By: Ina Steiner
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Search eBay, Etsy and Amazon for the Russian president’s name, and you’ll find row after row of lists of T-shirts wishing him ill in layman’s language. ‘F*** Putin’ clothes and masks sit next to ‘Stand with Ukraine’ stickers on the shelves of the virtual market as vendors seek to satisfy consumers’ desire for goods that express outrage at the war raging in Europe.
eBay and Etsy searches for “Putin” were straightforward (even eBay Motors featured decals with similar themes). But Amazon featured books on the first page of results to help people who might be looking for information about the Russian leader. We don’t know if this was designed by Amazon in reaction to current events. But when we tweaked the search by putting the F-word in front of her name, we found the same type of merchandise featured on eBay and Etsy.
In addition to blasphemous clothes on sale in the main markets, there are lists of rolls of toilet paper with the image of the Russian leader and a sculpture “Putin Dicktator” – if you study the title, you can probably understand why this is NSFW (not safe for work).
While it’s clear that anti-Putin merchandise is available for sale, we don’t know if it’s selling — and we don’t know what policies marketplaces may enforce — with or without notice to sellers.
