Isn’t it cool when you see an online advert with exactly what you’re looking for? It feels like a product was made just for you, or least, marketed directly to you. It could be something that you’re after: maybe a new jacket or a pair of sneakers.
Once in a while, you might see an advert for a product that has been tailored very specifically to someone. Not necessarily you or a general crowd, just... someone.
Here’s where r/TargetedShirts comes into the picture. Users have shared their screenshots and IRL encounters of t-shirts with oddly-specific slogans. Perhaps you’re born in April, like caramel frappucinos and have an anger problem—well, there’s a t-shirt made just for you.
And the slogans on the t-shirts carry a similar theme throughout: they’re often crass, confrontational and in-your-face. The idea is encapsulated perfectly in the self referential parody t-shirt: “Weirdly specific shirt that mentions my birth month and is vaguely threatening for no reason”.
Here’s our favorite picks for the most bizarrely specific t-shirts that have been made in mind for, well, someone that wants them.
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Ok....
When you see them, you’ll be baffled that someone had the bright idea to design and sell such a product. But apparently, there’s a lucrative market for these kind of targeted t-shirts.
To understand how the market got started, I spoke to the aptly-named Facebook page Shirts Marketed To Extremely Specific Demographics (@ExtremelySpecificShirts). Their page has a following of 54K people who also love these cringe-worthy t-shirts. @ExtremelySpecificShirts gave Bored Panda their views on the topic and a quick run-down on how it happened.
“The weird specificity of these shirts is a product of how adverts on Facebook work,” @ExtremelySpecificShirts told Bored Panda. They go on to explain that: “In Facebook, you can target your ads to people based on things such as the pages they ‘Like’, their hobbies, jobs, birth months, etc. You can also target ads towards any combination of these variables.”
Smallest Target On Here
One Of My Bar Regulars Waited 84 Years For His 21st Birthday! Happy Birthday Fred!
@ExtremelySpecificShirts believes that: “people found there was money to be made in creating bots to automatically generate designs based on these variables.” So, auto-generated marketing is what really drove this business to grow on Facebook, and even become profitable.
I contacted Andrea Vahl for more insights into Facebook Ads. She is a social media speaker and consultant, who is passionate about helping businesses understand and leverage the power of social media to grow their business. She is the co-author of Facebook Marketing All-in-One for Dummies and her latest book is Facebook Ads Made Simple.
“For many types of businesses, Facebook is the most lucrative place to advertise,” Andrea told Bored Panda. “Google is great when someone is specifically searching for a product, but Facebook works really well in the top of the marketing funnel to get in front of your perfect audience,” she explained.
And these t-shirts are definitely trying to target the perfect person.
My Mom Texted Me This Photo Today. Before You Ask - Yes, He Made This For Himself
Gotta Go Fast
The numbers on the subreddit and Facebook page show that there’s an interest for the t-shirts. I asked @ExtremelySpecificShirts what they thought of the cult-following behind the targeted t-shirts. Do people really love these t-shirts so much? Or is it all just a running-joke on the internet?
”There's a combination of both,” the curator of the page said. ”I think older people are more likely to genuinely like these shirts and don't really see the humor in how specific they are.”
However, this is contrasted by the niche of users that find the t-shirts ridiculous, but in a good way. @ExtremelySpecificShirts said, “I've also seen some of my followers tag me in pictures of themselves wearing targeted shirts. In their case, it's definitely ironic.“
I Am A Living Donor And Blindly Donated My Kidney To A Child. I Got To Meet Him Yesterday
Now This Is One I Would Buy...
Self Referential Parody
I'm Not A Mycologist But This Is Probably One Of The Best Targeted Shirts I've Seen
It looks like auto-generated marketing is here to stay. And we are seeing more and more content being produced with the aid of Artificial Intelligence. This can be anything from artworks produced by machines or using deepfake technology to regenerate older actors to their prime (heads up: spoilers for ‘The Mandalorian’).
I asked @ExtremelySpecificShirts what they think in regards to today's technology and what it holds for the future. They think: “it's funny, and maybe a bit dystopian, that we thought we'd have flying cars in the future but instead, we got extremely specific t-shirts.”
There you have it, folks—we’re living in the future right now, a future of AI produced t-shirts. Maybe this market will continue to grow. With companies collecting data on you from different online locations, a decent impression of your tastes and interests can be made of you. So, there could be all kinds of clothing tailor-made exactly for you.
Sometimes He Kicks Me, If You Don’t Like It Move
Proud Owner Of This Bad Boy
Recently Went Through A Rough Breakup, And My Dad Unironically Bought This For Me To Cheer Me Up. Made Me Laugh Pretty Hard, But I Genuinely Appreciate The Support. Love You Dad.
Makes Me Embarrassed To Be A Fellow Mechanic
Well, I'm sure who ever came up with this thought they were saying something clever and profound.
