Tour merchandise is widely believed to be one of the most lucrative avenues of artist revenue stream now that selling music isn’t really a thing that happens. There were, of course, Kanye West’s much-talked-about Confederate flag jackets from the Yeezus Tour. And now he has his colorful The Life of Pablo hoodies, which everyone seems to be wearing. Even Justin Bieber seemed to up his game for the Purpose World Tour merch, which features enough clothing options to complete a full wardrobe: t-shirts, denim jackets, puffer jackets, tank tops, hoodies, etc.
Well, with the launch of Beyoncé’s hotly anticipated Formation World Tour happening last night at Marlins Park in Miami, we all had to wonder: What is the merch going to look like?
While those questions are still up in the air (as we have yet to see it all), the existence of one specific item lets us know that, already, Beyoncé’s tour merch is already miles ahead of the competition. Beyoncé is selling Boycott Beyoncé T-shirts…at her own tour!
Remember earlier this year when Beyoncé once again made the #WorldStop after releasing her highly political music video for “Formation”? You know, the one that featured a little black boy standing in front of a line of police officers, all with their hands raised above their heads? And then when she gave a spirited Black Panther-referencing Super Bowl performance of that same song the very next day?
Remember when some folks wanted to protest Beyoncé because her message of Black excellence threatened them — or, according to them, because “it was a slap in the face to law enforcement”? And then remember when their protest crumbled beneath their feet after Beyoncé supporters arranged a counter-protest?
Well, Beyoncé is laughing straight to the bank, haters! Boycott Beyoncé t-shirts on sale now! Here’s a photo, courtesy of Twitter user Maeve McDermott: