Big Red Freshness
I decided I have a love/hate relationship with gimmicks.
Part of me hates them because gimmicks are usually more grandiose versions of stupid pranks the idiot who sat behind you in high school English would pull.
The other part of me still hates them, but only out of sheer jealousy since I didn't think of them first.
Take for example the one red paper clip guy.
His story goes something like this. A year ago he came up with an idea to trade items until he reached his final goal of owning a home. I don't even know if owning a home is what his ultimate goal really was, given how he went about it. I think his real goal was to get you to know about his goal and thus the gimmick, as most good gimmicks, was born.
Nevertheless, this twenty-six year old entrepreneur set out on his venture by starting with one red paperclip and consistently trading up from there. I make note of his age because that's another reason to love/hate him. He thought of this gimmick and he's younger than me. I hate when younger people get to somewhere I never knew I wanted to go first.
It took 14 trades for Kyle "paperclip" MacDonald to get from the red paperclip to the house of his maybe dreams. 14 TRADES. That's less than 2 and half times the degrees it takes to get to Kevin Bacon. In my book, that's pretty damn impressive.
MacDonald began his search on Craiglist and his website, aptly titled, One Red PaperClip, details the trades he made.
On July 12th, 2005 he started with a red paperclip. From there he traded to one fish pen. One fish pen went to one doorknob. One doorknob went to one Coleman stove. One Coleman stove went to one red generator. One red generator went to one instant party. One instant party went to one famous skidoo. One famous skidoo went to one trip to Yahk. One trip to Yahk went to one cube van. One cube van went to one recording contract. One recording contract went to one year in Phoenix. One year in Phoenix went to one afternoon with Alice Cooper. One afternoon with Alice Cooper went to One Kiss snow globe. One Kiss snow globe then went to Corbin Bernsen who offered one movie role. And finally the one movie role, led Kyle to the elusive house in Canada.
He did all of this in one year.
This is when the skeptic in my rears its ugly head. Part of me is impressed this average guy managed to pull off his goal, but another part of me wonders how average he was to begin with. Sure, he may not be a household name, but as you and I both know, having a good idea alone does not necessarily lead to interviews on CNN and hanging with celebs like Kurtis Blow and Mike Myers. Basically it's the whole chicken vs. egg debate. Which came first? Being plucked from obscurity or just really popular?
No matter how he did it, you and I both know MacDonald's fifteen minutes of fame are not up just yet. Last year it was Brian Herzlinger, a New Jersey native who made an entertaining documentary detailing how badly he wanted to have one date with actress Drew Barrymore. Before that all eyes were on Morgan Spurlock who documented what happens to the human body after eating only McDonalds for 30 days straight in Super Size Me. In fact, in a best case scenario, Spurlock was able to take that success and get his own tv show called 28 Days, currently on the verge of beginning season two.
So don't be surprised if you see One Red Paperclip the documentary or Who Wants To Be A Trader? programming coming your way real soon.
If nothing else, I'd like to help MacDonald on his next worthwhile endeavor.
And the gimmicks just keep on comin'.
Part of me hates them because gimmicks are usually more grandiose versions of stupid pranks the idiot who sat behind you in high school English would pull.
The other part of me still hates them, but only out of sheer jealousy since I didn't think of them first.
Take for example the one red paper clip guy.
His story goes something like this. A year ago he came up with an idea to trade items until he reached his final goal of owning a home. I don't even know if owning a home is what his ultimate goal really was, given how he went about it. I think his real goal was to get you to know about his goal and thus the gimmick, as most good gimmicks, was born.
Nevertheless, this twenty-six year old entrepreneur set out on his venture by starting with one red paperclip and consistently trading up from there. I make note of his age because that's another reason to love/hate him. He thought of this gimmick and he's younger than me. I hate when younger people get to somewhere I never knew I wanted to go first.
It took 14 trades for Kyle "paperclip" MacDonald to get from the red paperclip to the house of his maybe dreams. 14 TRADES. That's less than 2 and half times the degrees it takes to get to Kevin Bacon. In my book, that's pretty damn impressive.
MacDonald began his search on Craiglist and his website, aptly titled, One Red PaperClip, details the trades he made.
On July 12th, 2005 he started with a red paperclip. From there he traded to one fish pen. One fish pen went to one doorknob. One doorknob went to one Coleman stove. One Coleman stove went to one red generator. One red generator went to one instant party. One instant party went to one famous skidoo. One famous skidoo went to one trip to Yahk. One trip to Yahk went to one cube van. One cube van went to one recording contract. One recording contract went to one year in Phoenix. One year in Phoenix went to one afternoon with Alice Cooper. One afternoon with Alice Cooper went to One Kiss snow globe. One Kiss snow globe then went to Corbin Bernsen who offered one movie role. And finally the one movie role, led Kyle to the elusive house in Canada.
He did all of this in one year.
This is when the skeptic in my rears its ugly head. Part of me is impressed this average guy managed to pull off his goal, but another part of me wonders how average he was to begin with. Sure, he may not be a household name, but as you and I both know, having a good idea alone does not necessarily lead to interviews on CNN and hanging with celebs like Kurtis Blow and Mike Myers. Basically it's the whole chicken vs. egg debate. Which came first? Being plucked from obscurity or just really popular?
No matter how he did it, you and I both know MacDonald's fifteen minutes of fame are not up just yet. Last year it was Brian Herzlinger, a New Jersey native who made an entertaining documentary detailing how badly he wanted to have one date with actress Drew Barrymore. Before that all eyes were on Morgan Spurlock who documented what happens to the human body after eating only McDonalds for 30 days straight in Super Size Me. In fact, in a best case scenario, Spurlock was able to take that success and get his own tv show called 28 Days, currently on the verge of beginning season two.
So don't be surprised if you see One Red Paperclip the documentary or Who Wants To Be A Trader? programming coming your way real soon.
If nothing else, I'd like to help MacDonald on his next worthwhile endeavor.
And the gimmicks just keep on comin'.
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