Black Simpsons T-Shirt – Design Competitions Continue To Proliferate 22Sep08
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T-Shirt competitions that are essentially using the Threadless business model of empowering the readers to submit and vote on designs continue to proliferate. Two that I’ve recently been looking at are Springleap which is from South Africa and Ink Fruit from India. It’s very interesting what designs the users of these sites come up with, I mean, I don’t think that the Black Simpsons T-Shirt could come from a company in America could it?

InkFruit from India


Land of Bizarre Opportunities

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  • http://www.inkfruit.com Priyanka

    Thanks for featuring us on your blog!

  • http://www.springleap.com Eric from springleap

    Hi Karl,,

    There was a massive discussion taking place on one of the other large competition tshirts sites, as to whether the Simpsons tshirt was a rip or a parody, and the conclusion on their site was that it was a parody.

    We had a huge team discussion about it, and came up with the same conclusion which is why we allowed it in the springleap competition.

    We have pulled many designs in the past because they were copy's or the topic was unsuitable.

    Cheers
    Eric

  • spork

    Any talk about how unbelievably racist it is with it's huge red, Sambo-like lips, Marge preggers with a fourth child, the torn and busted couch, and the wire toy, indicating poverty?

    Yeah, I didn't think so.

  • http://www.springleap.com Eran

    Hey spork – can't say I agree with you at all – in actuality this is a parody of life in South Africa and is a HUGE seller for us with the African community in particular. I think that this is a real celebration of life in SA and how families get together in totally different ways because of their culture.

    I think that it is important to remember that springleap has a VERY diverse community in terms of race and creed – perhaps for a non-South African I should break it down a bit as I can understand how it could be taken out of context.

    The wire cars are a toy that is unanimously recognised in SA – they are sold right through-out South Africa and are a mark of the incredible wire-work that has become a thriving trade for many Africans – You should see the AMAZING toys and art that our country produces – it would BOGGLE your mind. These toys have turning wheels; are solid and their construction is very complex as they often have loads of moving parts. In South Africa, wire-work like this is a thriving trade for many people.

    The horn that the “Lucy” character has is called a Vuvusela and makes a blaring loud noise – In South Africa no Soccer, Cricket or Rugby game is complete without this noise. It' like the HUGE foam “finger” gloves the guys have in the States – it's a trademark of our sport culture.

    Instead of a cat and dog many indigenous people keep chickens and goats as pets …

    I think you can see where I am going with this – this is an awesome contextual example of how families of all cultures get together in all sorts of situations – political, economical, cultural – to enjoy life in their own special way often despite their circumstances. South Africa is an amazing place to experience. People of EVERY race, creed and culture eat, live, sleep and celebrate their lives together here like nowhere else.

    So if you feel that enjoying life in whatever circumstance is racist… I guess we need to reconsider pulling the “racist” card so quickly.

    Fact is – this is also about freedom of speech and springleap lets the community choose what gets made by highest vote – and this design won by a good margin. Our motto stands firm : T-shirts for the people, by the people and on the people.

    To back up what Eric stated – getting your work approved on springleap is no simple – we have a number of people working on the approvals before they come to a final decision. In a situation like this we had a MASSIVE discussion before we let it through – and our community really supported our decision.

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  • spork

    Yeah…I'm not buying it.

    We had similar justifications for performers in black face here in the states for many years.

    You keep trying to convince people that this isn't racism. It's bullshit.

  • http://www.springleap.com Eran

    Yes – well that is your opinion – and you are entitle to it – Fact is that your reaction is based on your opinion – a personal one that you are entitled to – on the other hand ours is based on empirical evidence of african people in particular buying and loving the shirt.

    Waving and flailing the racism flag is very easy when it is based on an opinion.

    Maybe you should come to South Africa – where we didn't have to wait until now for a chance at a black president – sorry buddy – but we are a patriotic nation with a PREDOMINANTLY African and Indian government and the birthplace of one of Nelson Mandela who is a hero in EVERY house in South Africa.