Um Ok
Ran Into My Brother Randomly Out Shopping And He Was Wearing This Beauty. He Has Only One Cat
I got more information from Andrea Vahl about advertising and targeting on Facebook. If you're interested in starting your own business through Facebook, take notes!
"Anyone with a Business Page and an Ad Account (both are easily created) can advertise on Facebook," Andrea told Bored Panda. "Facebook makes it easy to 'Boost' posts on your Facebook page and that's an ok place to start, but you'll get better results using the Ads Manager," she explained. Andrea goes on to say: "When you use the Ads Manager, you can optimize around your true goal such as Lead Generation or Conversions, as well as create better target audiences."
And that's how we reached the creation of these t-shirts too.
Couldn’t Get Much More Targeted Without A Social Security Number On It
My Real Life Aunt And Her Real Life Shirt
Seen On Livepd. Hell Yeah.
A Gift From My Boyfriend
Friend Of Mine Had A Real Gem On His Instagram Story. “Any Vertebrate With Offspring” Killed Me
My Little Brother’s T-Shirt
Cicada Sexfest
Saw On Facebook
My Wife Obviously Hates Me... A Christmas Present
He wrestles horror films and pugs that were born in September. That is very specific, indeed!
Where My Welder Mom's At??
My Sister Turned 30 In June And I Saw My Chance And Took It. Even If She’ll Never Wear It I Have No Regrets
Simple Yet Effective
Actual Shirt Owned By Actual FB Friend
What do you call a guy who hangs out with musicians? The drummer.
Jimothy?
Mystery
She might want to throw some of that holy water on that floating head next to her
My First Entry To This Sub
My Parents Got Me This For My Birthday
I Found This Gem At Goodwill, Not Rly Sure Who Sharon Is
Found One At Disney World
My Sister Got My Dad A Present
Fico Yeah!
This Is The Best $0.49 I’ve Ever Spent
MIL Bought This For My Wife
Wife’s Late Xmas Gift Arrived For Me. Was Hoping For A Cable Or Pedal, But Got A Targeted Shirt
I Finally Own One Of These Nightmares
Got Both Shirts For Myself And My Daughter
My Dad's Shirt
I Am In Love!!
Those of us who were American tweens in the early '00s can relate. Dolphins were a fad I'd completely forgotten about.
A Friend Got Me My Favorite Birthday Present
My Boss Bought This For His Girlfriend And She Was Flaunting It On Instagram
Imagine making your girlfriend wear a t-shirt to tell the world how much of a "nice guy" you are
Found This At A Thrift Shop
My Friend Gave Me This Shirt. I Can’t Tell Her I Would Never Dream Of Wearing It Outside Of The House
Blue Cheese
What are three questions I'm least likely to ask a stranger in one conversation, Alex?
Dewskis, Papa Roach, And Tony Hawk's Underground 2
My Prized Possession
My Order Got Mixed Up And I Got This Beauty
"Where’d You Get The Shirt, Mom?” “Facebook!”
My Boss Bought This For Himself
I Have One Of The Shirts Posted Here The Other Day! It's One Of My Favorites In My Wardrobe
I Caught My Friend Wearing This Today
Cringy Shirt Out In The Wild
I Found One In The Wild!
First Time Seeing One Of These In Real Life!
Found This At Goodwill And Bought It Of Course
Never Thought It Would Happen: Someone I Know Irl Actually Received And Is Wearing One!
My Wife And I Love This Sub, So For Father’s Day She Made Me This Shirt
Shirt My Buddy Wore To A Get Together The Other Day. You'll Never Guess Who Bought It For Him...
My Entry That I Got On Amazon A Few Months Ago, Complete With A Typo
Facebook Delivered Today
Posted By A Cousin On Facebook
Grumpy Old September Man
Man, This One Really Takes You Places
This Is It...
But what do our Panda’s think of these targeted t-shirts? Cop or cringe? Do you have one of these t-shirts yourself?
We want to hear your opinions. Vote for your favorite images here and share your comments too!
Yeah, right ? I mean, I was born in February and even I don't get it...
Load More Replies...So much writing, so many people craving the spotlight because it takes so long to read their shirt. On the flip side, my hubby has a shirt with really tiny writing that just says "nosy little f*cker aren't you" and it's my favourite shirt of his
Is this what right-wing Facebook looks like? “I hate Obama and all lives matter”? This is absolutely frightening.
Yeah, right ? I mean, I was born in February and even I don't get it...
Load More Replies...So much writing, so many people craving the spotlight because it takes so long to read their shirt. On the flip side, my hubby has a shirt with really tiny writing that just says "nosy little f*cker aren't you" and it's my favourite shirt of his
Is this what right-wing Facebook looks like? “I hate Obama and all lives matter”? This is absolutely frightening.