After investing £3,500 on the creation of hundreds of Liz Truss dog toys, one guy was shocked to learn that the prime minister had resigned after only 44 days in office.
Following a turbulent six weeks in office, Ms. Truss announced on Thursday that she was resigning from her position on the steps of 10 Downing Street. Boris Johnson dog toys were David Farquharson’s original idea, but after the Conservative Party leader announced his resignation in early July, he decided against them.
Mr. Farquharson, who is originally from Somerset but has been a resident of London for seven years, closely followed the subsequent Tory leadership contest and, upon learning that Ms. Truss was the overwhelming favorite to win, made the decision to “get ahead of the curve” and focus on her instead.
When the Tory lawmaker announced she was leaving Number 10 after just 45 days on the job, the 30-year-old was left in hysterics after spending some money to have the toy developed, made, and shipped over from China.
The strange goods will still be sold at £14.99, and business development specialist Dave hopes that “politically incorrect” stores could be interested in carrying the product.
After posting a picture of the item to Twitter, Dave received advice from some to use the plastic figurine as a Robbie Savage or Uma Thurman memorial, while others recommended him to “get his head checked.”
Despite the fact that his wife Hannah was left with her “head in her hands,” Dave still finds humor in the situation when 500 of the trinkets make their way to his apartment.
Dave from Ealing, London, stated: “About two weeks from now, I’ll receive my first shipment of Liz Truss dog toys. 500 of them are coming.”
“When she resigned, I thought ‘Oh f***ing hell, here we go’. It just made the whole thing even more ridiculous and funny.”
“I had this vision of me with 500 Liz Truss dog toys in my flat and my wife thinking ‘Dave…come on. What a stupid idea this was’.”
“It cost about £400 or £500 to design it and get the samples made. I was testing the sample out on my dog Gus and he loves it.”
“It cost a couple thousand pounds to get the product made, alongside import duties, VAT and to ship the product from China where it was made. I don’t really know what to do with them now. I’ve started taking pre-orders – I’ve sold a whopping five.”
“I am in talks with some retailers about buying some as well. We’ll see where that goes. What I’ve learned is that traditional pet stores don’t want to sell anything that’s political.
“I’ve found that it’s the fun, quirky shops that are a bit politically incorrect that are more interested. We’ll see if it’ll be a Christmas hit or not.”
Gus, Dave’s cockapoo, has already shown interest in a sample of the toy and spends a lot of time playing with the PM made of plastic.
“When I first got the sample, I put it on my desk. I’d never seen him do this before, but Gus walked up to the desk and started whining for it,” Dave added.
“He really likes the toy. He even picks it up and brings it back to his bed, which is kind of weird. When I was making it, I thought it would appeal to both sides of the political spectrum. I wasn’t making it thinking ‘If you hate the Tories, you’ll get your dog chewing on this’.”
“It’s funny no matter what side you fall on. Maybe it’s more fun if you want your dog to play around it with it though.”
When Liz Truss was vying to become the leader of the Conservative Party, Dave first had the concept for the Liz Truss toy.
“I was thinking about making a Boris Johnson dog toy, but then Partygate hit and I thought it wouldn’t be a good idea,” Dave said.
“I was watching the Tory leadership election quite closely and I kept hearing that Liz Truss had the better chance of winning. It’s funny, if I’d chosen Rishi to make a toy of, the toys would be arriving just as he became Prime Minister.”
“I thought that I’d take the risk. About two or three weeks before she became leader, I started getting the designs made. Luckily, it came through that she’d won. The process took a while.”
“Ironically, the time needed by manufacturers to get the toys made was 45 days. We had David Cameron for a few years, Theresa May for just over two, Boris Johnson for just under two, and now Liz Truss for 45 days. I honestly wouldn’t put a bet on how long Rishi would last.”
Although opinions on Twitter were varied, Dave’s amusing hobby has brought him a lot of amusement.
“I like making funny, silly products as a side hustle. I’m always looking for the next thing to do, I enjoy the silliness of it,” Dave added.
“My wife is going to kill me having all of these dog toys in a two-bedroom apartment, but we will see what happens there. Luckily, she knew who she married!”
“The reactions on Twitter have been my favourite part of all of this. One person just replied saying ‘Have you considered not manufacturing a Liz Truss dog toy?’, which was a really good point.”
“Other people were saying I needed to get my head checked or ‘Oh, that’s what we need, more plastic s**t from China’.
“Half of the people on Twitter found it hilarious and the other half were hating it. But I’ll take it.”
“I had one person suggest I repurpose it as an Uma Thurman toy. Another guy said I should put a Leicester badge on it and make it Robbie Savage.”
“Have you considered not manufacturing weird tory dog toys?”, one user asked. “You should probably get your head checked,” said another.