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University graduate Mike Young was surprised to see a ‘Real World’ housemate, Danny, wearing a T-shirt that said ‘Balls’ on it.
Young was surprised because his company made the T-shirt.
Young, who graduated last year, formed a T-shirt company with friend Andy Lyon. Their company, Shamplade, was formed while both men were still attending the University.
The first Shamplade T-shirt said, ‘I Eat Vegans,’ which created positive buzz for the company.
Shamplade’s best selling T-shirt says, ‘FOIL: Keeping Algebra Fresh.’
The company specializes in humorous apparel and have sold shirts to clothing chains such as Urban Outfitters, where most of their clothing is sold.
‘We thought, hey, what if we had a t-shirt that said ‘Balls’ on it?’ Young said, explaining the origin of the T-shirt. Young was surprised to see one of his creations on the MTV reality show.
According to Young, MTV never contacted him about supplying funny shirts for ‘The Real World.’
Young said he believes that the reality show housemate, Danny, purchased the shirt at an Urban Outfitters location.
‘We want to make shirts that we want to wear,’ Young said, explaining his reasons for producing shirts. He saidthat his instincts and sense of humor are the most important factors when predicting what customers want.
The origin of the name Shamplade dates back to when Young and Lyon were still students at the University.
Young had moved into an off-campus house, and the occupants before him had left some things behind one of them a lamp shade.
One of Young’s friends looked at the lamp shade and said, ‘They left a shamplade.’
Later, when trying to find a name for their T-shirt company, they decided on Shamplade because the word had always made them laugh.
Acording to Young, once the T-shirt appeared on ‘The Real World,’ sales didn’t immediately rise for Shamplade.
‘Even though we had the shirt, people didn’t know where to get it,’ he said.
Although sales didn’t go up right away, visitors to the Shamplade Web site increased by 25 percent.
Other T-shirt designs on the Web site include sayings like: ‘My Vacuum Sucks, My Fan Blows But My Fridge Is Chillin’,’ ‘Holy Toledo,’ with a picture of Jesus giving a thumbs-up, and ‘Fo’ Sheezy I’m Wheezy United Asthmatics of America.’
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All of the Shamplade T-shirts can be purchased at www.shamplade.com.