Target Pulls 'Silence = Death' T-Shirt After ACT UP NY Calls Store Out

The group objected to commercial use of the iconic message.

Trudy Ring

Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.

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Trudy Ring

May 10 2022 11:05 AM EST

May 31 2023 3:53 PM EST

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Target and a sales partner, the Phluid Project, have at least temporarily ceased selling a T-shirt with the famed ACT UP "Silence = Death" message after complaints from ACT UP New York.

In response to an inquiry on Twitter, ACT UP NY posted Friday that the companies had not asked permission to use the message and accompanying image of a pink triangle. The logo is in the public domain, as those who designed it intended, but the issue is that corporations are seeking to profit from it, ACT UP NY tweeted.

\u201cWe can answer that for you: No. Both @Target and @phluidproject did not get permission to use \u201cSILENCE = DEATH\u201d art. We have been fighting the commodification of AIDS for years and this is the latest edition. If you want to support our work buy from us: https://t.co/MxdVFQEypz\u201d
— ACT UP NY (@ACT UP NY) 1651807617

\u201cPoint of clarification: ACT UP NY does not own \u201cSILENCE = DEATH\u201d imagery. No one does. The \u201cSILENCE = DEATH Project\u201d made sure it was public domain.\u201d
— ACT UP NY (@ACT UP NY) 1651807617

Target responded by taking the shirt off its website.

"This shirt was designed by our vendor partner, The Phluid Project, who is working directly with ACT UP to address their concerns," Target spokesperson Brian Harper-Tibaldo told The Advocate in an email. "The item is only available on Target.com and we've temporarily pulled it from our assortment until the concern is resolved."

Rob Smith, the gay, HIV-positive man who owns the Phluid Project, told the Los Angeles Blade that he had spoken to Target officials after he learned of the complaints on Twitter and that he was also communicating with ACT UP NY. His company specializes in genderless fashion and seeks to empower the LGBTQ+ community, he said.