After launching all the way back in 2015 and blowing through millions of dollars, the inventors of The Coolest Cooler have finally admitted defeat.
Kickstarter is a pretty neat idea that allows those with ideas and inventions to get their vision off the ground without the need for a big investor to share their excitement. Instead, people can call on the generosity of the public to help put the wheels in motion. If people like the idea they pledge money in exchange for certain perks and the product itself once the time comes.
Most of the time when you hear about Kickstarter or pledge to it yourself, there’s a happy ending. The project gets off the ground and what was once a mere idea becomes a physical, tangible thing. However, not everything on Kickstarter can be a success story. Some of them turn out to be absolute disasters.
There is perhaps no bigger Kickstarter disaster than an item dubbed The Coolest Cooler. A coolbox kitted out with all sorts of extra gadgets such as a blender and a speaker. In 2015, inventor of The Coolest Cooler Ryan Grepper took to Kickstarter looking for money in order to launch his venture. 20,000 people believed in the hype, collectively pledging more than $13 million throughout this whole saga.
The creation and distribution of the coolers was delayed and then delayed again. Each time it was delayed, Grepper would return to his pledges asking for more money reports Vice. Finally, more than four years later, Grepper has admitted defeat. The cooler’s inventor wrote a message to the thousands of people waiting for his product, pinning the blame firmly on the 10% tariffs imposed by the US on products imported from China.
On the bright side for all of the cooler’s pledges, at least this whole saga is over and they can have their money back, right? Well, no. That’s not how Kickstarter works. Making a pledge is basically like making a bet so if the product fails, you fail with it. Grepper has said he will be refunding everyone $20 each, but when some people contributed as much as $225, that probably isn’t much of a consolation.
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