Potato salad Kickstarter raises more than $50,000
We normally see the likes of crowdfunding service Kickstarter used to fund the production of films, novels, apps and so on.
But one enterprising American has taken to Kickstarter to raise funds to make … a potato salad. And what clearly started as a joke appears to have taken on a life of its own.
The Kickstarter project – simply called Potato Salad – has a campaign goal of $10 but at the time of writing has raised almost $58,000 from 4,665 backers … with 24 days still to go.
Creator Zack Danger Brown – of Columbus, Ohio – listed his campaign on July 3 with the following description: “I’m making potato salad. Basically I’m just making potato salad. I haven’t decided what kind yet.”
When the project began, the rewards were fairly simple. Those pledging $1 would get a “thank you” on Brown’s website and he would say “thank you” out loud while making the salad. Anyone who pledged $2 would get a photo of Brown making the salad, while a pledge of $3 would get backers an actual bite of the salad along with a photo of Brown making the salad.
At the bottom of the Kickstarter page, Brown warns: “It might not be that good. It’s my first potato salad.”
Since the campaign took off with such surprising success, Brown has added several updates and stretch goals. He promised to throw a pizza party if the campaign reached $75, and he would try two different salad recipes if the campaign reached $100.
At $300, Brown said he’d call a chef to get a better recipe. And at $350, he said he’d make “way more potato salad and probably do a third recipe”.
At $1,000, Brown said: “I’ll do a live stream of the potato salad making.” At $1,200, Brown said he would pay someone to film a thank-you video for all of his backers.
And the stretch goal for $3,000: “My kitchen is too small! I will rent out a party hall and invite the whole internet to the potato salad party (only $10 and above will be allowed in the kitchen)! The internet loves potato salad! Let’s show them that potato salad loves the internet!!”
Although the sampaign is clearly a joke, it’s well within the rules, so Kickstarter is unlikely to shut it own.
Kickstarter recently loosened its project rules, pretty much allowing anything that is not illegal, regulated, or dangerous – although Kickstarter does reserve the right to shut projects down.
Let’s hope that the Kickstarter chiefs like potato salad…
