Following That Anti-Trump McDonald’s Tweet, This Agency Made Resistance Merchandise for the Brand

On Thursday someone published an anti-Trump tweet from the McDonald’s corporate Twitter account. The tweet in question called the current president “a disgusting excuse of a President.” While the brand swiftly deleted the tweet and later reported the account had been hacked by an external source, many people online still suggested a disgruntled employee may have been to blame.

In the hours following the incident, Austin, Texas-based agency Hunt, Gather took it as an opportunity to create a line of merchandise in support of the tweet, even if it was done by a hacker, to “Supersize the Resistance.”

A group of four, Hunt, Gather employees started drawing up ideas for shirts and hats Thursday morning and published the website around noon that same day.

“Like everybody we were wondering if it was a hack or a disgruntled employee, we didn’t know what it was,” Heather Beckel Luecke, communications director for Hunt, Gather, said.

“We printed up some of the T-shirts and we are going to go down on the streets of SXSW to see if [we] can sell some of the shirts and hats and totes. We can print on-demand from the website.”

The shirts aren’t just being sold for profit, either. The agency came up with a great way to do a little good through the project, with all proceeds going to Meals on Wheels. The agency selected Meals on Wheels following the current administration’s proposal to cut funding for the organization that delivers meals to the elderly.

The agency plans to send some of its staff to any SXSW events going on in the coming days with the hopes of selling some of the shirts and totes. Shirts range from $20-25, while totes are selling for $18 and hats for $20.

The agency’s founders and creative directors Kathy Horn and Erik Horn both worked on the project alongside design director Lynna Bartosh and Jason Burks, who heads up development for the agency. Hunt, Gather plans to create more products over the coming days. All designs will be available on the new website.

Katie Richards

@ktjrichards

Katie Richards is a staff writer for Adweek.