# T-shirts - logos vs icons **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 25, 2002, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/t-shirts-logos-vs-icons/144847 "2002-12-25T16:01:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2002, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/t-shirts-logos-vs-icons/144847/1 "2002-12-25T16:01:12Z")
In [this poll](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=152183), you choose what you’d put on a t-shirt. Here’s a question for you: Do you see any difference between wearing a t-shirt with a corporate logo (ie Tommy Hilfiger, NIKE, etc) and one with an entertainment icon (cartoon characters, TV shows, music groups)? I wouldn’t wear a logo shirt, but have many shirts depicting entertainment icons. Am I deluding myself into thinking there’s a difference? ---
**Author:** ![Toby-T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@Toby-T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toby-T)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2002, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/t-shirts-logos-vs-icons/144847/2 "2002-12-25T17:18:13Z")
Personally I don’t see much of a difference. The icons you mentioned all have huge corporate backings that made them the icon they are today. Why is it any better than wearing the logos themselves? Just MHO, but then again I will wear a shirt with just about anything on them (as long as it is decent) In particular I wear a lot of sports teams apparel, which also have the corporate backing I mentioned above. This issue is not much of a personal conviction for me. But I still see all these types of shirts falling in the same category ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2002, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/t-shirts-logos-vs-icons/144847/3 "2002-12-25T18:14:10Z")
I collect t-shirts, mainly from restaurants (brew pubs being the best, so far as designs are concerned). I like souvenirs of places I go, but don’t care much for cookie-cutter shirts that you get in souvenir shops. Speaking of which. . . Is “Snappers” still open? My gal had a t-shirt from there that she liked a lot, but it is so old it’s falling apart. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2002, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/t-shirts-logos-vs-icons/144847/4 "2002-12-25T18:39:36Z")
I have a few brand logo sweatshirts. I don’t worry about feeding the corporate coffers, though. They’re all counterfeit shirts, saying Fila, Eddie Bauer, GAP, and Tommy Gofigger. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2002, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/t-shirts-logos-vs-icons/144847/5 "2002-12-25T18:44:07Z")
Well, I think there is a difference. It’s not much of one, but there is one. A logo is simply, “I support/I am cool because I like/buy Product X” An Icon can mean all of those, as well as what it means in and of itself. For example, I’ve got a Superman’s S-Shield T-Shirt. It doesn’t only mean, “Hey, Kids! Comics!”, it also means “Truth, justice, and the American Way.” I’ve noticed that, honest to goodness, I get approached by more lost tourists when I’m wearing it, too. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2002, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/t-shirts-logos-vs-icons/144847/6 "2002-12-25T19:32:12Z")
I think wearing the logo of a specific icon can say more about you than a corporate logo. (Hooters and Playboy logos aside) The common sweatshirts (Nike, Old Navy) don’t really say jack squat, although some people would think “Lemming!” But say I’m wearing the Troy McClure shirt frome that other thread\*, that could strike up a conversation about the Simpsons, or Phil Hartman, both of which I’m a fan of. I guess it’s an issue of being specific. “Old Navy” stretching across your chest doesn’t mean anything, but if you have a picture of Ms. Fairchild and the dog, then there’s a little more substance to it. That or I’ve been whooshed. \*-My thread inspired another thread! Do I get a new Dope Scout patch for that? ---
**Author:** ![TVGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/82dd89/32.png) [@TVGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TVGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2002, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/t-shirts-logos-vs-icons/144847/7 "2002-12-26T05:09:43Z")
If it’s free (i.e. SWAG) then I don’t care who’s logo, slogan, etc is on the garment (within my socio-political area at least - I won’t wear a neo-Nazi T-Shirt no matter who gives it to me) If I’m buying it, it largely doesn’t matter, but I’m a lot more selctive about what I’ll spend money on. If it has a logo at all, its probably for something or about something about which I feel strongly or to which I am very loyal. So, when you see me in a “Microsoft” T-shirt, I guarantee you that it was trade-show SWAG. If it says “Harley-Davidson” on it, I probably bought it (or it was given to me as a gift.) I haven’t had cartoon characters on my clothing since I was five - I think they were Flintstones jammies. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2002, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/t-shirts-logos-vs-icons/144847/8 "2002-12-26T07:18:49Z")
I don’t see a difference. It bugs me to wear either. ---
**Author:** ![fizgig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f04885/32.png) [@fizgig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fizgig)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2002, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/t-shirts-logos-vs-icons/144847/9 "2002-12-26T07:28:31Z")
I’ll wear band’s shirts, but not branded shirts, and not usually cartoon shirts. The difference is, at least for indie bands, you’re supporting them by buying their merch, plus giving them some publicity by wearing the shirt. Also, music is an interest, and a product beyond the clothing, unlike the Tommy wear, or whatever. I could be intrigued by a person wearing a shirt from a band I liked, however I’ve never been intrigued because someone was wearing a shirt proclaiming “Abercrombie and Fitch.” ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/t-shirts-logos-vs-icons/144847/10 "2002-12-27T12:37:32Z")
As it happens, I used to work in a comic book store, so I have a small metric assload of these logo shirts. Not cartoon figures, just the symbol. First thing that came to mind when the discussion showed. As I happen to know/have met half the writers and artists, I think they happen to have the same meaning for me as your band shirts. Unless, of course, simply by changing from paper and ink to music, you become too cool for the room. I’m a _professional_ geek, boys. Also, by purchasing the merchandise for a comic, you can be supporting your chosen title indirectly… Legion of Superheroes has had a rennisance directly related to a surprising outpouring of fan support… the orders for a flight ring that was made apparently surprised the heck out of DC… or directly, as purchasing something made by the author of your favorite webcomic, like one of the cafepress shirts by David Willis, author of [www.itswalky.com](http://www.itswalky.com) . Yeah. I’m cool, I’m leet, I know the independent strips, yeah, dawg… God, that sounds pathetic. “I knew RHCP when they were playing in the Villiage!” Still sounds pathetic. Eh, go fig.