American Apparel is to sell the merchandise online, beginning early Monday morning, and in stores around the world, beginning on Jan. 1. The line will include T-shirts, hoodies, hats, bags and underwear. The proceeds from the sales of the merchandise, minus the costs, “will go to benefit Russian L.G.B.T. groups in St. Petersburg and Moscow
One of the mainstays of the Olympics is the myriad examples of branded merchandise that are sold to support the Games, not to mention burnish the images of official sponsors. The supporters of an effort to help lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender citizens of Russia, where the Winter Games are to be held in February, are adapting that marketing tactic with a line of protest merchandise to be sold by American Apparel and promoted by athletes.
The proponents of the Principle 6 campaign say it can be effective because it will avoid the Olympic committee’s strictures against political statements or demonstrations by using the committee’s own language as a rallying cry for nondiscrimination. The line of Principle 6 branded merchandise will bear a rewritten version of the principle’s declaration: “Sport does not discriminate on grounds of race, religion, politics, gender or otherwise.” (The paraphrase also serves to avoid another sticky issue: The Olympic committee is zealous in its policing of the use of the words “Olympic” or “Olympics” by anyone other than its members and official sponsors.)
