On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin expressed, in a public address, his desire for New Orleans to become a “chocolate city.” Dolph Federico, owner of Pelican Graphics, quickly created a clothing line conveying his disapproval of the mayor’s wishes. Dolph Federico launched his “I’m not chocolate” T-shirts mere hours after the speech on his Web site, www.imnotchocolate.com.
During a program at New Orleans City Hall commemorating MLK day, Nagin said he called upon the deceased King, who told him of his dislike of the status of the black community in America, especially in New Orleans.
“This city will be a majority African-American city,” said Nagin. “It’s the way God wants it to be.”
Federico said the idea to make something spoofing the mayor’s comments came when his friend asked him to make a banner that read, “I’m not chocolate, but God still wants me here.” After playing with it for a while, he was hit by the idea for the T-shirts.
“This thing just came about in a matter of seconds,” said Federico.
Federico said he never expected the shirts to sell to many people at all because it began as a small joke.
“We just kind of did it for our friends,” said Federico.
Federico said he just sent e-mails to close friends, and by the next morning there were far more orders than he had ever bargained for. At first he did not even have the means to sell the shirts wholesale, but after switching the production of the shirts to wholesale, the sales of the shirts skyrocketed.
“We have sold around 4,000,” said Federico
Federico said that 50 percent of his sales are not even from Louisiana, much less New Orleans. He has sold shirts to people in France, Norway and Malaysia.
Federico said the shirts were never meant as a political statement of any kind, just as a joke between friends.
“We just did it as a goof,” said Federico. “Low and behold, here we are selling these shirts.”
Federico has owned Pelican Graphics, the company selling the shirts, for about four years, but this is his first foray into the political world.
Federico said he now realizes how much money can be made off politicians’ goofs, and he said as long as politicians continue to make silly comments, he will attempt to make shirts about them.
 
Contact Travis Andrews at [email protected]