Isn’t it cool when you see an online advert with exactly what you’re looking for? It feels like a product was made just for you, or least, marketed directly to you. It could be something that you’re after: maybe a new jacket or a pair of sneakers.

Once in a while, you might see an advert for a product that has been tailored very specifically to someone. Not necessarily you or a general crowd, just… someone.

Here’s where r/TargetedShirts comes into the picture. Users have shared their screenshots and IRL encounters of t-shirts with oddly-specific slogans. Perhaps you’re born in April, like caramel frappucino’s and have an anger problem—well, there’s a t-shirt targeted at you for that. 

And the slogans on the t-shirts carry a similar theme throughout: they’re often crass, confrontational and in-your-face. The idea is encapsulated perfectly in the self referential parody t-shirt: “Weirdly specific shirt that mentions my birth month and is vaguely threatening for no reason”.

Here’s our favorite picks for the most bizarrely specific t-shirts that have been made in mind for, well, someone that wants them.

#1 Self Referential Parody

Image credits: thodges314

When you see them, you’ll be baffled that someone had the bright idea to design and sell such a product. But apparently, there’s a lucrative market for these kind of targeted t-shirts. 

To understand how the market got started, I spoke to the aptly-named Facebook page Shirts Marketed To Extremely Specific Demographics (@ExtremelySpecificShirts). Their page has a following of 54K people who also love these cringe-worthy t-shirts. @ExtremelySpecificShirts gave Bored Panda their views on the topic and a quick run-down on how it happened.

“The weird specificity of these shirts is a product of how adverts on Facebook work,” told Bored Panda. They go on to explain that: “In Facebook, you can target your ads to people based on things such as the pages they ‘Like’, their hobbies, jobs, birth months, etc. You can also target ads towards any combination of these variables.”

#2 Ok….

Image credits: harleyyydd888

#3 Now This Is One I Would Buy…

Image credits: Falom

@ExtremelySpecificShirts believes that: “people found there was money to be made in creating bots to automatically generate designs based on these variables.”

So, auto-generated marketing is what really drove this business to grow, and even become profitable. Plus, the numbers on the subreddit and Facebook page show that there’s an interest for the t-shirts. Is there something that we’re missing here? Are we on the brink of a new market and fashion trend for these hyper-specific t-shirts?

#4 One Of My Bar Regulars Waited 84 Years For His 21st Birthday! Happy Birthday Fred!

Image credits: Murraymurstein

#5 Smallest Target On Here

Image credits: BeanMachine0

I asked @ExtremelySpecificShirts what they thought of the cult-following behind the targeted t-shirts. Do people really love these t-shirts so much? Or is it all just a running-joke on the internet?

”There’s a combination of both,” the curator of the page says. ”I think older people are more likely to genuinely like these shirts and don’t really see the humor in how specific they are.”

However, this is contrasted by the niche of users that find the t-shirts ridiculous, but in a good way. @ExtremelySpecificShirts says, “I’ve also seen some of my followers tag me in pictures of themselves wearing targeted shirts. In their case it’s definitely ironic.“

#6 Gotta Go Fast

Image credits: mielmami

#7 Proud Owner Of This Bad Boy

Image credits: hallowbeeb

#8 I’m Not A Mycologist But This Is Probably One Of The Best Targeted Shirts I’ve Seen

Image credits: Plutonium-Lore

It looks like auto-generated marketing is here to stay. And we are seeing more and more content being produced with the aid of Artificial Intelligence. This is can be anything from artworks produced by machines or using deepfake technology to regenerate older actors to their prime (heads up: spoilers for ‘The Mandalorian’).

#9 Sometimes He Kicks Me, If You Don’t Like It Move

Image credits: reddit.com

#10 Recently Went Through A Rough Breakup, And My Dad Unironically Bought This For Me To Cheer Me Up. Made Me Laugh Pretty Hard, But I Genuinely Appreciate The Support. Love You Dad.

Image credits: mawrgan

#11 Um Ok

Image credits: mod_mad

I asked @ExtremelySpecificShirts what they think of today’s technology with regards to the technology out there. They think: “it’s funny, and maybe a bit dystopian, that we thought we’d have flying cars in the future but instead, we got extremely specific t-shirts.”

#12 Ran Into My Brother Randomly Out Shopping And He Was Wearing This Beauty. He Has Only One Cat

Image credits: bsurfn2day

#13 My Little Brother’s T-Shirt

Image credits: Hyper_ZX

#14 Seen On Livepd. Hell Yeah.

Image credits: danielletheboss

#15 My Mom Texted Me This Photo Today. Before You Ask – Yes, He Made This For Himself

Image credits: nadineleee

#16 Jimothy?

