Some online t-shirt merchants are braving the wrath of militant Islam in the name of capitalism.
Warning: This article deals with t-shirts that have deliberately offensive messages.
MetroSpy.com is selling t-shirts depicting Muhammad with a bomb in his turban similar to one of the cartoons published in September in a Danish newspaper that helped prompt riots in Syria, Afghanistan, Iran and Lebanon.
“We can’t let the terrorists win. We can not encourage this uncivilized behavior by caving in to their wishes,” said Nate Thomas, product manager for MetroSpy, in a statement.
The company claimed that as of last week, the t-shirt was its best-selling item, clocking in 120 orders the first day it was available.
On Friday, however, the site was crushed by traffic.
Conservative Web publisher Matt Drudge placed a link to MetroSpy’s release Friday on DrudgeReport.com. As a result, MetroSpy’s servers were so overburdened that many visitors to the site were greeted with an apology.
“The Muhammad cartoon t-shirt is in stock!” MetroSpy’s Web page said. “Due to exceptionally high traffic, our Web server is running slow. We apologize for the inconvenience. Please bookmark this page and try back throughout the day or tomorrow.”
The company did not immediately return a call for comment.
Another online merchant, TShirtHell.com, is selling three Islamic-controversy-related shirts. One says “There’s a Picture of the Prophet Muhammad on the Back of My Shirt” on the front and “Just Kidding! Praise Allah! (Please Don’t Kill Me)” on the back.
Another depicts heavyweight-boxing champion Muhammad Ali wearing a turban with a bomb in it. A third depicts cartoonist Charles Schulz’s Lucy pulling a football away from a bearded, Charlie-Brownish-looking Muhammad screaming “Allah!” as he flies through the air.
“We proudly present three t-shirts based on the recent controversy surrounding cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad,” says copy on TShirtHell.com’s home page. “If you have a sense of humor, and are unarmed, you are welcome to click here.”
TShirtHell.com apparently strives to be an equal-opportunity offender. Among its other shirt slogans are: “What about all the good things Hitler did?” and “If Jesus Comes Back, We’ll Kill Him Again.”
TShirtHell.com did not return a call and an e-mail for comment.
CafePress.com is selling t-shirts with a depiction of Muhammad next to the caption “Defend Freedom of Speech. Draw Muhammad however you damn well please!”
It also has a wide selection of t-shirts urging support for freedom of speech and Denmark, some of whose international businesses have suffered because of boycotts in the Middle East. CafePress.com also did not immediately return a call for comment.
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