Sometimes, swag speaks louder than words.

A California-based B Corp screen printer’s shirts produced for a protest by Oakland Athletics fans against team ownership offers a real-world case study in that aphorism.

In June, ASI Media reported how Oaklandish (asi/169128) helped fuel a grassroots protest that garnered national sports media attention and that went viral on social media by printing Kelly green T-shirts with one simple word: “SELL.”

Oaklandish, a B Corp screen printer/apparel company based in Oakland, CA, created the SELL shirts worn by thousands of Oakland Athletics fans to protest ownership this summer.

The word is a command directed to the Oakland Athletics’ billionaire Owner John Fisher, whom fans accuse of running the team into the ground for years while trying to relocate the franchise to Las Vegas.

On June 13, A’s supporters wore the shirts en masse at a “reverse boycott” game – called so because it involved flooding the stadium with fans rather than not attending in protest, as had become the norm.

The shirts are proving to have staying power long after the boycott game. Fans have continued to don them throughout the summer. They can be seen about Oakland, its surrounding environs and beyond. Especially notable, the message conveyed by the T-shirts has hit home with Fisher, the baseball executive admitted recently.

The shirts and related protesting show “that the fans are passionate about wanting to keep the team and that they’re upset with me for taking away that dream,” Fisher told NBC Sports last week. “And in that sense, I take responsibility and I feel bad about it. There’s a part of me that actually looks and says that Oakland fans are great fans and there is incredible passion in our fan base. And, seeing that passion, even though that passion happens to be directed against me, has a sort of an ironic twist to it where I can kind of appreciate the passion, even though at times it’s hurtful.”

Are the shirts going to compel Fisher to sell or pull an about-face and keep the team in Oakland? Extremely unlikely. He remains focused on relocating the Athletics to Vegas, arguing that doing so is in the best long-term interest of the franchise. The team has submitted its relocation application to Major League Baseball, ESPN reported on Aug. 23.

“T-shirts are a powerful way for people to send a message, and to be a part of something bigger than themselves. Every project is an opportunity to help shape the world we live in, to have some impact on the community and do your part to make that community a place that you’re proud to call home. No matter what happens with the A’s, the memories of the sea of Kelly green SELL tees will live on in Oakland history.” Angela Tsay, Oaklandish

Still, the impact of the shirts demonstrates the potential power of message merch.

It can be used to communicate a passionate viewpoint to people in power – and to get that message heard by those decision-makers. It can, in an instant, convey the deeply held position of a likeminded group of people on a topic of pivotal importance to them.

If especially clever and timely, and related to the right issue, it can also help garner widespread media attention while serving as a visible, tangible banner for a cause. Maybe most poignantly, message merch can help engender a true sense of community among folks confronted with the same issue, solidifying a sense of togetherness in the face of a common hardship/negative to which they’re opposed.

As Oaklandish CEO Angela Tsay said: “T-shirts are a powerful way for people to send a message, and to be a part of something bigger than themselves. Every project is an opportunity to help shape the world we live in, to have some impact on the community and do your part to make that community a place that you’re proud to call home. No matter what happens with the A’s, the memories of the sea of Kelly green SELL tees will live on in Oakland history.”

Product Hub
Find the latest in quality products, must-know trends and fresh ideas for upcoming end-buyer campaigns.