Rob Bliss Cashes In on LipDub Fame with Merchandise Sales
Rob Bliss appears to be enjoying a new revenue stream since his Grand Rapids LipDub of “American Pie” caught the attention of the media this past week.
Now you can go to CafePress.com and buy LipDub merchandising. How did I find this out? Because Rob has inserted an advertising line at the opening of the LipDub on YouTube—upping the video’s classiness quotient even more. The message asks for support of “this non-profit organization” and says you can “buy cool merchandise” at the CafePress website
On our very own American Pie promotional site, Grand Rapids fans can buy LipDub 2011 t-shirts; posters and cards featuring Rob’s storyboards for the video; and a t-shirt with a generic office chair on it that simply says, “Grand Rapids.” Or, you can buy a t-shirt with a heart that says, “I Love Grand Rapids.” There are also water bottles, steins, shot glasses, and other tasteful products for sale.
T-shirt prices go up to about $30, but even infants can wear Grand Rapids LipDub bodysuits. A framed print of the storyboard will set you back $39.99, and a pack of 20 storyboard notecards costs $23.99.
Just like the organization of the LipDub itself, it’s impressive that this site was launched with so many products this quickly and efficiently. Advertising copy describes each item in glowing terms: for example, the description for the notecards advises:
A personal note on a beautiful card will make a lasting impression and a touching keepsake.
You can even submit your e-mail address to get updates on “product specials” and other “news.” News of what? New projects by the unnamed non-profit? News of even more merchandise choices? It doesn’t say.
As detailed as the sales copy is, information on the non-profit itself is totally missing in action. There’s no actual explanation of how the money from this “fund-raising” is going to be used or who exactly is collecting it.
The ad line blazoned across the start of the LipDub video makes it clear you are somehow contributing to a non-profit when you buy this stuff, but doesn’t even tell you the name of the non-profit. There’s no “about” statement on the merchandise site explaining who, exactly, is the sales entity behind this cornucopia of Grand Rapids LipDub love.
At the top of each merchandise page is the puzzlingly vague statement: “Support the Grand Rapids LipDub and other public projects with your purchase.”
How does this support the completed LipDub? What other public projects? Is the Grand Rapids LipDub its own charitable organization?
Normally, when you buy something to support a non-profit, there’s information available: The name of the non-profit. Its mission. Why it is raising money, and what the money is going to be used for.
If someone came to your door and said, “Please donate $30 to keep our air and water clean,” without any information on what group they were collecting funds for or why—would you donate?
At Rob Bliss’s merchandising site there is no disclosure—just a demand for money in exchange for merchandise. And the utter absence of any explanation seems to raise more questions than anything else.
Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy 
R: “classiness quotation”…I think you may mean “classiness quotient”.
Ack! You’re right. Thanks for pointing it out.
Has anyone at GRIID actually emailed Rob for clarification on what the “non-profit” actually is, and if he actually has the paperwork filed for it?
The point of the piece was to show how people encountering the merchandising website would experience the “message” that Rob Bliss and/or his handlers decided to use to spur sales…not to solicit the appropriate information ourselves.
I heard that Rob Bliss felt bad about being in league with the capitalists and realized that the money he previously raised for the lipdub could have been better spent to feed the hungry. Hence, the Cafe Press fundraising.
LOL!
And yet, doing such a thing would be a trivial matter, and contribute greatly to the informative capacity of said article.
You guys do this WAY too much. Stop aspiring toward mediocrity.
Spryalout, you are more than welcome to e-mail and ask RB why he refuses to put up full disclosure on his website about the funds he’s raising or what he plans to do with the money.
I personally didn’t feel the need to help publicize information on his behalf to “fix” his lack of interest in appropriate non-profit communications. That’s one reason why GRIID decided not to link the merchandising site into this article.
He’s an attention junkie with a fan base that will essentially do anything he wants, and give him whatever he asks for. His sense of privilege shows in the way he is handling this grab for cash. “Don’t ask what it’s for, just give it to me.”
But let us know what you find out, if you care to share it.
If that warrants an “LOL”, so does the rest of your coverage of the Lip Dub. It’s the same kind of logic.
Thanks for sharing the capitalist POV, Shannon.
LOL!
Except that raising funds to feed the homeless vs. feeding his ego has a chance of like 1 in 10 to the power of infinity.
Because I disagree with you I am a “capitalist”? It’s like Mlive.com, YEESH! Except there they’d call me a “liberal” instead of a capitalist.
BTW, I identify as a socialist.
Really? Sorry if I was mistaken.