We’re doomed – we might as well Despair
Friday, May 2, 2008 9:59
Yup, it’s official. In fact, it has been for several months. We’re heading for a bad time and Despair Inc, out of Austin Texas will sell you a T-shirt that says “Just because you’re necessary doesn’t mean you’re important.”
They also have a line of random Demotivators – posters that rip off the motivation and self improvement industries, and a coffee mug that’s transparent, with a line on it to show you exactly when your cup is half empty!
The business first became famous a decade ago, but has taken a jump this year and no surprise – the Bureau of Labor Statistics says U.S. employers ‘lost’ 80,000 jobs in March and that means Despair’s sales are up about 15% this year, often because fed-up employees are buying ‘demotivated’ T-shirts to wear during their final week of work before being laid off.
‘People are buying because things are getting bad,’ says Justin Sewell, co-founder of Despair, a company whose existence is a direct result of his own experience. Sewell and his twin brother and another colleague, Lawrence Kersten, felt hosed by their technology company employer and started dreaming up satires on motivational posters as a private joke – now it’s a million dollar business. What would you have printed on a T-shirt for your last day at work?
Demotivator mug courtesy of bpende via flickr
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Patricia says:
May 2nd, 2008 at 11:29 am
this is great, I was thinking just this the other day, not what I would put on my tee-shirt, but what I would say, which was, I have two female partners, but…I actually like my job but they’re well….pedicure and manicure girls, anyway, I would say,
The two of you make one person.
mean eh? but on a teeshirt…huh….
this is my dream teeshirt….
the title of my novel, “Cosmopolitans” with an airbrush picture of the cover and the dates of the book tours….
or
You pay me to work, not to like you. I don’t get enough money for either.
I don’t know….love this idea, I like my job though so….my last job on the other hand, it would cost too much money to print what I’d want to say.
Ann says:
May 2nd, 2008 at 11:49 am
Ha! I agree with Patricia. You can’t get what I want to say on just one tee shirt. BTW, I *HATE* motivational posters. They add that certain je ne sais funeral quoi, y’know. I mean, gag me.
For a slogan, I think, Kiss My Ass Goodbye has a nice ring. It loses its punch if you don’t have another job lined up, though.
Gabriel Orgrease says:
May 2nd, 2008 at 12:21 pm
Fuck the Pension Plan, I have a Gun
Cheryl says:
May 2nd, 2008 at 1:01 pm
I’m sorry, but I can’t post anything rude. I figure it’s punishment enough that they will no longer have me around working my butt off for them.
Alicia of Burbank says:
May 2nd, 2008 at 1:55 pm
Sayonara Zetsub? Sensei
Carol says:
May 2nd, 2008 at 3:58 pm
For the office worker whose workplace is obsessed with confidentiality and rife with shenanigans I think a simple “Read My Novel” t shirt would be just right.
Joe says:
May 2nd, 2008 at 4:41 pm
TeeJunkie is back?!?!
Andy says:
May 2nd, 2008 at 5:10 pm
I was thinking exactly the same thing as Joe.
Lisa says:
May 2nd, 2008 at 5:20 pm
How about, “Michael Moore will be by tomorrow with a question or two…”
johnny says:
May 5th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
woo-hoo! teejunkie! but wait… where’s the swear words?!