From SLATE onlne magazine:
Last week, Zack Brown posted a Kickstarter page titled simply “Potato Salad.”
“I’m making potato salad,” Brown wrote. Then, in case anybody was confused or skeptical or more inclined to support the preparation of a German-style potato salad than a mayo-heavy American version, he clarified: “Basically I'm just making potato salad. I haven't decided what kind yet.”
His goal: $10.
The Internet giggled, and emptied its wallet. Within a couple of days, his project had raised more than $1,000. BuzzFeed swooped in for an interview. "I’ve always enjoyed potato salad at Memorial Day parties and Labor Day parties," explained Brown, 31, co-founder of the startup Base Two Interactive in Columbus, Ohio. "Early this week someone asked if I’d ever made potato salad and I couldn’t say that I had. So I turned to Kickstarter to change that."
Now, as of the writing of this post, the potato salad project has raised more than $10,000, thanks to more than 1,400 backers. The page has been shared on Facebook more than 77,000 times.
At this point, Brown seems to be straining for ideas as to what he should do with this funding windfall. He’s already promised to livestream his preparation of the dish. As funding approached $3,000, Brown suggested making an event of it:
My kitchen is too small! I will rent out a party hall and invite the whole internet to the potato salad party (only $10 and above will be allowed in the kitchen)! The internet loves potato salad! Let's show them that potato salad loves the internet!!
I'm hoping that “Let’s show them that potato salad loves the internet” is actually code for “I'm going to prepare some potato salad then donate most of these extra proceeds to a local food bank, so that people who don’t have money to throw at gag Kickstarters can enjoy a meal.” That will make the joke even better!
Update, July 7, 2014, 5 p.m.: Since we posted this article, Brown's potato salad project has raised a total of more than $23,000.
Update, July 8, 2014, 1 p.m.: Since we posted the above update, Brown's potato salad project has raised a total of more than $40,000.