Julian Assange's Fashion Statement: T-Shirts to Fund WikiLeaks
**UPDATE**
Robin Schuil is not operating the official WikiLeaks shop (see his comments below) and Eike Sievert, press rep for Spreadshirt confirms there is no link between the two. Sievert said in an email:
Wikileaks made an announcement and launched their t-shirt shop: http://www.facebook.com/wikileaks They are linking to the EU version of the shop, but from there you can go to all the other country shops as well - e.g. US: http://wikileaks.spreadshirt.com/
---
It's only a leak at this point (how fitting) but it looks like Julian Assange will attempt to fund WikiLeaks with profits from the sale of branded T-shirts, mugs, hoodies, and tote bags via Spreadshirt, a German e-commerce platform for custom clothing.
Assange can say what he wants about his motives for divulging explosive secrets. Capitalizing on controversy just shows he's not above making a buck on cross-merchandising. After all, he's the guy who said, "I don't want to write this book, but I have to," about his upcoming memoir while pocketing a cool $1.7 million on the advance.
And like his book, T-shirts splashed with his toughed-up Che Guevara-esque image are going to sell.
There are already over 500 flavors of WikiLeaks swag available for trendsetting fashionistas who want to show off their inner anarchist on sites such as Zazzle. The threads range from a tongue-in-cheek Assange "spy suit" (screen printed with a red tie and WikiLeak's hourglass), to a humorous baby onesie (I'll show you a WikiLeak), to an earnest clench-fisted plea to "Free Julian."
None of those selections are the work of team Assange. Rather, they're the products of individuals who created their own designs and offer them for sale via mini shops on the larger e-commerce platforms. If WikiLeaks is really doing its own branded merchandise, chances are consumers will spring to purchase the "authentic" goods.
According to a Forbes report, WikiLeaks is operating a shop on Spreadshirt right now with an expanded version of it and others at WikiLeaks.spreadshirt.net, WikiLeaks.spreadshirt.co.uk, and WikiLeaks.spreadshirt.de supposed to launch soon. But it's hard to tell if the stuff is really WikiLeak's own.
Spreadshirt's not-so-fine print at the bottom says that its "shop partner is exclusively and solely responsible for the design and content of this shop," and this WikiLeaks shop is owned and managed by one Robin Schuil of Emmeloord, Netherlands. http://wikileaks.spreadshirt.com/shop/imprint Could it be the same Robin Schuil who's a senior software engineer for eBay (EBAY)? If so, what's his connection to Assange?
One thing is clear: if the shop is connected, WikiLeaks should soon be in the chips. Forbes' blogger Andy Greenberg points out Spreadshirt's credit card policy is a handy circumvention of Visa, Mastercard and American Express -- each of which has blocked direct donations to Assange. It's not a moment too soon to help the cash-strapped organization. Hacktivism comes with pricey overhead, not to mention Assange's own legal bills.
Image via WikiLeaks T-Shirts
Related: