Not long after actress Drew Barrymore appeared on the August cover of InStyle magazine wearing a vintage Detroit News T-shirt, the paper was inundated with requests about whether the ’80s-era tee could still be purchased.

Luckily, Michigan-based distributor Corporate Specialties (asi/466176) was available to help the news outlet capitalize on this unexpected viral moment, throwing together a company store that ultimately raised $70,000 for the Rosa Parks Scholarship Foundation.

It's a story where a number of on-trend marketing strategies converge to positive effect: moment merch, nostalgia and the power of celebrity influencers.

For the August cover of InStyle, Drew Barrymore wore a vintage Detroit News tee she bought on Etsy, figuring everyone needed some good news during pandemic-related lockdowns. Soon after, the newspaper was fielding requests to purchase the shirt.

“The minute the photo of Drew appeared on the Instyle Instagram page, I got a call from someone who saw it,” says Aimie Rosner, marketing director at The Detroit News. “That shirt was given out to staff in the early ’80s, and we hadn’t seen it since. We were very surprised and had no idea Drew would be wearing it.”

Rosner turned to Valerie Hayman Sklar, president of Corporate Specialties, for help. “This began the big scramble to recreate the shirt and figure out how we could sell it,” Rosner adds. “We had to move quickly, as timing was everything. Val and her team jumped into action and made everything happen for us.”

Corporate Specialties – an affiliate of Top 40 distributor iPROMOTEu (asi/232119) – launched the online store selling the replica tee within 24 hours and immediately started working with suppliers to secure inventory – a challenge due to supply chain disruptions because of COVID-19. The distributor worked with four different vendors to get enough stock to fulfill orders.

Because demand for the shirts was unknown, Sklar and Rosner decided to set up purchases as preorders, so there wouldn’t be a lot of excess inventory. Initially, around 20 shirts were ordered per hour.

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Then, Barrymore took to Instagram to let her millions of followers know the T-shirts were being made and the proceeds would be donated to the Rosa Parks Scholarship Foundation. At that point, orders jumped to 100 an hour. Overall, more than 5,000 shirts were purchased through three rounds of preorder sales, with more than $70,000 raised for the foundation.

Valerie Hayman Sklar, Corporate Specialties

“Being involved with this kind of project is special because of the impact you get to make on so many people,” says Sklar, who founded her company in 1997. “Not only were T-shirt recipients delighted, but being able to help students with their educational aspirations is very gratifying. Being based in Detroit is a huge part of our company culture; it’s baked into our DNA. This project allowed us to combine our passion for promotional products with our love of Detroit. It’s definitely one of the highlights of 2020.”