Graphic tees can be ways to express your allegiance to a sports team, school, or favorite band. Sometimes, they simply include humorous phrases on interesting designs. Many graphic tees allow their wearers to demonstrate their viewpoint on a specific issue or political candidate.
This shirt helps its wearer show support for President Trump by including his campaign slogan. Source- DHgate
Similarly, this shirt includes a slogan that reveals a political attitude, but this time it opposes Trump. Source- Etsy
Both of the above shirts include a slogan (“Make America Great Again” or “Resist”) that help demonstrate the wearer’s thoughts about a political figure. On the other hand, this shirt from Libertarian Country more explicitly tries to convince the viewer of a certain political viewpoint.
Source- Libertarian Country
In this case, the creator of the T-shirt makes an argument that appeals to logical thinking. The phrasing of the text is even similar to many classical logos appeals. The use of an if…then statement mirrors an enthymeme. In this case, the major premise would be that the government says you don’t need a gun, and the implied minor premise is that the government should not be listened to (this is a libertarian website after all). This leads to the shirt’s conclusion that a gun is necessary.
This shirt invokes the libertarian ideology that the government should not get involved in the affairs of citizens. However, the shirt’s main logic behind its claim goes against the traditional commonplace that the US government usually promotes constitutional ideas (including the Second Amendment). In this way, the shirt fails to make a sound appeal to logos. Because their major premise is not true (the current government does not profess the notion that you don’t need a gun), the logic behind their argument is also not true. While there are many reasons a person may want to own a gun, the fact that this shirt chooses to use the government’s “anti-gun” stance as a reason to own one does not make logical sense, especially in a political era in which the NRA wields large amounts of power over gun legislation.
Therefore, while the t-shirt does attempt to use logos to promote a pro-gun stance, it ultimately falls short because of the broad (and currently untrue) claim that makes up the base of its logical appeal.