRTS TRANSFER OF TRUMP'S MUGSHOT BEING PLACED ON T-SHIRT PRINT PRESS BEING PULLED DOWN MAN CUTTING OUT TRANSFERS VARIOUS OF T-SHIRT BEING FINALIZED SHOPPER ONLY WANTED TO BE KNOWN AS MARC LOOKING AT T-SHIRTS (SOUNDBITE) (English) Y-QUE SHOPPER, MARC (LAST NAME WITHHELD ON REQUEST), SAYING: "This is the former president of the United States. To me, it's -- not that I hold up the presidency to some level --but it seems like a degradation of our institutions just by the merchandising of it. However, I also find it funny and entertaining and enjoyable." MUGSHOTS ON T-SHIRTS OF VARIOUS ARTISTS DAVID BOWIE MUGSHOT ON T-SHIRT PEOPLE LOOKING AT T-SHIRTS (SOUNDBITE) (English) Y-QUE STORE WORKER, BECKA (LAST NAME NOT GIVEN), SAYING: "Mugshots are great because it's something that not only can you... It's like not only are you laughing at the person but you're also kind of, depending on what it is, you're kind of sympathetic too and it's kind of relatable to a lot of people but I would say mostly iconic. It's just like it's a mugshot, and they can do whatever they want with that moment. They can either look like David Bowie, he looks beautiful in his mugshot or Trump, he looks like a comic book villain, so it's just like frozen in time. That's it forever." (SOUNDBITE) (English) Y-QUE SHOPPER, MARC (LAST NAME WITHHELD ON REQUEST), SAYING: "You know, the president, the former president posed in a certain way. He had a certain look. He wanted to have this look of menace and invincibility. I mean, it's almost ludicrous to me that this was the former leader of the country." VARIOUS OF PRODUCTS BEING MADE T-SHIRTS AND CAP GIULIANI T-SHIRT TRUMP MUGSHOT CAP (SOUNDBITE) (English) Y-QUE STORE WORKER, BECKA (LAST NAME NOT GIVEN), SAYING: "I really can't make a prediction because in the past having Trump's likeness on an item has not really been a high-selling point so maybe now that it's a mugshot, it might be a different story. It's like a sociology experiment. As I was saying before, just like I don't know, we shall see. As a mugshot, it could be a completely different story." PEOPLE IN STORE (SOUNDBITE) (English) Y-QUE SHOPPER, AARON CLARK, 25, FROM LOS ANGELES, SAYING: "I would wear one, yeah. It's funny. It's like the whole political scenario in the U.S. is really comedy at this point, so it's funny." (SOUNDBITE) (English) Y-QUE SHOPPER, JOSE TAFFALA, 48, FROM LOS ANGELES, SAYING: "I am definitely not, I don't support that man at all but I would wear it as a joke to an event where everybody knows that I'm not associating myself with him as a good guy. I wouldn't wear it to champion him in any way, I'd definitely wear it to mock him." (SOUNDBITE) (English) Y-QUE SHOPPER, MARC (LAST NAME WITHHELD ON REQUEST), SAYING: "Any publicity is good publicity and so I don't want to participate in publicizing this person. I don't like him. I think he represents a lot of bad things in human culture in general." PRODUCTS BEING PACKED UP AT CASHIER
- Embargoed: 9th September 2023 00:35
- Keywords: Donald Trump Georgia Merchandise Mugshot Y-Que
- Location: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES
- City: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES
- Country: US
- Topics: Crime/Law/Justice,North America
- Reuters ID: LVA001714225082023RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Former president Donald Trump is used to marketing his own merchandise, but now his mug shot, which was taken in Georgia on Thursday (August 24), is becoming a business unto itself.
Y-Que, a store in the Los Angeles suburb of Los Feliz, has taken the mug shot and put it on T-shirts, mugs, and caps less than 24 hours after it was taken.
The photo was distributed by the Fulton County court to media outlets. Mug shots taken by U.S. federal courts are generally in the public domain.
"I think it's very classic consumerism for this country," said Y-Que shopper, CJ Butler, 37, from Atlanta, Georgia. "It just happened maybe now 24 hours ago, where former president Trump got arrested and now his face is on a T-shirt. Like, hey, I don't even think he himself would be too mad about it, because, hey, it's Trump. He sells everything so why not have a T-shirt?"
Another shopper, Aaron Clark, 25, from Los Angeles, told Reuters, "The second I saw that mug shot came out, I knew the T-shirt presses were going to be going crazy because it's just funny, like, it's crazy."
The mug shots of both Trump and his associate Rudy Giuliani are now on the mug shot T-shirt shelf, which also features musicians Prince and David Bowie and actor Jane Fonda.
Store worker Becka, who did not give her last name, said, "It's a mugshot, and they can do whatever they want with that moment. They can either look like David Bowie, he looks beautiful in his mugshot or Trump, he looks like a comic book villain, so it's just like frozen in time. That's it forever."
Y-Que's merchandise leans liberal, and the store has found in the past that items with Trump's face on don't tend to sell well.
"Maybe now that it's a mugshot, it might be a different story. It's like a sociology experiment," Becka told Reuters.
So would people wear the mugshot merchandise?
Aaron Clark says yes. "I would wear one, yeah. It's funny. It's like the whole political scenario in the US is really comedy at this point, so it's funny," he said.
On the flip side, a shopper called Marc, who didn't want his last name used, said, "Any publicity is good publicity and so I don't want to participate in publicizing this person. I don't like him. I think he represents a lot of bad things in human culture in general."
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