Shirt Maker Hopes to Cash in on Charlie Sheen Craze

If Charlie Sheen can turn his public antics into a moneymaking opportunity by starting a multicity tour, Jason Ptak figured he’d jump on the winning bandwagon as well.

Shortly before Sheen began a war with execs from his former TV show Two and a Half Men, Ptak, 32, had kicked off an online-based T-shirt company, Bleachertees.com.

Ptak had toyed with the idea of starting his own business for years, but didn’t get serious with it until late February. And then when Sheen began giving TV interview after TV interview and coining certain phrases, it was one of those light bulb moments for Ptak.

“When the Charlie Sheen explosion happened, it was a few days after he had used the ‘tiger blood’ phrase that it all of a sudden dawned on me that people could read into the tiger blood thing as being something to do with the Detroit Tigers,” Ptak said.

With the help of his designer, Olivia Vizachero of AssistSense, Ptak released his “I Bleed Tiger Blood” T-shirt online two weeks ago.

He posted photos of it on his personal Facebook page and began spreading the link to his T-shirt company to friends and associates. It was supposed to be a soft launch as he was still in the production stage of his shirt.

Those plans changed, however, when local TV news media somehow found out about it and ran a story about the cleverness of the shirt.

“They never called me for an interview or anything, so I had no idea this had happened,” Ptak said. “Then orders started coming in. I was getting phone calls and it sort of took a life of its own. Even after the initial surge of orders ended, things have been steady since.”

He said he’s sold more than 200 shirts and has already met with a representative of the U.S. Postal Service to discuss various mailing options.

“That’s a lot of packages to send out in such a short amount of time, so I appreciate the man’s advice on handling things,” Ptak said.

The shirts sell for $20 online, which includes free postage. However, Ptak is offering a deal for the locals. He’ll be selling the shirts for $15 out of a tent in front of from

While he hasn’t yet worn his own shirt, Ptak said, he’s confident it will pass the test for his company’s motto.

“We say that our mission is to attract stares and conversation every time you wear our shirts out in public,” he said.

Ptak said he’s already heard from customers who plan to wear the shirt to Sheen’s “Violent Torpedo of Truth/Defeat is Not an Option” show at the Fox Theatre on April 2, as well as to the Tigers’ home opener on April 8.

Those types of comments cause Ptak to believe he’s on the right course, he said.

“I’m a huge sports fan,” he said. “A lot of things I read about starting your own business is to do something you’re passionate about. I’m hoping to find something that might work for me and we’ll see where it goes from here. … It’s been a fun journey so far.”

The one-term city councilman (2005-09) now sells real estate and provides marketing expertise to several companies. Down the road, though, he said he’d be willing to trade it all in for a stab at T-shirt making.

“My hope is to turn it into a full-time business,” he said. “Right now, I’m cautiously optimistic about it. I’m serious about it, but I don’t want to have unreachable expectations early on.”

In order to stay in the zone, Ptak said, he’s figured out how to grow the business slowly for now.

“My goal would be to add a new design once a week,” he said. “That may be a little ambitious, but in a perfect world, that is what I strive for. I have a lot of ideas on deck that I’m looking forward to doing. I wish I had more of them up right now, but I’ve been scrambling to take care of all the orders I’ve gotten. That’s always a good problem to have.”

Knowing that Sheen is a big baseball fan, Ptak said, he’s tracked down an address for the actor and plans to send him a T-shirt. He also has a message he’d like to deliver to the Major League star.

“Thanks for making the start of my company a ‘winning’ venture,” Ptak said.