Derby Preview #776: Politics -NOT!

JUST KIDDING!

Real life politics are not allowed. But shirts about voting are. And fake campaign shirts are too! This derby is “an anti-politcal, politics and voting derby!” - @benjaminleebates

No real-life politics, no cream shirts. No masks, no immigration, no mail-in voting references, no references to actual political figures.

*This Derby begins MONDAY August 24th at 8pm, CST. & ends MONDAY August 31st at 8pm, CST. The three winning designs will be featured as the Daily offers Tuesday-Thursday. Great designs that don’t win may be included in an Editor’s Choice sale on Friday, so be sure to check back and see who makes the cut!

Please be sure to have your artwork ready to submit with your entry as part of the new submission process!

If you want to submit any off-topic designs, submit here!

If you are new to the derby and want to participate, WELCOME! Also, in addition to the rules above please check out our content guidelines here so you know what works and what doesn’t over here at Woot!

You can also download updated templates for your artwork over here . Happy designing

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@Lady5tark -

Quick question…I have a friend who runs a non-profit helping asylum seekers get settled. I’ve been dying to make a design that relates to his charity, but didn’t want to force-fit it elsewhere.

Would a feel-good immigration related design be acceptable for this round?

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Unfortunately not, immigration is very much a heated debate in the current political climate. So best we stay away from it, even if it is feel-good.

I would do a direct sub to woot and see where it goes.
If not open a Teepublic or some other account that lets you print whatever you want. Many of us do this for designs that woot does not select.

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I mean, pro-mask designs are also politically heated and Woot has been printing those. I think there’s an argument for ignoring negative reactions in favor of doing the right thing. And Woot has had some great pro-immigration designs in the past…

This is an issue that affects a lot of people in the Woot community, so I think it’s worth fighting for :slight_smile:

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I don’t think she is saying that they will never print inflammatory stuff again. I think they just want to avoid it for this particular derby.
I mean, this is great. An anti-politcal, politics and voting derby!!! I love it! Stretch the imagination a bit!

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We all know it’s cats and star space stuff. It’s always cats and star space stuff.

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I understand the intention, I just think it’s worth pushing back on the idea that immigration is always first and foremost about political battles. Inclusion matters, and if artists want to express immigration concepts in a fun and Woot-ish way (like the designs I linked above), I’d like to see it in this derby. Certainly I’d rather see that than another dozen Star Wars designs :wink:

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I’m not saying we won’t accept them in general, just for this derby anything political is off-limits. That would include pro-mask designs.

Does anyone remember my last politics derby? It didn’t end well…this is a way we can have some lighthearted voting and campaign shirts without hurting feelings.

If we allow this to actually venture into political territory, we run the risk of offending and that is not our intent.

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Remember this one… It was for a derby where woot was doing something with a charity I believe?

Anyway, the comments section went straight to heck over it. Got kinda nasty. I got a SJW education before that term was even a term! LOL It’s funny (not funny) how an innocent design can turn nasty…

I understand, this is something I’m personally very passionate about. It just doesn’t have a place in this particular derby. Any other derby if you can make it on theme, just not this one.

We have so many politically charged shirts in the catalog, we are not afraid to put it out there, but when you put out a mass of shirts that are politically charged we are making a statement we don’t want to make right now.

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Yes! I think the comment grouches will always find something to complain about and feel their beliefs are being targeted whether it’s there or not. That’s why it irks me to cater to them :slight_smile:

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I get it, it’s easy to hide behind a keyboard. But they also buy shirts sooo…

That is true, Rule #1, Thou shall not feed the trolls.

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If that’s the rule, I respect it :slight_smile: But I fully expect to see designs like this in the derby:

MANDO FOR PRESIDENT
immigrant - wears a mask - saves babies

And it would annoy me if the immigrant part made it rejected, while other designs could make the similarly silly mask joke with no issues. In a perfect world I’d like all references to real politics in this silly, tongue-in-cheek style to be allowed.

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Way to make it hard for me! Let me think on that one…

Because obviously I want that design.

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Sorry to be a pest :smiley: But as soon as I saw the theme I had a bunch of thoughts in that vein, so I think a lot of other artists will too. If that level of real politics referencing is against the rules, I suggest adding some text to the theme summary to make it crystal clear (and avoid having to reject a bunch of stuff).

I’ve added some of the points we’ve talked about. I also just discussed this with our team and our general consensus is we wouldn’t reject that design concept because it’s fictional, and doesn’t specifically reference mask wearing or immigration in any real place or in a political way.

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