Effective Altruism Merchandise Ideas

Ok, i don't want to be rude but there is no nice way to say this, so please just take it as feedback on this project not you as a person. Your existing merchandise is an ugly mess. My reaction to someone wearing an EA themed shirt of the same aesthetic level and quality would be cringing embarrasment not pride in a community.

EA merch as a tribal/signalling thing is a fine idea - but it needs to be of a much higher quality and design. As a bare minimum it should be printed by a higher quality producer than cafepress (like teespring?) and be designed by a professional designer.

In general, I like the idea of having something to wear that promotes discussion. It's especially useful for introverts like myself who have trouble bringing up EA in social contexts, but have no problem responding to questions about my shirt and using that as an introduction to EA.

The shirt given out at EA Global was good, as it just has the term "Effective Altruism" which tends to prompt questions. The shirt GiveWell sells is also excellent, as they are a very well named organization. But "Doing Good Effectively by Using Reason" seems clunky to me. I believe it is too long and it feels more pompous than something shorter like "GiveWell".

Contrary to what you've written, I actually think something like "Optimizing QALYs" might actually be good. It's short, easy to read, doesn't sound pompous, and will definitely prompt a question of what it means in a social situation. That is the kind of shirt that I'd actually wear and find useful.

Other shirts I'd find useful would be for various well-named organizations, like "Animal Charity Evaluators", "Giving What We Can", "Charity Science", etc. These don't even need slogans; they can use their name/logo alone, and I think I'd find the shirt useful.

Dunno, I'm a little skeptical as to whether this will be a useful thing to do. I suppose you have to wear something anyway, so it may as well promote EA ideas, but I don't think this way of doing it is really going to change anything... but I have no education in marketing etc, so I could be very wrong. It seems to me like putting the url of an important website, or just saying "Effective Altruism" straight up, is a better way of advertising the ideas.

I had a similar idea very recently. I like the idea of using EA merchandise like T-shirts and stickers to promote ideas associated with EA. I like Brian Tan's CHOICE acronym and I think it definitely belongs on a shirt.

"Meta is betta"

It's a little specific, recommending meta activities/charities, but I thought it was catchy.

Well...maybe 50% catchy, 50% cheesy.

Note: Will Newsome thought of this slogan before me

Personally, I'd just like a nice looking t-shirt that said "effective altruism" or some other related term for the purpose of provoking conversation.

I have a GiveWell t-shirt and I do like it. A few people have asked about it though I do need to get better at marketing effective altruism ideas in those conversations. So far I have 0 converts, as far as I know.

Avi

I wear the t-shirt from EA Global (San Francisco) all the time. I love the design and actually find it to be a pretty effective way to start a conversation about EA, presumably because only those with interest in the idea ask me about it. I think a more-involved logo might be viewed as more confrontational and therefore less likely to elicit inquiries.

I don't have any good ideas, but I think "Doing Good Effectively By Using Reason" is a bit too wordy and clunky for a T-shirt slogan.

Self-promotion: New YouTube video on effective altruism. Please take a look and share if you think it is any good. "The Price of Saving a Life ... is $3,340." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tAaO5KmRFQ&index=2&list=PL0FfKwFuQb2T5tGSKh254JleBGyydQDUR

"Combining the heart and the mind." or something similar is already in use in EA circles.

Overall I like the concept and would personally be happy to wear something EA related to start conversations. I probably wouldn't wear an EA shirt unless at an EA event, but a pin (badges are too in your face in my opinion) or a wrist band might be good.

Here's another link: effectivealtruismapparel.com

I was looking for a dark-colored hat for running. That's one of the most informal ways to bring up EA. I mean, I'm always in an informal setting when when I want to use such a cap. It seems that the cheapest price is $25 for such a hat.

(Hello Fellow EAs, I'm running my own fundraiser for AMF, this is what I sent to friends and family to help educate them on EA, none of this is news to this community I'm sure, just posting to provide context for the campaign's messaging and hoping people will forward the link, or purchase a shirt, it's an experiment so any feedback also welcome:)

Hello Family and Friends!

I'm running a fundraiser for the Against Malaria Foundation...the proceeds from 100 (or more:) of these t-shirts will buy 300 bednets (or more:) per thelifeyoucansave‬.org's impact calculator. Here's the link:

https://www.bonfirefunds.com/ts-for-nets

Dr. Christen Lengeler of the Swiss Tropical Institute estimates one life is saved for every 160 bednet years, which would equate to one life saved for every 20 bednets...meaning...we'd be saving 15 real lives (or more!)...all for the price of a few t-shirts...AND helping to spread the word about ‪Effective Altruism‬ by wearing it on our sleeves (for real:).

We CAN make a difference...per a letter by Bill Gates in 2011 on the fight against malaria: "(we're) making very good progress. The death toll, overwhelmingly of young children in Africa, went down from 985,000 in 2000 to 781,000 in 2009. Of the 99 countries with malaria, 43 have decreased cases of the disease by more than 50 percent. Turkmenistan and Morocco were recently declared malaria-free. For these communities the reduction in both death and sickness makes a huge difference. And it is possible only because of increased donor spending, which reached $1.5 billion in 2009."

Thanks for your support!