# Who Would, Ever, Buy Or Wear A CNN Headline T-Shirt? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 31, 2009, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-ever-buy-or-wear-a-cnn-headline-t-shirt/483910 "2009-01-31T21:01:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2009, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-ever-buy-or-wear-a-cnn-headline-t-shirt/483910/1 "2009-01-31T21:01:27Z")
So Matt Drudge is indulging in his frequent and misguided RO over the fact that CNN is offering for sale a t-shirt featuring their somewhat-fellative headline about Obama’s inauguration. The much larger RO question: what makes CNN think **anyone** is going to pay money for, and repeatedly wear, a black t-shirt featuring the text of a tagline from [cnn.com](http://cnn.com)? The one currently featured for t-shirt treatment is “Wall Street Defends Bonuses.” [http://www.cnn.com/tshirt/index.html#tshirt?hash=955994e9e77be86824bc9d9eaad5ad04&return\_uri=http://www.cnn.com/video/%23/video/business/2009/01/31/yellin.fat.cat.defense.cnn](http://www.cnn.com/tshirt/index.html#tshirt?hash=955994e9e77be86824bc9d9eaad5ad04&return_uri=http://www.cnn.com/video/%23/video/business/2009/01/31/yellin.fat.cat.defense.cnn) Seriously? Here’s some more from the current crop: [http://www.cnn.com/tshirt/index.html#headlines/allshirts/2009/0/1](http://www.cnn.com/tshirt/index.html#headlines/allshirts/2009/0/1) Seriously? How many ways is this dumb? The headlines selected seem to be random. Most of the stories will be forgotten by the time your t-shirt arrives. Many of them will be opaque without the text of the story. Do the CNN headline writers think their prose is so deathless that it deserves being worn on chests across the country? The Onion just about manages that on its good days, but CNN? I know this smacks of RO in its own right, and I’m not really upset, just genuinely curious at why CNN thinks anyone wants this, and whether they are in fact right. ---
**Author:** ![Stealth\_Potato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Stealth\_Potato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stealth_Potato)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2009, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-ever-buy-or-wear-a-cnn-headline-t-shirt/483910/2 "2009-01-31T21:07:48Z")
I’ve thought the whole idea was ridiculous ever since I first saw it. Random CNN headlines just seem like such an incredibly inane thing to put on a T-shirt, and I have frequently wondered exactly how many people actually buy those things. That said, it has occasionally had its moments. I seem to recall one headline T-shirt that said: “Bear attack victim: it’s eating my brain!” or something along those lines. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2009, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-ever-buy-or-wear-a-cnn-headline-t-shirt/483910/3 "2009-01-31T21:14:18Z")
I can see that being a fun gift for someone who just had a baby. (This was the headline the day I was born!) etc… They’d have to wait a while for the payoff though. ---
**Author:** ![atomicbadgerrace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@atomicbadgerrace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/atomicbadgerrace)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2009, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-ever-buy-or-wear-a-cnn-headline-t-shirt/483910/4 "2009-01-31T21:14:54Z")
It seems to me that there’s a market for them, or else CNN would have given up by now. If they’re still selling them, then there are still folks buying them. That said, there used to be (is there still?) a bug on the CNN site, where you could create your own headline text to be printed along with CNN logo. I’m sure some folks got a kick out of that, if the sales were ever completed. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2009, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-ever-buy-or-wear-a-cnn-headline-t-shirt/483910/5 "2009-01-31T21:31:01Z")
I don’t get it either. CNN’s audience skews older, and most people over 40 or so y.o.a., at least in my experience, refuse to wear any kind of logo apparel (except maybe for identifiable brand marks on jeans and such). I might wear a logo T while working out, but that would be it. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2009, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-ever-buy-or-wear-a-cnn-headline-t-shirt/483910/6 "2009-01-31T23:20:41Z")
Didn’t they steal this idea from Fark (where it actually does make sense)? ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2009, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-ever-buy-or-wear-a-cnn-headline-t-shirt/483910/7 "2009-01-31T23:36:50Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > Didn’t they steal this idea from Fark (where it actually does make sense)? That seems like one of the few places they could have gotten the idea from. Except it makes them morons, for the reason you alluded to: Fark’s moderators actively select headlines that would work on shirts, by picking funny or strange or otherwise noteworthy (well, shirt-worthy) lines from a pool of submissions for each story. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2009, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-ever-buy-or-wear-a-cnn-headline-t-shirt/483910/8 "2009-01-31T23:42:46Z")
