Kickstarter, the crowd-sourcing platform, has finally come to Ireland.
The biggest player in digital hat passing for creative projects has made Ireland its tenth destination – meaning entrepreneurs and crafty sorts in this country can now make a shiny video asking for your money and support.
Ireland now joins Australia, Canada, Denmark, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, the UK, and the US as a place where members of the public can fund projects they think are worthy.
It’s the platform that relaunched Veronica Mars, made podcasting history, and got every po-faced broadsheet newspaper talking about potato salad.
The model is simple: pitch your idea and if people like it, they’ll fund it.
But, of course, people are weird. And they like to rally behind weird things. And give them money.
So here’s a list of the oddest and most peculiar projects to ever make it to their funding goal:
1. The world’s largest jock strap
What they wanted: $850
What they got: $854 from 11 backers, and a pair of sporting undies no clothes horse can handle.
2: Graphing the deliciousness of a chicken burrito
What they wanted: $8
What they got: $1,050 from 258 backers, and sour cream and cheese.
3: Meat soap
What they wanted: $1500
What they got: $1,905 from 42 backers, and a lot of unwanted attention from hygiene-obsessed dogs.
4: Crystal Bacon
What they wanted: $2,000
What they got: $2,786 from 149 backers, and the crunchiest rasher sambo ever.
5: I am the Doctor - A Doctor Who Concept Rap Album
What they wanted: $2175
What they got: $4254 from 148 backers, and zero female companions in real life.
6: World's most super amazing 100% awesome cat calendar
What they wanted: $3,500
What they got: $25,185 from 1,119 backers, and zero male companions in real life.
7: Tentacle Bento (a top trumps game based on sexual assault)
What they wanted: $13,000
What they got: $30,701 from 622 backers, and banned from Kickstarter.
8: Combat Kitchenware
What they wanted: $7,000
What they got: $46,261 from 651 backers, and some weapons to go berserk with when the scrambled eggs won't wash away.
9: Detroit needs a statue of Robocop
What they wanted: $50,000
What they got: $67,436 from 2,718 backers, and considerably longer than 20 seconds to comply.
10: Das Horn
What they wanted:$50,000
What they got: $83,743 from 1,645, and the disdain of everyone who sees you using it.
11: Remee - the REM enhancing lucid dreaming mask
What they wanted: $35,000
What they got: $572,891 from 6,557 backers, and the kind of dreams your mother warns you about when she sees you eating a cheese toastie at midnight.
So best of luck to any budding Irish Kickstarters out there. If we can't be convinced to back you, we'll try our best not to begrudge you.
