Brand Swag: BlueSky Merch

Brand Swag T-Shirt: ‘Mundus sine Caesaribus’ - A world without Caesars


Objective:
Bluesky CEO Jay Graber took a not-so-subtle swipe at Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg during the South by Southwest (SXSW) 2025 conference, letting her T-shirt do the talking. Graber’s black shirt featured the Latin phrase “Mundus sine Caesaribus,” meaning "a world without Caesars"—a pointed reference to Zuckerberg’s own past sartorial statement, “Aut Zuck aut nihil” (“Zuck or nothing”), a play on the classic Latin phrase “Aut Caesar aut nihil.”


Why it works:

  1. Use your competitors’ branding against them when highlighting your differences

  2. Wearable branding is one way to stand out, especially if you’re doing a keynote speech at SXSW

  3. Business trolling gets attention, gets people talking, and can if done successfully, sell products (which it sold out)

Images

Bluesky CEO Jay Graber

Bluesky CEO Jay Graber

Mark Zuckerberg wearing a shirt that says "aut zuck aut nihil"

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Brand Swag: The Ordinary Eggs

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Campaign: Meghan Markle Rebrand ‘As Ever’ (branding failure)