Image credits: ex1machina

#17 A Gift From My Boyfriend

Image credits: piss-sink

#18 I Am A Living Donor And Blindly Donated My Kidney To A Child. I Got To Meet Him Yesterday

Image credits: greenirishsaint

#19 Couldn’t Get Much More Targeted Without A Social Security Number On It

Image credits: dcohen9

#20 Saw On Facebook

Image credits: Koraxtheghoul

#21 Mystery

Image credits: KevlarYarmulke

#22 Friend Of Mine Had A Real Gem On His Instagram Story. “Any Vertebrate With Offspring” Killed Me

Image credits: thefuchsiaisnow

#23 I Finally Own One Of These Nightmares

Image credits: Chicagogospel

#24 My Real Life Aunt And Her Real Life Shirt

Image credits: reddit.com

#25 Found One At Disney World

Image credits: monsterscribbles

#26 Actual Shirt Owned By Actual FB Friend

Image credits: BuridansAscot

#27 Where My Welder Mom’s At??

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#28 Cicada Sexfest

Image credits: TallPaul2828

#29 A Friend Got Me My Favorite Birthday Present

Image credits: orthofort

#30 Fico Yeah!

Image credits: IronicMerman

#31 My First Entry To This Sub

Image credits: Ducknana

#32 My Friend Gave Me This Shirt. I Can’t Tell Her I Would Never Dream Of Wearing It Outside Of The House

Image credits: Kstarkiller

#33 Makes Me Embarrassed To Be A Fellow Mechanic

Image credits: 64strokeDC

#34 My Dad’s Shirt

Image credits: ben_macca1999

#35 My Sister Turned 30 In June And I Saw My Chance And Took It. Even If She’ll Never Wear It I Have No Regrets

Image credits: maiaiam

#36 My Boss Bought This For His Girlfriend And She Was Flaunting It On Instagram

Image credits: beerlightpunk

#37 MIL Bought This For My Wife

Image credits: Amybo82

#38 My Sister Got My Dad A Present

Image credits: Kostrom

#39 Simple Yet Effective

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#40 Wife’s Late Xmas Gift Arrived For Me. Was Hoping For A Cable Or Pedal, But Got A Targeted Shirt

Image credits: OK_Compooper

#41 My Parents Got Me This For My Birthday

Image credits: Lilslysapper

#42 This Is The Best $0.49 I’ve Ever Spent

Image credits: rancidcum

#43 My Wife Obviously Hates Me… A Christmas Present

Image credits: unclekody

#44 I Found This Gem At Goodwill, Not Rly Sure Who Sharon Is

Image credits: dagmar_7

#45 I Am In Love!!

Image credits: Cattreddit

#46 Got Both Shirts For Myself And My Daughter

Image credits: d_trump29

#47 First Time Seeing One Of These In Real Life!

Image credits: Lunachick182

#48 Blue Cheese

Image credits: such_dependent

#49 Cringy Shirt Out In The Wild

Image credits: BigAssPizzaPocket

#50 I Have One Of The Shirts Posted Here The Other Day! It’s One Of My Favorites In My Wardrobe

Image credits: Pooblbop

#51 My Order Got Mixed Up And I Got This Beauty

Image credits: SkulpH

#52 Found This At A Thrift Shop

Image credits: PurpleCoco

#53 I Caught My Friend Wearing This Today

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#54 My Prized Possession

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#55 Never Thought It Would Happen: Someone I Know Irl Actually Received And Is Wearing One!

Image credits: AnnaPea

#56 Found This At Goodwill And Bought It Of Course

Image credits: ImperialArsholeKid

#57 Shirt My Buddy Wore To A Get Together The Other Day. You’ll Never Guess Who Bought It For Him…

Image credits: TipperTheMorningToYa

#58 I Found One In The Wild!

Image credits: flashbulbsburst

#59 Man, This One Really Takes You Places

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#60 My Boss Bought This For Himself

Image credits: Shock_Hazzard

#61 “Where’d You Get The Shirt, Mom?” “Facebook!”

Image credits: chezzietaylor

#62 Dewskis, Papa Roach, And Tony Hawk’s Underground 2

Image credits: olivegardengambler

#63 My Wife And I Love This Sub, So For Father’s Day She Made Me This Shirt

Image credits: reddit.com

#64 Posted By A Cousin On Facebook

Image credits: Jayyne

#65 My Entry That I Got On Amazon A Few Months Ago, Complete With A Typo

Image credits: PaintTheWatermelon

#66 Facebook Delivered Today

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#67 Grumpy Old September Man

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#68 This Is It…

Image credits: greezystrangler

Source: boredpanda.com