I play on a netball team called Late Stage Capitalism, because quite frankly it was the scariest thing anyone could think of. I mean come on, late stage capitalism has given us such joys as the climate crisis, Pepsi’s ad with Kendall Jenner, and Fyre Festival. It’s now given us coronavirus merch, because of course it has.
Coronavirus continues to spread around the globe at a ridiculously quick rate. The number of people who have died of the disease gets higher and higher every day, and we’ve even lost the first doctor who tried to warn the world about the disease.
As a result, the sales of things like hand sanitiser and face masks have skyrocketed. I suppose it only makes sense that other businesses decided to make a buck.
Some of the merch seems like there was an actual attempt to spread a message, like this “Pray For Wuhan” shirt and “Stop Coronavirus Terror” design.
Others are less sincere.
Behold, the world of coronavirus themed graphic t-shirts. I’m so sorry to be the one to introduce you to this hell world.
It doesn’t stop there, though. We also have things like a 3D printed virus model so that you can tell people “I gave x the coronavirus” (seriously. It’s what the product description suggests.) and the scariest respirator I’ve ever seen. There’s also coronavirus stuffed toys that assure you “You will get ONE (1) virus, but one is all it takes!”
And, because the world is terrible, there’s also the racist shirts referencing the (totally false) theory that coronavirus was started by people eating bats.
I have no idea who is out there buying any of this merch, but I assume there’s a market for it if there are so many designs. May I make the humble suggestion that there are far better things to spend your money on other than… whatever this is.
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