We were watching the local news a few days after the Super Bowl when a reporter answered a question we’d been wondering about for quite some time: “What do they do with the thousands of shirts they pre-printed for the team that didn’t win?”
The answer: Losing team T-shirts, as well as losing playoff teams, get donated to the World Vision, an international organization that benefits children in over 100 countries. Since 1994, anyway.
As one T-shirt industry blogger states: “These T-shirts will be the first time many folks have ever owned new clothes. In many of the countries food is the number one priority and warm clothes are a luxury so these donations really make a difference and spread the NFL brand to remote parts of the world.”
Let’s not argue the fact that we are basically importing our waste to another country, and creating even more waste by shipping it to them. Let’s not argue the fact that there are thousands of families who could benefit from new clothes in our own country. And, as hard as it must be, let’s not argue about the NFL’s alleged motivation to spread the NFL brand. Instead, let’s talk about alternative solutions.
There are a number of problems that all start with the fact that we are creating something in the world that has a 50% failure rate. Now, we were never really great at math, but something tells us these numbers don’t add up. For one, those interested in the winning teams merchandise are paying for it in ways more than the higher price tag. There’s got to be a better way.
The obvious solution is to print eco-friendly shirts after the fact, but we can’t imagine this being a welcomed solution by the manufactures. So, the question to you, the problem to solve, is this: “How can misprints, in any industry, benefit the most amount of people?”
  
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