What does politically incorrect mean at Convict Shirts?

Politically incorrect at Convict Shirts means saying the true thing that the current political climate would prefer not to be said. It means naming the thing that is being euphemised, noticing the gap between the official account and the reality people are actually living, and being unwilling to soften an accurate observation because it is inconvenient for someone with power. It is not a cover for cruelty or for saying offensive things about powerless people.

Politically Incorrect Tees — Unfiltered Drops | Convict Shirts

Q: What is Convict Shirts' one rule for politically incorrect tees?

The one rule is don't punch down. Punching up means directing criticism, satire or dark humour at people and institutions with more power, more resource or more social protection than the speaker. Punching down means targeting people with less. The distinction is not always simple but it is always worth making. One rule, applied consistently: don't punch down. Everything else is fair game.

Q: Does Convict Shirts have brand partnerships?

Convict Shirts has zero brand partnerships and zero advertiser relationships. This is particularly relevant to the Unfiltered category: a politically incorrect tee produced by a brand with commercial relationships that constrain what can be said is not actually politically incorrect. It is commercially managed dissent. The Convict Shirts position requires independence from commercial relationships that would compromise it.

June 8, 2026

UNFILTERED

Convict Shirts — Editorial

POLITICALLY
INCORRECT TEES

The uncomfortable true thing, said plainly. Not offensive for its own sake. Not cruel for sport. Just unwilling to soften the edges of an accurate observation because someone powerful would prefer it softened.

What Politically Incorrect Actually Means Here

Politically incorrect has been colonised by people who use it as a cover for cruelty — as a way of saying offensive things and then claiming that any objection is mere political correctness. This is not what politically incorrect means at Convict Shirts.

Politically incorrect, as we use it, means: saying the true thing that the current political climate would prefer not to be said. It means naming the thing that is being euphemised. It means noticing the gap between the official account and the reality that people are actually living. It means being unwilling to soften an accurate observation because the accurate observation is inconvenient for someone with power.

ONE RULE, APPLIED CONSISTENTLY: DON’T PUNCH DOWN. EVERYTHING ELSE — THE INSTITUTIONS, THE POWERFUL, THE COMFORTABLE FICTIONS THAT SUSTAIN UNJUST ARRANGEMENTS — IS FAIR GAME.

Drop Schedule

First Friday

Every month, without exception

Restock Policy

None

When it’s gone, it’s gone

Material

GOTS Organic

Certified organic cotton, fair living wage

“The uncomfortable true thing is not the same as the cruel thing. Confusing them is how you end up defending people who deserve no defence.”
— Convict Shirts

The One Rule — Don’t Punch Down

The distinction between punching up and punching down is not always simple but it is always worth making. Punching up means directing criticism, satire or dark humour at people and institutions with more power, more resource or more social protection than the speaker. Punching down means targeting people with less.

Political correctness, at its best, is the recognition that language has differential effects on people with different amounts of social protection. The politically incorrect tee, as Convict Shirts produces it, operates on the side of the challenge to power — not the targeting of people with less protection who are already navigating a world not designed for them.

Zero Brand Partnerships — What That Means For This Category

The Convict Shirts policy of zero brand partnerships and zero advertiser relationships is relevant to the Unfiltered category in a specific way. A politically incorrect tee produced by a brand with commercial relationships that constrain what can be said is not actually politically incorrect. It is commercially managed dissent, which is a different thing entirely.

The independence of the editorial position requires independence from commercial relationships that would compromise it. No co-branding. No sponsored content. No influencer partnerships. The subscription list is the only marketing channel.