Enron, Lehman and the Corporate Graveyard: The Jokes Behind Our Designs
Most fan merch puts a face or a logo on a shirt. Atrioc merch puts a bankruptcy on it. Here's what is printed on each of our ten Atrioc designs, and why they are funny.
Why are there failed companies on Atrioc merch?
Atrioc talks business, markets and marketing on stream, and Enron jokes have been part of his community for years, long enough that Enron hats were Atrioc merch back in 2021. Wearing a famous corporate disaster with a straight face is the joke.
What are the failed-company designs?
- Enron: a giant tilted mark in red, green and blue outlines with ENRON down the side. Enron, the energy company, collapsed in 2001 after overstating its earnings.
- Enron Risk Management Department: the same style of mark beside three stacked words, Risk, Management and Department. Given how Enron ended, it is the driest joke in the set.
- Lehman Brothers: arched black collegiate letters with a tan outline and a 1999 oval, for the bank that filed for bankruptcy in September 2008.
- Corporate Graveyard: headstones for Blockbuster, Toys R Us, Sears, RadioShack, Kmart, Pan Am, Enron and Circuit City on a stairway of clouds, with the line "Built to last... until it wasn't."
- Bankrupt: one word in bubbly toy-store letters, backwards R included.
- Spirit Jet: the bright yellow airliner from the graveyard, on its own.
Which designs carry his name?
- Outline A Logo: a big outlined A in sky blue and red with a green triangle and ATRIOC down one side.
- Block A Logo: bars of purple, green and navy folded into an A, with ATRIOC in heavy slanted letters.
And the other two?
- Sigma: one meme word in huge white italic capitals.
- Portrait With Dog: a black line drawing of a smiling bearded man hugging a small dog, the softest design in the set.
Every design comes on tees, long sleeves, crewnecks and hoodies, plus kids' and youth sizes. Browse the collection.