Homespun BLMproducts include cookie kits, garden gnomes
A fewweeks after nationwide protests erupted over the police killing of George Floyd, Julie Muller looked for something positive she could contribute to the movement from her Houston home.
The 67-year- old white woman, who has been selling homemade cookie-decorating kits online since March, decided to offer one with a Black Lives Matter theme. The kit comes with cookie cutters imprinted with former President Barack Obama’s face, sprinkles and icing in red, black andgreen— the colorsof the Pan-African or Black Liberation flag.
Other examples of homespun BLM merchandise include wine stoppers and even garden gnomes — objects more often associated with white suburbia. The white sellers insist they are not trying to make light of racial issues or widen their profit margins. But tomany onlookers, the sales through the crafts marketplace Etsy may straddle an uncomfortable line between supporting the movement and exploiting it.
Muller’s three children were the first to warn her shemight appear to be capitalizing on racial unrest. But that’s partlywhy shewanted to act.
“I’ve been thinking about what’s systemic racism and what is racial profiling,” Muller said. “It’s more about doing my part. What can I offer?”
The protest movement ignited by Floyd’s death in May under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer compelled businesses large and small to declare publicly that they were “woke” to the pain of Black people. Manufacturers soon began makingBLMT-shirts, facemasks and signs.
It’s not surprising that independent merchants wanted to express solidarity too, said Patti Williams, an associate professor of marketing at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.
To demonstrate sincerity, sellers should commit to making these items permanently to show their efforts are not just an attempt “to jump on a fad,” she added.
There’s also potential for the items themselves to be seen as offensive or tonedeaf.
Ashleigh Boutelle, 45, of Twin Peaks, California, custom paints garden gnomes as a side business. Aftermaking gay pride gnomes, he decided in July to try painting a Black LivesMatter gnome. The yellow-and-black-clad gnome — a nod to the colors used on a Black Lives Matterwebsite— wears a “BLM” hat. He also painted it with a darker skin tone.
“I was just trying to be very careful and present something that you might say is neutral,” Boutelle said. “Hopefully, someone who sees it is not offended.”
He has since gotten a few orders for either Black Lives Matter gnomes or African American gnomes. Boutelle hopes people don’t question his sincerity because his support is displayed on a mythical figure with a pointy hat.
“I like the idea of offering it to someone who might want to put it in their yard to make a statement — a cute statement, of course,” said Boutelle, who has not chosen yet to which organization to donate $10 from every sale of the$60 gnome.
Kate Mayer, 37, of Cincinnati, decided to offer a Black LivesMatterwine bottle stopper among her dozens of handmadewine stoppers. She understands critics may dislike the link between rosé and race relations. But her Etsy shop is her biggest platform.
“I can only hope that they would understand that I’m trying to come from a good place,” Mayer said. “I’m just trying to do the little bit that I can do. If everyone does that, it adds up to a lot.”
She gives 25% of each sale to the Black Voters Matter Fund. She has sold 15 of the $17 stoppers.
“I’m really not making a profit on these,” Mayer said. “It’s more of just a show of good faith.”