26 Comments
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Anne Warren's avatar

Wow, the merch x brass rat analysis I never knew I needed! The number of times I browsed the coop *just in case* a new (even slightly plausibly wearable) shirt design popped up...

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Audrey Pettigrew's avatar

Ahaha you get it! Good on you for having hope- maybe someone at the coop will see this post...

Glad you enjoyed :)

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Gabriella Please's avatar

I loved this. So fun and well written.

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Audrey Pettigrew's avatar

eee thank you Gabriella! that made me smile :)

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rhea's avatar

From one RHAP girlie to another, loved this piece and yes we need better merch😭

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Audrey Pettigrew's avatar

Oh my gosh! Another fashion-interested RHAP-lover exists?? This is so exciting! If you ever wanna talk Survivor fashion hmu hahaha

And thank you!!

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rhea's avatar

Ahhh yesss I’d love to chat with you about it! Who’s your 48 winner pick and what’s your favorite season? So cool to find someone with the same interests x!

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Audrey Pettigrew's avatar

Mary was my pre-season pick (her style is immaculate!) but I'm a little worried for her after that first episode...

Fav season is 16, I'm a basic Parvati stan 😂

How about you?? I would love to know!

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rhea's avatar

I loved Mary as well! Right now I’m keeping my eye on Shauhin, Joe, Kamilla, Thomas, and Kevin. Definitely rooting for Mary, Shauhin, and Joe the most so far.

I’m also a Parv stan, but I’d have to say my favorite season overall is Tocantins because it gives us Tyson, Fish, Coach, JT, and the iconic Taj. It’s also just comedy heaven.

You’ll definitely have to update me on your thoughts after each episode, I love that I just randomly found someone on here who’s also a Survivor nerd!

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Audrey Pettigrew's avatar

Yesss the elusive beard guy! I'm so excited to see more of him.

And you have great taste :) Tocantins was the first season I ever finished and what got me into the show! Absolutely hilarious and iconic. I ADORE Courtney Yates too.

And 100% I will be DMing you on Thursday

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rhea's avatar

YESSS I love Courtney!!! I guess great minds think alike!

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Maddy Maine's avatar

I drink a specific type of soy milk that I have an absurd brand loyalty to. I told my husband; “if they made merch I’d wear it”. Lo and behold I now have a Bonsoy T-shirt and it’s the coolest fucking T shirt I own. Because of course it is. Because bonsoy is the BEST.

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Audrey Pettigrew's avatar

ahaha as someone also beholden to a very specific brand of milk i love that!! #horizonorganic4lyfe

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Jane Delivers's avatar

omg YES. I love merch. im always chomping at the bit to buy some but always end up disappointed 😭 like please I want to spend this money why is it so difficult to find something halfway decent 😭

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Audrey Pettigrew's avatar

right?! like I am here to giveee 💥💳💥 they are throwing away $$$

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Yosef's avatar

I definitely feel the bad merch overload.

There's a YouTube channel that takes a very good line on merch. Most of their merch is very IYKYK. They're a tech channel, so their water bottle is basically a motherboard with their logo in place of the coin cell battery.

https://www.lttstore.com/products/insulated-water-bottle?_pos=1&_fid=28a33297c&_ss=c

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Audrey Pettigrew's avatar

Ooh interesting-- thank you for putting me onto this! I love that their design takes up the entire water bottle rather than just a small spot in the center-- very intentional!

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Betsy's avatar

Re:Chicago, Roman Mars did a great TED talk/podcast on city flags and had only good things to say about Chicago's flag. Four perfect red stars with blue bars. Merch opportunities galore. (It's a delightful watch, btw. https://www.ted.com/talks/roman_mars_why_city_flags_may_be_the_worst_designed_thing_you_ve_never_noticed)

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Audrey Pettigrew's avatar

this is so interesting-- thank you for sharing Betsy! this will be my morning watch over cappuccino ;)

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Erin 'Ezippy''s avatar

Thanks for writing, researching, sharing. Speaking of merch (great minds!), you might appreciate my latest ‘Stack:

https://lostwallettheory.substack.com/p/for-fox-sake

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Audrey Pettigrew's avatar

Thank you for reading-- and for sharing! I would love to read your piece :)

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Brooke's avatar

I love my I <3 NY tee so much. I wear it all the time. I honestly, love all great merch.

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Audrey Pettigrew's avatar

It's so versatile, isn't it?! Glad you can relate to still carrying a torch for good merch :)

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DeAndrea Douglas's avatar

Yes! I never really liked merch because it often feels like you’re trying too hard to show you’re cool which is the opposite of cool. I wish my alma mater had a cooler tradition around our rings. I’ll be on the lookout for brass rats in the wild now for sure!

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Audrey Pettigrew's avatar

So true! It's such a fine line between trying too hard to be cool and actually being cool. Especially when it comes to merch.

And I feel you-- I'm so lucky MIT has cool rings because everything else about the school's aesthetic is NOT cool 😂

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Jess Helou's avatar

you literally took all my thoughts and put them into words i’ve been complaining about merch for YEARS. It also always seems to be that my favorite artists, example Taylor Swift with probably too big of a budget to comprehend, seem to have the merch i would never be caught dead wearing just because the quality and design are so unbearable!

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