posted March 02, 2004 08:58 AM         

By Jean Scheidnes

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The maker of T-shirts emblazoned with slogans like "Boys are stupid, throw rocks at them" says business is booming despite -- or maybe because of -- protests that led some major U.S. retailers to stop selling them.

The shirts have been around for three years, but were recently thrust into the national spotlight by pundits debating whether feminism impugns the rights of males and whether a T-shirt could be an instrument of oppression.

"We were pretty well known in the juniors segment, but this has really expanded our exposure," said Todd Goldman, founder and president of David & Goliath. "I couldn't buy this kind of publicity."

Goldman, 35, said the media frenzy has generated new retail accounts and driven sales through the Clearwater, Florida, company's Web site, davidandgoliathtees.com/.

The company's $20 T-shirts tend toward the dark and sarcastic. They mock blondes, smokers, Asians, vegetarians, prissy girls, sullen teenagers, cats and ex-boyfriends, among others. About 25 styles are "Rated R."

"Blunt and graphic T's are really popular because teens are very comfortable sharing their opinions and feelings," said Cynthia Engelke, manager of research and trends at Youth Intelligence, a New York-based marketing consulting firm.

In a fish-bowl culture where young people now air their feelings on blogs instead of hiding them in diaries, a T-shirt is just an easy way to get a point across, Engelke said.

The shirts that recently came under fire cast aspersions on young males with slogans like "Boys are smelly" and "Boys have cooties."

David & Goliath, which Goldman heads with his father and brother, says the phrases are just perennial schoolyard humor.

The most contentious -- and most popular -- style reads "Boys are stupid, throw rocks at them," and features a hapless character named Todd (as in Todd Goldman,) with stones flying in his direction.

"We did $250,000 last week just on the Internet, of which probably $200,000 was just this one graphic," Goldman said. "It is our No. 1 selling T-shirt."

While some stores have dropped that design, he said, they are replacing it with others from the company.

"And more people want this graphic now because it's been controversial," he said. "New stores are picking it up."

FLIRTATION OR SUBVERSION?

Some of Goldman's supporters argue that female subversion of male power is a classic theme in Western culture, one that is necessary to offset the pervasive pressure on girls to flaunt their sexuality and seek male approval at an increasingly young age.

In fact, Engelke says the shirt is flirtatious.

"Obviously that age group is incredibly interested in the opposite sex, and they also aren't sure what to say to each other," she said. "So anything that pokes fun is especially interesting to them. It doesn't say 'I love boys' or 'I think boys are cute,' but it will get attention."

The public's appetite for impolite T-shirts dates at least as far back as the Vietnam War era. In 1971 the Supreme Court overturned the conviction of a man who wore an anti-draft slogan with a four-letter obscenity in a courthouse.

Today, Urban Outfitters Inc. (NasdaqNM:URBN - news), one of David & Goliath's customers, carries shirts that allude to substance abuse, gun violence and sex acts. These have gone largely unchallenged.

But last month, talk-radio host Glenn Sacks launched a campaign against stores carrying Todd merchandise, citing them as a threat to male self-esteem and a sign of an anti-male culture that has caused boys to fare poorly in schools.

His show, "His Side with Glenn Sacks," airs on KMPC-AM in Los Angeles and on KKOL-AM in Seattle.

"He's trying to make it like we have some hidden agenda to downgrade boys and their SAT scores," Goldman said. "Come on. Look at Charlie Brown (of the 'Peanuts' comic strip). When Lucy pulls the football from him, is that degrading?"

But Claire's Stores Inc. (NYSE:CLE - news), Federated Department Stores Inc.'s (NYSE:FD - news) Bon-Macy's division, and Dillard's Inc. (NYSE DS - news) and other retailers heeded the protests and removed Todd from stores.

Although the products have been popular since their launch last fall, Federated said, "we listened to what our customers shared with us and decided in December to pull this particular merchandise from the floor."

David & Goliath still supplies major retailers like Nordstrom Inc. (NYSE:JWN - news), Hot Topic Inc. (NasdaqNM:HOTT - news), Delia's, and Federated's Bloomingdale's, according to Goldman.

He said he expects the company's sales to rise to $35 million this year, from $25 million last year, while its licensees should see sales jump to between $40 million and $50 million from $5 million.