We are 30 days before Election Day, and with each day, there seems to be one more new piece of propaganda to buy. We had our own set of Sepia Mutiny political t-shirts on the site last month. Now DesiWear is in the desi political t-shirt business. From the DesiWear blog: 
In a few weeks, probably one of the most important and historic elections will be held in the United States. …we have two candidates that are worthy of the presidency; John McCain is a living hero, and a very admirable politician. Barrack [sic] Obama, in his own right, is a visionary who understands that the United States needs to step out of the shadow of dark and start rebuilding its rep with positive and logical change…We at Desi Wear don’t usually get involved in politics, however, after living in North America over the past eight years, it’s absolutely clear that in order for the United States to get back on track on the world stage and lead our world with the TRUE American dream we must come together and join Barrack [sic] Obama and his message for change for a more prosperous and progressive United States. Now is the time! Let’s unite together and vote Barrack [sic] Obama for the next President of the United States. Show you care, rock our new “Desis for Obama” original T. [DesiWear]
Cute. you get a t-shirt and motivation all for one low price of $25. So close to Election Day though, I’m a little skeptical that orders made will arrive in the mail before Nov. 4th. These shirts are unaffiliated with the official South Asians for Obama campaign (SAFO does not have shirts but does have SAFO buttons for sale).
What I love about these shirts is that they are created by a desi owned business unaffiliated with the Obama campaign. But this business wanted to do something. So they did what they do best, designed t-shirts. In fact, there are many people in the Asian American community who have designed ethnically targeted logos/t-shirts for Obama, completely unconnected to the official campaign. It’s all rather…grassroots, you know?
Are you a desi not for Obama and looking for a shirt? Well, I couldn’t find a desis for McCain t-shirt. I couldn’t find non-partisan “Desi Vote” gear either, though this desi shirt at BlackLava comes pretty close. Check out the thousands of political designs up at Cafe Press – I’m sure one of them will suit you, and your political leanings too. Or, be grassroots and design and print one of your own!
Try these ones!
http://www.cafepress.com/bollybopper
I got this one.. Obama and Bollywood!! Barack n roll, soniye… haha!
http://www.cafepress.com/bollybopper.232630404
Boo Taz. Our t-shirts were much better than this standard fare. Also, can you link to desis for McCain t-shirts as well?
By “desi owned businesses” do you really mean anyone that knows how to open a cafe press account and upload a picture? 🙂
how about a flickr grp for desis wearing political T’s (all stripes).
“The World’s Choice” ? No mention of the US or America anywhere ? Nice.
Phrases like “the world’s choice” don’t play well in middle Amrica.
4 · EpicFail said
You know I was curious about some of their lingo too, so I dug a little bit – DesiWear is a Canadian based business and they sell their gear in Canada, US, and the UK. (They have a branch office in NYC). The phrase “The World’s Choice” makes sense then, so that they could market world wide. I hear Canadians would be very anti-wearing shirts that say “the United State’s Choice”.
Evil Abhi – I’d link to “Desis for McCain” shirts if they existed!
Taz, Here is the link.
http://www.indiansformccain.com/
My mistake. That was not a T-Shirt site but for the group Indians for McCain.
That chick in the picture is hot.
Indians for Obama…http://www.cafepress.com/smallhands/5997178 And a very unique Obama one…http://www.cafepress.com/smallhands/5672568
I also have a business on cafepress. I do consider it a small business because although cafepress provides the back end support and production, the virtual shop that I run is fueled entirely by the designs I create and market. Just because it has a low overhead and that cafepress is a partner in production doesn’t make it less of a legitimate business… It still takes hard work and many hours to create a successful online store. 🙂
I know you’re trying to be funny, but I think it discredits a lot of people trying to express their creativity. Just because a turnkey platform is used to eliminate the hassles of selling products does not mean the the the creativity or products are less legitimate. Would you laugh at a handicraft designer in India if they produce and duplicate their work through a partner storefront? I get it if you’ve seen (or tried to make) shirts by typing some forest-green text in MS Paint on top of some picture swiped off the web, but other than that there is some awesome and well-thought artistic work out there. I know I wouldn’t be able to do it.
To the stupid desis who are thinking of voting for Barrack Hussein Obama: Obama is against the outsourcing of jobs to India. Voting for Obama and his plans will be not good for India’s economic development.
These T shirts may not be too popular in the UK anyway.
14 · EpicFail said
Dude you freaked me out. It’s a bb gun! Don’t scare people!
13 · Nan said
Surprisingly, this may not be the number one issue for voting in this election cycle for a LOT of desis. There are also a lot of “desis” who are NOT of Indian heritage, and don’t care what happens in India. Weird, isn’t it that domestic economic issues is over shadowing the outsourcing to India issue as a priority for South Asian American people? Stupid desis, not always thinking of India first…