Licki - Brush lick your cat
“Have you ever wanted to lick your cat? Now you can. Without the furballs.”
This kickstarter got $43,710 pledged out of $36,500 goal with 19 days still to go. Creators of this product claim that it will help you get you and your feline friend closer, since as a human you are left out of the intimate licking ritual. This product is basically a silicone brush which you put in your mouth and as per instructions you should “slowly approach your cat when she is sleeping or in an otherwise pleasant mood”.
They also suggest that it would be a cool idea to have parties where people would bring their cats and lickies and lick their cats.
Shield: SignalProof Headwear
This one is basically a fancy tin-foil hat. They collected £13,834 out of £13,000 goal. Not only does it help to keep magnetic radiation from your head, but it also is antibacterial, antimicrobial, anti radiation, anti odor, anti static, and radar and infra-red invisible.
Meat Soap - Get That Bacon-Fresh Scent!
Source:https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/allidryer/meat-soap-get-that-bacon-fresh-scent/description
Meat Soap, a soap made of animal byproducts and rendered fats and no preservatives, aims to get you clean and smelling like bacon. It’s kind of a controversial idea - especially for vegetarians.
After launching in 2011 with a goal of $1,500, the Meat Soap team managed to attract 42 backers and raise $1,905.
I WILL NAME YOUR DOG
This guy wanted to earn money by naming other crowdfunders dogs. He ended up getting $619 however Kickstarter did not like his idea and shut this project down since it didn’t fit into any of the available categories.
Seeking revenge our dog-namer made another campaign with $1.2 billion goal to buy kickstarter. He did not succeed..sadly.
Potato Salad
This one is maybe not that weird, but worth mentioning in my opinion since it shows how kickstarter loosening its project rules more or less allowing anything not illegal, regulated, or dangerous to be crowdfunded can create a fun gap in the system.
The company used to inspect and approve campaigns before letting them through, however not so long ago they adopted a less strict rules which allow projects to move through without approval, however Kickstarter reserves the right to shut them down. This is where our Potato Salad guy comes in.
This guy simply wanted to make potato salad. That’s it. He only needed $10, and people loved the simplicity of it and how unusual this idea was so much that he ended up with over $55,000 from almost 7,000 backers. He ended up making a huge potato salad party. This project can be perfectly summarized with the authors quote:
"I never thought it would go this far. $10 seemed like a good, conservative goal. I think the thing people are responding to is the opportunity to come together around something equal parts absurd and mundane. Potato Salad isn't controversial, but it seems to unite us all."
1. Whats the weirdest or funniest crowdfounded action you've seen?
2. Do you patricipate in crowdfounding yourself be it as a project owner or supporter? If yes what are the projects?
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Comments
I've checked Kickstarter's stats and they claim around 35% of the projects succeeed. I think people like to think things they see on the internet are free, and not as many people are willing to spend money on risky projects as one may expect. I have a friend who gave up a very well-paid job to focus on his kickstarter... and I'm not sure it's a good decision, when you have to support a 5-people family. I very much want to believe people will succeed but sometimes their enthusiasm might not be enough :(
When it comes to other funny projects, there were some projects about building a Death Star from Star Wars, but I think they were closed by crowdfunding sites.
What?! This is completely pranoia. Well, kickstarter like internet accepts everything.
This is a place where people decide if give their money other or not. So, many different people, sometimes very weird, live in the world.
I don't observe crowdfunding project, so it is very difficult to say what project was the weirdest and the funniest.
No, I haven't participated in crowdfunding.
The examples you presented are quite hilarious, though the meat soap sounds absolutely disgusting, no matter if you're a vegetarian or not. I love the Potato Salad kicktarter, it's very funny and it brightened up my day.
As far as i know he spend it all on salad party, he also wrote "It might not be that good. It's my first potato salad." :D
I was a part of a kickstarter project a couple years ago as an engineer. It was a project by one of the 3d printing company in poland to create an efficient wind turbine.
It's cool that everyone can do someting like this and share the idea.
Nevertheless, I think crowdfunding is a great idea. In traditional business, you have to risk your money to get an idea developed, and potentially lose it if it doesn't work out as good as you've expected. Here, all you need is an idea - if it's good, you gain; if it's bad, you don't lose money. A win-win situation. :)
I am not a fan of joke Kickstarter campaigns as it is a waste of money, but I liked the potato salad initiative because it was first and the outcome was funny. And the potato salad party, oh man, I wish I could have attended this event, I love potatoes so much! But seriously speaking, 21 people pledged $110 to the potato salad campaign, this is weird.
Anyway, kikstarter is a really good platform for people with incredible ideas but lack of money, however, there are some limitations. I want to start one project on Kickstarter but unfortunately people from Poland or Ukraine have no possibility to start it at the moment.
So it is a bit sad :(
Hahaha, definitely the Potato Salad and Name Dog ones! I laughed hard at these 😀 Actually I don’t follow any crowdfunding pages and didn’t have any interest in it but right now I might change my mind about that haha
2. Do you patricipate in crowdfounding yourself be it as a project owner or supporter? If yes what are the projects?
Nah as i said this world just opened in front of me 😃