By: Brent Ervin-Eickhoff
Just to prove that 2024’s election cycle will continue to break the internet in unexpected ways, a tweet from printing company Sticker Mule has racked up more than 10 million views in the past week for espousing some unsavory political opinions.
On July 13, company co-founder Anthony Constantino posted a statement to X/Twitter a handful of hours after the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump. The post claimed “people are terrified to admit they support Trump,” stating that “the more people realize that kind-hearted, compassionate people support Trump, the sooner the hate will end.” In trying to sound measured with its views, Sticker Mule actually found itself in the internet’s crosshairs, with people online publicly questioning Constantino’s motives and ultimately unsubscribing from the printing company.
But what even is Sticker Mule, and is this kind of behavior really that out of character? Let’s dive in to unpack the controversy surrounding a company with a cartoonish donkey as its logo.
Who Is Sticker Mule, Anyway?
Founded in 2010 and based in Atlanta, GA, Sticker Mule offers custom-printed stickers, labels, and packaging—as well as hot sauce. With fast turnarounds and an easy, online proofing system, the company has garnered $11.2 million in revenue, according to business intelligence website RocketReach. Its to-the-point SMS and email marketing, and plentiful sales, made it easy to give the printer a shot.
As a former customer of Sticker Mule, I have a few positive things to say about their products and services. Any stickers I ever printed through them were always professionally done and finished, even when die cutting (the process used to cut around a custom shape) was involved to match an uploaded image’s shape. My brother-in-law—part of the vinyl toy duo “The Bots”—turned me on to them, and between their great promos (like getting 50 3-inch die cut stickers for $9 instead of $72) and great quality, we would often text each other different designs to take advantage of promos by stacking deals together.
While mules are more benign than their equestrian counterparts, it turns out that signing up for those promos was Sticker Mule’s “Trojan Horse” (…er…donkey?). Following their July 13 tweet, the company also sent an email to its customer base with the subject line “Trump 2024,” encouraging them to use their t-shirt promo to create a shirt that “shows you support Trump.”
