Backstabber Report

Zazzle.com Shows Anti Bradley Manning Policy Stance

Being an honorably discharged veteran I took an interest in Bradley Manning, the accused Wikileaks source of secret documents and videos, when the story first broke of his arrest and incarceration.

I made a donation to his legal fund. I also created some Zazzle products, using the proceeds of those sales for further donations to his legal fund. I saw some crap in the military during my time of service and I respect anyone who has the courage to expose bullshit.

Sales of Zazzle products weren’t anything spectacular, but every little commission certainly helped toward defending Bradley.

Today, January 31, 2011, I received an email from Zazzle.com that they were removing my bumper sticker item. I expect my other products will follow in short order.

This is their email:

Thank you for your interest in Zazzle.com, and thank you for publishing products on Zazzle.

Unfortunately, it appears that your product, Free Bradley Manning Bumper Sticker, contains content that is not suitable for printing at Zazzle.com.

We will be removing this product from the Zazzle Marketplace shortly.

Please help us make our content approval process better by taking this short survey.

The details of the product being removed are listed below:
• Product Title: Free Bradley Manning Bumper Sticker
• Product Type: Bumper Stickers
• Product ID: 128584763723997311
• Result: Not Approved
• Policy Violations:
o Design contains text or image that is in violation of an individual’s rights of celebrity/publicity. If you are interested in purchasing Official Licensed Merchandise from Zazzle please visit: www.zazzle.com/brands
• Image: Image

We apologize for the inconvenience, a detailed description of the policies are located here.

If you have any questions or concerns about the review of your product, please email content_review@zazzle.com
Best Regards,
Content Review Team
Zazzle Inc.

It seems they have a problem with a public image of Bradley Manning that was used on the bumper sticker. It was an image used on news broadcasts and found throughout the Internet. It was, in fact, the image of him in uniform.

What I found interesting is that Zazzle.com is claiming they are protecting Bradley Manning’s rights as a celebrity and his publicity.

I have a hard time believing that, after doing a search for Bradley Manning products on Zazzle. Where there were once many Bradley Manning supporters posting items in support of Bradley, there now seems to be few available. They are slowly being removed and are almost non-existent as I write this. In fact, so scarce are the items, that less than two can be found with even the mention of Bradley Manning’s name in the text of an item.

Like the U.S. government, Zazzle.com is trying to make Bradley Manning disappear. Zazzle.com is obviously taking an anti-Bradley position.

This isn’t about protecting Bradley Manning’s rights to privacy – it’s about Zazzle.com not wanting to supply products that support a man who found the courage to expose the lies of the U.S. government to its’ citizens.

Zazzle.com has entered the world of politics, rather than remaining in it’s self-assigned role of providing products.

For this reason, all Zazzle.com products should be boycotted. I suspect Julian Assange products will be next on the chopping block.