Once upon a time if you liked a band you braved passive aggressive record shop assistants and bought their latest 7-inch. Then came the Beatles, and all of a sudden you could buy lunch boxes, little figurines and tea towels. They kickstarted a merchandise continuum that eventually saw my little sister sleeping under a Backstreet Boys duvet cover while wearing a Take That T-shirt and waiting to be awoken by an ‘NSync alarm clock. Pandora’s box was opened, and there was nonsense, underwear and JLS condoms inside.  Comma enthusiasts Bon Iver have come up with the perfect gift for the bearded, introspective, deep thinker. The 22, A Million Flannel is red, long-sleeved, has buttons, and is covered in illuminati symbols, so it could also double up as a present for Dan Brown fans. Medium and large sizes are on backorder until November, while XL and XXL shirts are on backorder until 7 December, which suggests Bon Iver adherents may not be such fans of Skinny Love after all. The flannel is made of “the highest quality canvas flannel” and costs $75.  It’s actually called Big Boi and Bobbi dog shampoo, and is a collaboration between the Outkast rapper – real name Antwan André Patton – and the pet shampoo creator Bobbi Panter. “The two unlikely partners came together out of a common thread … love of their pets!” screams the website for Big Boi and Bobbi dog shampoo.  It sort of makes sense, as Big Boi is a noted dog enthusiast who started a kennel with his brother in Atlanta, which specializes in breeding American bullies. The shampoo comes in a range of fragrances including “Tough and swanky”, “Cool and chic” and “Invigorate”. Insert your own So Fresh, So Clean joke here.  On Thursday Killer Mike debuted a new clothing range based on the WikiLeaks hack of Hillary Clinton campaign manager, John Podesta. Mike, a noted Bernie Sanders supporter, appears in several of Podesta’s emails over the course of the primary campaign. The email in question was received by Podesta on 21 February and reads: “I guess Killer Mike didn’t get the message”. Mike’s clothing shows the quote in email format on sweatshirts that are priced at $65.  The sweatshirt does not mention the context of the remark. Mike had been accused of sexism after quoting an activist who said “a uterus doesn’t qualify you to be president of the United States”. It also does not include an attachment to that 21 February email – a screengrab of a tweet from Killer Mike which read: “Saying uterus = sexist, POTUS having an inappropriate sexual relationship with a young intern and trashing her after caught tho?”  Todd Terje, aka Todd Olsen, is a Norwegian DJ, songwriter, record producer and underpant maker. Olsen Underwear, a collaboration with the Original Eskimo clothing line, are sold through Terje’s website. They come in a range of bright colours, bear a little biceps motif, and promises to be a great mid-hookup conversation starter. As long as your partner likes electronic music. The briefs are 100% cotton and cost £25 ($30) for two pairs. Oh, and for the underwear completists out there, Terje also sells socks.  Kendrick Lamar. Chance the Rapper. Gucci Mane. Rappers hawking their own stylised baseball caps has become quite the thing. And if you do it right, you can create demand before they even go on sale. Chance the Rapper was wearing a hat with a big number 3 on it for months in homage to his third mixtape – Coloring Book, and with one eye on a lucrative sideline in headwear sales. When he finally started selling the hats earlier this month they flew off the shelves, and are now sold out.  In a similar vein, Kendrick Lamar cashed in on the popularity of his song “i” by wearing, then selling a cap with “i” on the front. But sometimes you don’t even need to wear your baseball cap for it to become popular. You could just follow the Gucci Mane method of getting an ice-cream cone tattooed on your face, then selling a hat bearing the image of that ice-cream cone.
From pooch potion to underwear from Norwegian cosmic disco producers, band merch creators have outdone themselves recently. But have things gone too far?