ABOUT

I started the Cola Corporation during the first Trump term as a response to the flamboyant stupidity that increasingly characterized U.S. politics and popular culture. I didn’t have a formal plan, or even a fixed political perspective. Prior to 2016, I hadn’t voted for anything other than the NBA All-Star Game. However, I had been fascinated by clothing and its implications since sixth grade, when a classmate mocked me for wearing the same G.I. Joe t-shirt two days in a row.

With Cola, I wanted to address the blatant contradictions between the myths that America tells about itself and actual reality. Graphic apparel provided the ideal vehicle. T-shirts, hoodies, and ball caps are public, portable, and difficult to keep contained. As I developed the brand, the clothing itself mattered more and more as clothing. Fabric and construction are not secondary to my visual designs. They must have the same integrity as the messages they transport.

Not everyone’s a fan. The Los Angeles Police Foundation sent a cease-and-desist letter, which resulted in my lawyer’s viral “LOL, no” response. U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized a shipment of t-shirts at O’Hare after seeing a design depicting a swarm of bees attacking a Chicago cop. (That experience inspired the Confiscated Collection.) Five major social-media platforms have revoked advertising access. Two leading Chicago cultural institutions agreed to feature specific designs, then reversed course after reviewing the full Cola portfolio.

I draw heat from individuals of all political tendencies. The Cola Corporation lives inside the contradictions it exposes. I use commerce and spectacle to critique a society built on commerce and spectacle. That tension is not incidental. It is part of the work, but it doesn’t sit well with people who want clean lines.

Cola Corp has nevertheless attracted a cult following. Visitors to the online shop often leave notes at checkout, some running to multiple paragraphs. Those notes inspired Postcard Card, which probably brings me closer to Cola co-conspirators than anything else I do. I chase that feeling of solidarity in every aspect of my work. I have an idea. I implant the idea in a design. Someone picks up the design and wears it, smuggling the idea out into the open.

Provocation is a public service.

—Joe Cola