I keep seeing people wearing this shirt. It's a plain black t-shirt but they've printed a little fake name badge on the pocket area. And on the name badge, it says: "Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."
Every time I see one, I laugh. But I also have three thoughts…
- That, of course, is a famous line from the book and movie, The Princess Bride, both written by William Goldman. Do we think the company putting these out made any sort of deal to compensate Mr. Goldman for the use of his words?
- What the hell do people think who see this shirt but aren't familiar with The Princess Bride? And finally…
- Wouldn't it be cheaper and funnier just to make your own version of this shirt? You probably have a black Sharpie around. You can buy a package of those labels for two bucks in the CVS Pharmacy near me and, I would imagine, other places. Then you can stick the label on whatever you want to wear. It would be a lot funnier on the kind of clothing you'd likely wear to the kind of event where people walk around with name badges. That usually doesn't mean a black t-shirt.
That's all I'm thinking…and note that I'm concerned that Mr. Goldman is not being paid but at the same time, I'm suggesting a way to further exploit him without paying him. So maybe if you do walk around with one of those stickers on, you could buy one or two of his books to put some coins in his pocket. You'd probably enjoy them as most of them are very good.