And it's not like software engineers are spending time on this instead of working on Firefox. That's not a real tradeoff. It's an effort that pays for itself and doesn't take away from Firefox development.
Agreed, but did they need a new mascot to sell merchandise? It’s not like the old logo wasn’t already cool.
> And it's not like software engineers are spending time on this instead of working on Firefox.
But Mozilla is still spending money and resources on it. The issue isn’t this rebranding specifically, but that this is yet another distraction which won’t produce any real result.
> It's an effort that pays for itself
Is it? That’s not a given, and we definitely can’t say either way yet. Considering all of Mozilla’s past efforts, pretty much all of which they abandoned, I’d be very wary of calling this one a success so early on.
The economics of selling branded clothing has been very well understood for 50 years. The markup for slapping a logo on a T-shirt is massive. Plus, it's a form of crowdsourced, word-of-chest advertising.
And Mozilla already has designers on staff. It's unlikely they had to do any extra hiring for this.
None of that addresses the point that the old logo was already very merchandisable.
Furthermore, whatever markup they’re making is not something you can just generalise. It is very possible, likely even, that the bulk of the cost goes to whatever company is making the t-shirts (I haven’t looked but I doubt Mozilla is doing it in-house).
> How will my donation be used?
> At Mozilla, our mission is to keep the Internet healthy, open, and accessible for all. The Mozilla Foundation programs are supported by grassroots donations and grants. Our grassroots donations, from supporters like you, are our most flexible source of funding. These funds directly support advocacy campaigns (i.e. asking big tech companies to protect your privacy), research and publications like the Privacy Not Included buyer's guide and Internet Health Report, and covers a portion of our annual MozFest gathering.
(from https://www.mozillafoundation.org/en/donate/help/#frequently...)
Do Spreadshirt sales benefit the Foundation (not Firefox), or are they revenue for the Corporation (Firefox)? I've looked around for a minute and can't tell.
T-Shirts and Sweatshirts are 100% organic cotton (in the UK store at least).
I put my money where my mouth is, I use Firefox everyday for my regular browsing both on my computer and on Android. It works great. So tired of the FUD.