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The creator of a “FUCK the LAPD” shirt sold out not only his entire stock of that shirt but also sold out many of his other designs after the Los Angeles Police Department Foundation made an intellectual property threat against them that claimed they owned the letters ‘LAPD.’
We originally wrote about the “FUCK the LAPD” saga last month, when the Cola Corporation, the company that makes the shirt, responded to the LAPD Foundation’s takedown threat with a simple message: “LOL, no.” That article was shared widely, and then a much more substantive follow-up letter from Cola’s lawyer Mike Dunford also went viral.
“Mike’s first letter was RTd by Tom Morello from Rage Against the Machine, and my shop is now almost entirely sold out,” Cola told me. “I am struggling to keep items in stock, even with restocks. The second letter has been received with even more rejoicing across the internet. Streisand Effect in effect.” The Streisand Effect is the well-known and incredibly reliable phenomenon that when a powerful interest tries to hide something with force, it goes more viral than it ever would have if they left it alone.