It’s the end of an era for late night television this week, as The Late Show With Stephen Colbert airs its final episode on Thursday night.

Colbert’s team has commemorated the occasion by launching a fundraising campaign centered on branded merchandise. The campaign, which launched in March, features a T-shirt with the program’s traditional logo changed to “The Last Show With Stephen Colbert.” All T-shirt sales go to World Central Kitchen, restaurateur José Andrés’s nonprofit providing meals to communities impacted by natural disasters and during humanitarian crises.

As of Friday, 66,193 T-shirts have been sold, and the campaign has raised nearly $2 million, according to Niloo Amiri, president of Marina Del Ray, California-based distributor Tower One Promotions (PPAI 682217, Standard-Base), which has been handling production and fulfillment.

“It’s a great honor to be part of this amazing cause,” Amiri tells PPAI Media. “It makes you want to get up in the morning and continue. The amount of money that’s been donated to charity is phenomenal.”

A 25-plus-year veteran of the branded merch industry, Amiri has worked on both the supplier and distributor side. In 2016, she founded Tower One Promotions, which has worked with The Late Show With Stephen Colbert for the past decade.

Claiming the media and entertainment industry as her niche, Amiri says her firm (consisting of herself and three part-time employees) also handled the merch for Strike Force Five, a podcast hosted by Colbert and fellow late night talk show hosts Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers and John Oliver.

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  • The quintet created the podcast to support their employees during the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike.


Merch sales for that endeavor generated around $60,000, according to Amiri. “It was so refreshing to see the whole team back together,” she says, referring to the quintet’s reunion last week on both Colbert’s show and for perhaps a final podcast episode.

Flexibility And Trusted Partners

As with all of her clients, Amiri says she began her relationship with The Late Show With Stephen Colbert based off referrals.

“Being a small distributor allows for a lot of flexibility when it comes to making exceptions and decisions, specifically, not having to go through layers of management,” Amiri says. “That’s something my clients have always appreciated.”

Although designing merch is usually a collaboration with the client, Amiri credits Colbert’s team for presenting the changed logo for this campaign. “We made very quick pre-production samples, providing a product that was better quality than standard – something that people would like to wear and keep.”

The show ending will have some impact on my business, but I’m not worried about it. I’m just thrilled to have been part of this incredible journey.”

Niloo Amiri

President, Tower One Promotions

The shirts are sold on eBay because The Late Show is already using that platform for another World Central Kitchen fundraiser, auctioning off props and memorabilia from the past 11 years. [Tower One Promotions isn’t involved with the auction.]

Amiri is partnering with SanMar, PPAI 100’s No. 1 supplier, to source the T-shirts and Shopify for fulfillment. “On the backend, this was all put together in 24 hours,” Amiri says. “It’s a very fast-paced industry where you have to be prepared to act really quick. I always have confidence in my team and my vendors, but the level of response we received in the beginning was a little overwhelming. We’re still receiving 2,000-3,000 orders on a daily basis.”

In a statement to PPAI Media, SanMar says, “Of course, we love that it’s a District shirt, but more than anything, we’re always thrilled to see promotional apparel featured in such a highly visible way.”

When Colbert’s final episode airs on May 21, that will be the end of the campaign, and most likely, Amiri’s relationship with the brand.

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“I always have the mindset that when one door closes, many more open,” Amiri says. “We’ve been very fortunate when it comes to new clients and referrals. The show ending will have some impact on my business, but I’m not worried about it. I’m just thrilled to have been part of this incredible journey.”

Amiri’s advice for fellow distributors when tackling such a high-profile project:

  • Don’t give up.
  • Hard work pays off.
  • Have a sense of humor and gratitude. “Things go wrong, but ultimately, we’re not doing brain surgery here,” Amiri says.