`Bribes R Us' Pin Is Hot Seller
Salt Lake Tribune 23May99 L3
`Bribes R Us' Pin Is Hot Seller

A Salt Lake City radio talk-show host is capitalizing on the city's newfound reputation as the world's bribery capital, by casting his ideas in front of the public as spoof collector's pins. However, the hobbyist pin maker, Hank Hathaway, can't make enough of them.

So far Hathaway has three pins, with the featured pin labeled, "Bribes R Us". This pin resembles a Utah centennial license plate including the natural arch with a prison inmate in black-and-white stripes.

Another pin comes with a martini glass embossed on the shape of a black colored state of Utah with a red slash through the glass, saying "Utah's night life."

A third pin takes aim at us Mormons, showing the gates of the Salt Lake Temple, with the saying "Help! I'm trapped behind the Zion curtain."

The "bribes" pin is achieving global appeal. Though it hasn't been publicly unveiled yet, Hathaway has sold nearly 500 so far. "I'm getting calls from all over the country for `Bribes R Us,' " he said.

Even the FBI has contacted Hathaway. Agents are asking to buy as many of the "bribes" pins as possible, though Hathaway will sell only up to 10 at a time to a single customer, as he is personally making them out of his house.