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Trump’s Insult Becomes Promo Treasure for BuzzFeed

During a press conference last week, President-elect Donald Trump made a scathing soundbite that spawned a promotional product opportunity that BuzzFeed quickly capitalized on.

After Trump referred to the digital news outlet as a “failing pile of garbage” for publishing a memo full of controversial and unverified claims about him, BuzzFeed launched a flash sale of T-shirts, bumper stickers and garbage cans on its online store, all branded with the Trump phrase.

From 3:30 p.m. through midnight, BuzzFeed sold more than $25,000 in “failing pile of garbage” merchandise, a company spokesperson told Counselor. The 100 limited-edition garbage cans, which cost $49 a piece, sold out during the flash sale.

The T-shirts, which had the quote printed on them with the BuzzFeed logo, cost $30. Bumper stickers reading “My bae works at a failing pile of garbage” and “My cat’s famous because of a failing pile of garbage” cost $5. The merchandise was designed by BuzzFeed’s in-house e-commerce team.

The website said all of the proceeds will be donated to the Committee to Protect Journalists, a nonprofit group aimed at promoting press freedom around the world. Meryl Steep recently praised the CPJ during her acceptance speech for the Cecil B. DeMille Award for Lifetime Achievement at the Golden Globes.

Trump has become a boon for the promotional products industry, spending in excess of $11.5 million on campaign merchandise (a record for a presidential candidate)and inspiring opponents to create popular parody items such as “Trump University” T-shirts.

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