Zany bon vivant and trend-spotter Danger Dolan claims these bizarre creations are the 15 worst Kickstarter inventions – ever! I believe they’re the worst ‘so far’ – the bar can always be lowered, so get busy out there – I certainly plan to get in on the easy money!
Dolan explores real projects such as the one where you can pay money to get a bag of rocks delivered to your house. It sounds crazy now, but when your chakras align and peace fills your soul, you’ll understand that these are not just random rocks in a burlap bag.Sucker! Yet another invention is changing the face of the grilled cheese sandwich by imprinting the image of Jesus on every slice of toast. No more leaving it to divine intervention. Another visionary has put fish on wheels. I would offer one minor improvement. While your exotic fish are aimlessly cruising through your home, perhaps a Roomba could be attached to the bottom of the apparatus, and accomplish a pesky household chore at the same time (patent pending). Perhaps the oddest one of the batch is the “NoPhone” – a plain plastic box, roughly the size of an iPhone, yet it is popular – and useful for no visible reason.
What is Kickstarter? It is only ‘the most democratic way art has ever been made,” according to Stephen Heleker who raised $21,000 for his short film “Smoke.” According to the site: Since our launch in 2009, 7.2 million people have pledged $1 billion, funding 72,000 creative projects. Obviously there are many projects which in no way resemble ‘the 15 Worst Kickstarter Projects.”
At first glance it seems like easy money – but there is one little glitch. Only when the full amount of the funding requested is reached, can the inventive creative person lay claim to the funds. If you fall five dollars short of your desired $500 thousand, it’s so-long and happy trails to you..A business plan which keeps out opportunistic riff-raff, like myself.
All or nothing does seem scary, but to date, an impressive 44% of projects have reached their funding goals…Pretty amazing when projects range from books and plays to novel ideas such as a semi-clothesless male electronics charger, hey?
What do the generous art sponsors get besides satisfaction and a better world? The creators maintain 100% ownership, so the rewards that backers receive may range from a heartfelt thank you, to a sample of the product,book or film, If you’re lucky. Some people still feel there is no better reward than a personalized wrist band,bumper sticker or T-shirt reading, “I Gave to Kickstarter and All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt.”