Potato Salad Kickstarter Raises Nearly $60,000: It's 'Equal Parts Absurd and Mundane,' Says Zack Brown
A potato salad Kickstarter has raised nearly $60,000 so far Wednesday after Zack Tanger Brown decided to make the dish in Columbus, Ohio. Brown initially asked for just $10, but rapidly exceeded his goals of $35, $100, and even $3,000 to currently rest at $59,002.
"I'm making potato salad," he said when he created the Kickstarter. "Basically I'm just making potato salad. I haven't decided what kind yet."
Brown added some ways to inspire internet residents to give: pledging $3 or more gets you a bite of a potato salad— he's since said that he's not sure about the logistics of this, pledging $20 gets you a "potato salad-themed haiku" among other things, while pledging $50 gets you a book of potato salad recipes.
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After receiving nearly $60,000 from over $4,700 backers, the potato salad has been upgraded to a potato salad party. Brown intends to throw a party "for the internet" including four different types of potato salad sometime soon, he said.
"The internet loves potato salad! Let's show them that potato salad loves the internet!!" he wrote on his Kickstarter page.
Though some have criticized Brown for crowdfunding resources for something as silly as potato salad, he admitted that he never expected such a massive response.
"I never thought it would go this far. $10 seemed like a good, conservative goal," he said in a Reddit Ask Me Anything session. "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.
Kickstarter, too, has okayed the project, saying that Brown can do whatever he likes with the extra funds except donate them to charity.
"Kickstarter's a global community of millions of people who fund projects of all shapes and sizes," the company said in a statement. "There's no single recipe for inspiration."
There's no telling how large donations will get for Brown's potato salad Kickstarter. Big names like Digg founder Kevin Rose and "Scandal" actor Joshua Molina have already donated. The funding period for the campaign ends Aug. 2.
