What is it about those Life is Good (R) t-shirts and the Baby Boomer generation? Yesterday my sister and I went to Rockport for the day, and I saw at least 5 people of advancing age wearing Life is Good t-shirts. It got so bad that at one point I said to my sister "If I see one more person over the age of fifty wearing a Life is Good t-shirt, I'm going to scream." Not ten minutes later we passed another older American wearing a shirt emblazoned with one of those ubiquitous stick people grinning maniacally whilst engaged in a variety of positive activities, determined to enjoy life to the fullest. My sister reminded me that I had promised to scream, but, alas, I didn't.
Then today at work, my boss came in on her day off to get some work done in her office. She, too, was dressed in a Life is Good t-shirt, casually tucked into the elasticized waistband of her Mom Jeans. I don't get it. Are older people who wear Life is Good t-shirts trying to recapture their youth, or perhaps trying to connect with the younger generations? Or is it that, in their infinite wisdom that comes from being on this earth longer than most of us, they know something that younger people can only take at face value: that Life is, indeed, Good? And can optimism, like glitter eyeshadow or denim miniskirts, ever be age-inappropriate?
At least the people at Life is Good, Inc. realize that, sometimes, the glass is half empty. In response to their Life is Good apparel, they've started a line of more pessimistic t-shirts called Life is Crap. The Life is Crap shirts feature those same stick figure people having a bad day, such as going to the dentist, or being hit in the groin with a soccer ball.
The Life is Crap logo features a stick figure person with a seagull flying over him, pooping on his head. With the popularity of the Life is Good line of apparel leading to the establishment of Life is Good stores, such as the one on Newbury Street in Boston, can a Life is Crap store be far behind?
So I guess the moral of this story is, that as good as life is, sometimes life can also be, quite literally, crap.
13 comments:
It's Crocs all over again.
If most of the people wearing these t-shirts are 50+, then I can't help wondering if the subtext is 'Yes, I've lost my looks and probably look boring to you, but I wouldn't want to be young again.' (Whereas the truth is probably something along the lines of not wanting to go through all the crap you went through in your 20s, but still have the body of an 18-year-old)
Why do these people feel the need to broadcast such a banal platitude? Surely the whole point of getting older is that you're supposed to feel more comfortable in your own body and not feel the need to resort to crass attention-seeking measures.
I'm sure the Life is Good concept was probably a really good, original idea when it first started, but now they're so overexposed that they've lost all meaning. And seeing older people wearing them is just kind of weird. Next thing you know they'll be wearing hoodies and Baby Phat jackets. The Life is Good sentiment isn't age-inappropriate, but maybe the t-shirts are.
If a bird "poops" on you, we say in Greece that you will get money... :)
There's one with someone getting hit in the groin with a soccer ball? I'm buying that one.
And do not forget: "Life is a Beach"!!
And then you die! (Sorry, can you tell I lean more towards the "Life is Crap" sentiment?)
Has Purple Ronnie crossed the Atlantic? Because Life is Good appears to rip off his style pretty comprehensively.
No, I don't think Purple Ronnie has reached our shores yet. At least I haven't heard of him yet. But I agree, there are many similarities between PR and LIG.
Who gives you the right to decide what old people should wear, or should wear, should they be forced into old age, wearing golf shorts and polos, oh wait kids wear those today as well, who decides, and why do you care so much. I don't see the point where kids think that old people should wander off into oblivion, and be not seen.
consider this most marathon runners, are around 40, and many are into there 50's and 60's and some even 70, for those that have no idea, a marathon is 26.2 miles, running at speeds around 5-8 minute miles. you want to feel how good life is run 10 miles in 50 min.
OK, I'm 38 and just bought my first "Life is Good" T-shirt a couple of days ago because it appealed to me. Not remotely a follower of fashion or wishing I was 17, I just like what I like. It shows a guitar and says "Let's Get Together and Feel Alright," a lyric snagged from a Bob Marley song.
So am I too old to wear this shirt, being in my upper thirties with two daughters starting college? I'm a professional guitar player and love Bob Marley, and that's why I bought the shirt. People who are any age and love camping might want to wear the shirt with the tent and the guy grinning by a campfire roasting a weenie. So what?
Should people under 25 not be allowed to listen to Bob Marley or The Grateful Dead, or Pink Floyd or the Allman Brothers or Tom Petty, or any other great bands that have been around since before they were born? Why the desire to separate? Don't be threatened by us happy geezers, ya damn whippersnappers :)
It's a big world, kids. Tolerance is a good thing.
Peace!
First of all: I wouldn't put a 38-year-old in the same category as people in their late 50s. (And by the way, I'm older than you are).
Secondly, you people are entirely missing my point. While I am merely observing that it seems like these t-shirts appeal to older people while apparently marketed at younger people, I do give older people their "props" at the end of my paragraph about them.
FYI The Life is Good people do not put out the Life is Crap line... they are separate companies not endorsed on the slightest by Life is Good. Life of Crap is claiming they are a Parody site which they feel gives them the right to basically steall all the designs, idea's likenesses of LIG in the name of Parody.
Yep, that is correct. Life is Good has been trying to take down Life is Crap.
But I wont let them. I'm a new intern at a website design company called OverCoffee Productions which is now in charge of the design on lifeiscrap.com, which is pretty crappy right now.
Got any ideas on how you would like it to look, email me
justman66@gmail.com
p.s. crappy email I know, i need a new one
stay cynical,
Justin
Post a Comment