At Micro.blog we’ve used Sticker Mule for a while. A few years ago, I remember reading something about the founder supporting Trump. We actually talked about it internally. Do we care about the political opinions of companies that make a product we pay for?
Ultimately, I decided we rarely order stickers and it’s a slippery slope to judge every company this way. What if the guy who runs the convenience store supports Trump? Can I still pick up a Dr. Pepper from his store or do I need to shop elsewhere? That’s silly. Small businesses especially should be allowed some leeway, as long as it’s not interfering with the relationship between owners and and their customers, and as long as they don’t appear to be actively using their business to promote causes we don’t agree with.
Fast forward to this week when Sticker Mule co-founder Anthony Constantino sent this email to customers. Here are a couple excerpts:
I don’t care what your political views are but the hate for Trump and his supporters has gone too far.
People are terrified to admit they support Trump. I’ve been scared myself.
Anthony has misjudged how people are reacting to the attempted assassination. We don’t want Trump killed, but we are not coming together over this to support him. Anyway, let’s continue:
Btw, this week, get 1 shirt for $4 (normally $19).
I suggest buying one that shows you support Trump.
This whole email crosses a line. It’s inappropriate. It’s elevating his personal opinion to put it right in our face. I’m not going to use Sticker Mule again because now I know my money is used in part to send what are effectively promotional emails for a convicted felon, a candidate who is unfit for the presidency.
Same thing with Elon Musk, who said this week he will donate $45 million each month to a pro-Trump super PAC. He will also relocate SpaceX to Texas because he doesn’t like California’s politics. Twitter X is a disaster regardless, full of hate and misinformation, and I’ll be staying away from the platform.
I think about my own blog too, where I’ve frequently written about politics. No one who reads my blog will be surprised that I’m going to vote a straight Democratic ticket in November. I don’t think I’m a hypocrite on this. While I will try to balance the tone in my posts on very divisive issues — writing about the war in Gaza was challenging — it is my personal blog. There’s a difference between what I post on manton.org and what I post on news.micro.blog, or what I send to customers in email.
Micro.blog customers do read my blog, but my account is not auto-followed. If someone is annoyed with my posts, they should be able to ignore them and still be a happy customer.
Maybe that’s the advice for Anthony and Sticker Mule: get this crap out of your company messaging. On a personal blog you can write about a range of topics. Folks who dislike your politics can choose to stay away. But spare us the lecture on Trump and unity, and leave it out of your emails.
Kitt Hod Sticker Ninja comes highly recommended from the XOXO fest group. :)
Manton Reece @kitt Good to know! We can switch to them in the future.
Pratik 👏🏽 Good line of thinking.
James Manes What a wild response from the founder. Ditching his ass is the only right response.
Dave Winer Makes sense. He's made Trump support a selling point, implying that his customers are there because they support Trump. Also makes sense that you'd disclose it, to maintain your integrity. Make sure everyone knows where you're coming from. I'm voting straight Democratic too, fwiw. ;-)
Ryan Mikulovsky Where I live, it's Trump voters everywhere. I wouldn't be able to have a modern life if I avoided doing business with Trumpers (electricians, plumbers etc). So I'll do business with those that don't USE their business to obviously support Trump. If they do, they're out. Yeah, Sticker Mule definitely crossed that line.
Matthew Gregg 
Vincent @kitt love their homepage, it's pretty awesome.
Joe Cieplinski well said. If you boycott every business that has a CEO you disagree with, pretty soon you won’t be able to buy anything. But this is definitely over the line. Thanks for the tip. They are off my list as well.
Kimberly Hirsh Business practices are a big part of it for me, too. I mean, there are businesses that are known large donors/sponsors that I will avoid patronizing, but I look as much to labor practices and how they treat customers. This tweet (I know but it's where someone referred me to it) gives multiple examples of what I mean.
Pratik @KimberlyHirsh This is approaching that pillow guy level. It seems the sticker guy wants in in the cash cow that’s the conservative hate memorabilia market. Also, not surprised that he violates labor laws. Such places are notoriously bad places to work
Linh Nguyen I honestly struggle with this a bit. I fully agree with you... but I've seen the other side of this as well. A very left leaning business owner pushing their politics direct to customers.
I just happen to agree with them so it slides and it feels a bit hypocritical on my part. But this company also is very clearly left leaning in their promotion and portrayal. So it's... not a surprise?
Jarrod Blundy Well said! I’m curious (because I struggle with it myself) on where you land with 37signals — if you care to share. I mostly like the products, but have become increasingly uncomfortable with DHH’s (and somewhat JF’s) views. Now they write on their personal blogs (which I can and do ignore these days) instead of the company site…and yet…I wouldn’t feel great about using or recommending their products like I used to.
Jason Becker @jarrod I drew the line with 37 Signal when it became clear that they operate a workplace in line with beliefs I find to be horrific in bosses, which felt like a betrayal after they spend so much time talking about what a great place to work they had made.
Jarrod Blundy @jsonbecker That was the catalyst for me as well.
Manton Reece @acfusco We try to avoid political posts in Discover. It’s not a strict rule but I think generally it’s better and less divisive.
Manton Reece @jarrod I've been a fan of Jason's for so long (first blogged about him 20 years ago) that I think I'm more forgiving of that team than some people. I do disagree with DHH sometimes, but he's right a lot too. I totally get why some people are uncomfortable using their products. Another considering to me is that there really isn't any other software like Basecamp.
Jarrod Blundy