    I am sorry you have such a jaundiced view. Please remember that you live IN THE STATES – it's impossible to judge a culture you have never been exposed to. We aren't European. We aren't British. We aren't Americentric. We are South African. Totally different and totally proud.

    Here's a simple one for you to answer – Whites are a minority in South Africa by a long shot. If this was such a “oh-my-gosh-racist” t-shirt, why has there been no uproar in our local papers or on the site?

    I think that one has to understand that all these matters are about perspective. Not emotional responses. Perspective that can only be commented within context and in perspective of living in a culture. It's like saying Chinese people are barbarians for eating snakes and insects.

  • http://www.springleap.com Eran

    by the way – just to add some fuel to the fire – DO YOU KNOW THAT ONE OF OUR TOP DESIGN LABELS THAT IS WORKING WITH LEVI IS CALLED DARKIE AND USES A COMB AS THEIR LOGO! Oh Shock! Oh Horror. O running in the streets wildly waving your arms for the coming of the Lord.

    It's called “SOCIALLY RELEVANT COMMENTARY” – you know about that First amendment thing?

    Well this how people get to learn about cultures. Perhaps the best people to ask for commentary are South African people who can relate to the design?

    At any rate – let me be clear on this in no uncertain terms : springleap has never, does not and will never condone the promotion of racism, violence, hate speech or harming of individuals in any manner.

    peace out.

  • http://www.teeplace.blogspot.com Karmel

    I think the spring leap tee is awesome!! Coming from India I never even thought of racism. Also coming from India ;) , Inkfruit happens to be one of my favourite tshirt haunts, glad you featured it. :)

  • http://tcritic.com karllong

    Glad to hear it guys, cheers. Really appreciate everyone sharing their sentiments and opinions that everyone has expressed here. I'm a big believer in cultural relativism (in most cases except for mutilation cases). I am always blown away when I travel and experience what appears to be totally unorthodox to me, is perfectly normal for the locals.

  • Joe

    I actually have been to North Africa, the Middle East, all over Europe in addition to a good sampling of my home country, the United States. When I travel, I don’t get mad at the local culture that they can’t speak English, or speak louder in English because someone doesn’t understand a language foreign to their own. I try and observe as much as I can about the local culture, what they laugh at, what makes them happy and most importantly, what makes them mad.

    What I’m getting at is this: every culture has something that makes them mad and they are as diverse as the different types of food we all eat. I’m assuming spork just doesn’t understand this because of the limited scope of his understanding and awareness. I pity him or her.

  • ngee

    Im black and I bought it yesterday, yall are givin racists way too much credit, cant we jus be human and enjoy and laugh at each others differences , I mean that T aint gonna make the world a worse place to live but its narrow minded people that do @spork for once in your life live aparthied aint comin back maybe thats what you fear and thats why youre not livin

  • Matthew M

    I agree with the black people. This shirt is a very negaive portrayal of blacks. Let me ask you south africans who just LOVE this shirt a question, do they have good education in SA? because it doesn’t take a genious to see that this shirt is offensive. I’m a Dr. but it didn’t take me 8 yrs of school to see how obsessed some people are with bringing up and talking about black people.

    Another question. Do black people actually look this way? NO they don’t. Why do they look like clowns in this picture? The picture certainly give the image of poverty and it I’m not black but it offends me as well.

    It offends me, because when I speak to people who are of African decent I don’t like to bring up history, because all they have to look back at in terms of history with us(whites), is the non-stop opression.

    Hey how about this, would you feel if blacks were making shirts of us(whites) with offensive material on it??? I don’t think you would like that very much, nor would I. So your whole it’s “your opinion” argument is invalid.

    Let me make it VERY simple for you SA’s. If I punch you in the face, does it make it RIGHT because in MY opinion it is??? NO it doesn’t. Can I steal from you because in MY opinion it is right? NO. Can I put offensive material of you on T-Shirts because in MY opinion it is right. Absolutely not sir.

    Maybe it’s the water over there, or maybe you all need to go to school over here. Leave the blacks alone.

    And you know what… THAT FELT GREAT. Be righteous