Ah, the sweet stench of Internet entrepreneurship! As of this writing — one week after University of Florida student Andrew Meyer’s unfortunate run-in with campus cops at a John Kerry speech — CaféPress.com is featuring more than 300 distinct designs based on Meyer’s plaintive cry: “Don’t Tase me, bro!” The current bestseller is a picture of elegance: black background, white text, no distracting graphics. But you can also find a biblical variant (THOU SHALT NOT TASER THY BROTHER), manifestations of Hillary-hatred (candidate Clinton’s picture + DON’T TASE OR TAX ME, BRO!), old-school-T-shirt retreads (MY BRO GOT TASED AND ALL I GOT WAS THIS LOUSY T-SHIRT) — and, of course, plenty of shirts depicting Massachusetts’s junior senator, who stayed oddly detached while Meyer was treated with excessive electrical force.
That’s a speedy Invisible Hand — but we predict they won’t sell. Meyer was a victim, but he also seems to be an obnoxious ass. Plus, his plea for brotherly mercy failed. By the time 2008 rolls around, “Don’t Tase me, bro!” will have made “Where’s the beef?” look downright timeless.