Kickstarter darling and potato salad king Zack “Danger” Brown has to find a new venue to host his second crowdfunding campaign.
After raising $55,000 in 2014 to distribute potato salad to people around the world, we reported Wednesday that Brown had plans to grind a Jet Ski into powder and send that powder to his donors for his latest venture.
The project was greenlit and approved to go live for Kickstarter donations next week. Feedback on the project was initially positive, though a company rep wanted to offer Brown some suggestions on how to “avoid a repeat of potato salad-hate online and in the press, and how we can help you out with fulfillment (recommendations for drop shippers, fulfillment people, etc).”
On Wednesday, Brown received word that it was declined.
Zack “Danger” Brown/Kickstarter
“They had [Kickstarter outreach team member] Taylor call me eight hours or so after he sent that really supportive email and tell me it was off,” Brown told the Daily Dot via email. “He said they were worried about perception. I asked if there was anything I could change, and he said ‘no.'”
Brown now plans to take an identical version of his Jet Ski project to Kickstarter competitor IndieGogo.
“I am starting to think that Kickstarter is in bed with the houseboat lobby, who obviously don’t want Jet Skis to be hot this summer,” he mused. “I’ll be pro-Kickstarter forever, but this decision makes me sad. It’s a boring decision and I don’t typically think of Kickstarter as being a boring company.”
Kickstarter has wrestled in the past with defining which creative projects pass muster with the moderators for inclusion on the site. It appears that Brown’s project ultimately didn’t check enough of the company’s boxes, despite the initial warm reception.
“We wish him well, we think he’s very funny and talented,” a Kickstarter representative said.
Brown’s IndieGogo project is not yet live, but it will launch here on Monday morning.
Photo via Zack “Danger” Brown