Miss Ashley Pants

Screw watching T.V. series and screw writing articles!

Let’s just make a shiz ton of money conjuring up a hoax online instead.

Like this one guy from Ohio who began a culinary kickstarter as a joke. Much like the guitar playing, master chef guy who wrote a Craigslist ad looking for a roomie and coming off all charming and hilarious in it, this was amusing initially for its “funny ‘cause it’s preposterous” quality. And what was the kickstarter asking support for?

Potato salad.

Not a whole Indie Day meal for the fam.

Not a potato salad ‘cause he’s poor.

Not potatoes with actual blinking eyes.

Just your run of the mill tater salad. And even though I think this egregious summer side dish is an oral holocaust, apparently there are enough internet users who either love it – or just found the joke fantastic. Because homie’s already received nearly $60,000 for it.

While the prospective chef – Zack “Danger” Brown set out with a mere $10 goal, he ended up with far more than he’d bargained for after infusing his monetary request with a dash of funny. Brown even listed loads of different “incentives” for those who donated.

For example, if he lands $3,000, he says he’ll “rent out a party hall and invite the whole internet to the potato salad party”. Hmmm… I feel like this could quickly turn into that one open party invite disaster that kid had in Australia. (Project P?)

Then, if you donate $1, he’ll “say your name while creating the potato salad” – along with a digital thank you on his site. Some of the in-between donations will get you the grand award of a personal haiku, your name carved into one of the potatoes, a jar of mayonnaise – signed, the recipe, and admission into the kitchen during the potato salad prep process.

Oh, right. And a bite of it.

This story proves two important things. One is about obviously misplaced values (how many dispossessed creatures in need could have been helped with this money?). The other’s the vast and magical allure wrought from mixing the interweb’s memetic power with a bit of comedy. Popularity and humor – the ideal cocktail for prizing precious time and creativity away from the commonfolk – and now their money as well. And much like your common big white block-letter laden overused memes, there will likely be few unique qualities to this unassuming dude’s tuberous venture. For the price tag, you might expect he’d be the Wolfgang Puck o’ potato noms – but Brown humbly concedes:

“It might not be that good…. It’s my first potato salad.”