I dunno, the headline “Pole Dancers spice up school program” sounds kinda hot. I’d wear that one. ---
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2009, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-ever-buy-or-wear-a-cnn-headline-t-shirt/483910/9 "2009-02-01T09:46:27Z")
It could be fun to get one of the shirts with one of the more moronic headlines. ---
**Author:** ![Desert\_Nomad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desert_nomad/32/177_2.png) [@Desert\_Nomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desert_Nomad)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2009, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-ever-buy-or-wear-a-cnn-headline-t-shirt/483910/10 "2009-02-01T10:43:37Z")
Iraqi Head Seeks Arms? ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2009, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-ever-buy-or-wear-a-cnn-headline-t-shirt/483910/11 "2009-02-01T12:14:14Z")
CNN’s headlines are pretty boring and not shirt-worthy in most cases. On the other hand, I bet a lot of people would pay for some famous tabloid zingers. “HEADLESS BODY IN TOPLESS BAR,” anyone? ---
**Author:** ![42fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/b487fb/32.png) [@42fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/42fish)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2009, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-ever-buy-or-wear-a-cnn-headline-t-shirt/483910/12 "2009-02-01T16:41:16Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > CNN’s headlines are pretty boring and not shirt-worthy in most cases. On the other hand, I bet a lot of people would pay for some famous tabloid zingers. “HEADLESS BODY IN TOPLESS BAR,” anyone? Or perhaps the Weekly World News could try it. Bat Boy T-shirts would be kinda cool. ---
**Author:** ![lavenderviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cdc98d/32.png) [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2009, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-ever-buy-or-wear-a-cnn-headline-t-shirt/483910/13 "2009-02-01T16:51:11Z")
Some of the headlines are strange enough that I could see someone thinking they were funny and wanting them on a t-shirt. People love “Engrish” shirts just because they are so random and nonsensical. It also probably costs CNN very little to offer the option. I assume that they have the website setup so that the text is automatically shown on a t-shirt and they only probably actually print it on a t-shirt if someone places an order for that headline. Hey, why not see if anyone bites? ---
**Author:** ![Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4da419/32.png) [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gala_Matrix_Fire)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2009, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-ever-buy-or-wear-a-cnn-headline-t-shirt/483910/14 "2009-02-01T16:51:21Z")
Weekly World News did try it. They sold t-shirts with their front page graphics on them. Oh, how I miss the WNN. ---
**Author:** ![42fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/b487fb/32.png) [@42fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/42fish)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2009, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-ever-buy-or-wear-a-cnn-headline-t-shirt/483910/15 "2009-02-01T17:47:23Z")
Maybe the Chicago Reader could earn a few bucks offering T-shirts with thread titles on them: Scylla’s “Evil Nazi Groundhogs” might move a few copies. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2009, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-ever-buy-or-wear-a-cnn-headline-t-shirt/483910/16 "2009-02-01T18:07:57Z")
I was thinking this when I saw that Fark was doing it. Without context almost all of them would make really stupid t-shirts. But it still makes more sense than CNN headline shirts. ---
**Author:** ![Yumblie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/76d3ee/32.png) [@Yumblie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yumblie)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2009, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-ever-buy-or-wear-a-cnn-headline-t-shirt/483910/17 "2009-02-02T06:39:18Z")
I could see wearing a > [@](#): > > [‘Mittens’ the cat his slopes on sled > \*I just saw it at CNN.com](http://www.cnn.com/tshirt/index.html#tshirt?hash=f2fc7e68cefda477febde83c2e15a877&return_uri=http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/ireports/2009/01/29/vo.sledding.cat.ireport) shirt in an ironic way. Yes sir, I’m proud to say I got the latest on Mittens the cat from CNN! ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2009, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-ever-buy-or-wear-a-cnn-headline-t-shirt/483910/18 "2009-02-02T07:08:42Z")
> [@atomicbadgerrace](#): > > It seems to me that there’s a market for them, or else CNN would have given up by now. If they’re still selling them, then there are still folks buying them. > > That said, there used to be (is there still?) a bug on the CNN site, where you could create your own headline text to be printed along with CNN logo. I’m sure some folks got a kick out of that, if the sales were ever completed. I remember it well. There was a thread alerting us to the bug, and several posters created gems that we could link to. My favorite was “Larry King is a Demented Old Man.” Wish I could remember which poster came up with that.