{"id":4045,"date":"2017-09-28T06:13:14","date_gmt":"2017-09-28T06:13:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/?p=4045"},"modified":"2017-09-28T06:13:14","modified_gmt":"2017-09-28T06:13:14","slug":"merchandising-empire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/?p=4045","title":{"rendered":"Merchandising Empire"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Inside the Court Painter Merchandising Empire<\/h1>\n

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This Inglewood art celebrity is at the centre of a sprawling business.<\/p>\n<\/header>\n<\/div>\n

Court Painter’s Grande Opening of his Inglewood studio store demonstrates he has expanded beyond traditional souvenir fare such as buttons, bumper stickers, tote bags and T-shirts to offer a line of products that capitalize on the \u201cEgo is My Ammo\u201d meme. Nicotine scented Prayer candles. Action Painting figures,Hookahs, Temporary tattoos,Erotic Colouring books, Leggings, Ashtrays, Cigarette holders, Cigarette Papers,Boxes of Multi Coloured Matches,Pipes,Candy cigarettes, Medical Marijuana and Liquorice cigars are just a few of the products offered.<\/figcaption>
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Court Painter isn\u2019t just a progressive art icon, he\u2019s a merchandising industry unto himself.<\/p>\n

The celebrity portraitist is at the centre of a sprawling business built around his appeal to senior art hobbyists , adolescents and dotards across the Great Dominion\u2014 a reminder of the unabashed devotion he inspires and the deep shadow he casts in his hipster neighbourhood.<\/p>\n

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“Court Painter is an increasingly popular brand that people want to associate with,\u201d said Press Attache and marketing manager A Hardon MacKay. \u201cHe’s the Apple of the Arts.”<\/p>\n

It\u2019s impossible to know the true size of the Court Painter merchandising-industrial complex. The bulk of it exists beyond his control on sites like online marketplace Etsy. And his studio, which hosts its own online store<\/u>, declined to disclose the exact amount of money it raises from merchandise sales.<\/p>\n

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But it\u2019s safe to say no other artist has anything like it.<\/p>\n

Court Painter’s studio store has expanded beyond traditional artsy fare such as buttons, bumper stickers, tote bags and T-shirts to offer a line of \u00a0smoking related paraphernalia and erotica that capitalize on the \u201cEGO is My AMMO” meme spawned by Court Painter as the result of an opium dream.<\/p>\n

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Several items are sold out at the moment \u2014 among them $9.99 temporary tattoos. According to the marketing campaign, the tattoos were inspired by attendees to Court Painter’s favourite watering hole \u00a0with permanent ink bearing the Court Painter quote. Court Painter gave his blessing for the temporary tat, which uses his handwriting to spell out the quote “EGO is my Ammo”in dark prussian blue ink.<\/p>\n

Celebrity political mafia like families fly in from New York just to shop and stock up on medical marijuana and Court Painter action figures.<\/p>\n

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Press Attache A Hardon MacKay sold 20,000 of the T-shirts alone \u2014 and, at $24.99 a pop, that comes out to almost a half-million dollars. He is already sold out of temporary tattoos,cigarette holders and pink hats with white \u201cEGO is my AMMO,\u201d stitching, also priced at $24.99 and marketed specifically for Valentines and Mother\u2019s Day.<\/p>\n

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A Hardon MacKay wouldn\u2019t disclose the specific amount of tattoos and hats produced but said that together, it was a \u201ccouple thousand.\u201d<\/p>\n

The widest range of Court Painter-smoking inspired swag, however, is sold by private vendors outside junior and senior high schools. A quick Web search for \u201cEGO is my Ammo\u201d yields roughly 5,400 results on Etsy and 33,000 on Amazon, with items for sale including cigarette holders,ashtrays,candy cigarettes,erotic colouring books,prayer candles , bracelets, painting smocks,tams,turtle neck sweaters coffee mugs, laptop decals, signs, hookahs,portraits, cross-stitch patterns, phone cases, pipes,cigarette papers,coasters,felt marker sets,medical marijuana and wine glasses, among other unmentionable items.<\/p>\n

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