When most people want to learn a new recipe, they'll go to the store, buy the ingredients and prepare it at home. But in the age of the Internet, it seems things have changed.
Zach "Danger" Brown took to crowd-funding website Kickstarter to raise $10 to make his first potato salad. But when the Web caught word of his campaign, more than $35,000 was donated to Brown's project, thanks to 3,200 backers.
In a Reddit AMA ("Ask Me Anything," where Reddit users can submit questions), Brown speculated as to what was fueling the frenzy behind his potato salad Kickstarter.
"I never thought it would go this far. $10 seemed like a good, conservative goal," Brown wrote. "I think the thing people are responding to is the opportunity to come together around something equal parts absurd and mundane. Potato salad isn't controversial, but it seems to unite us all."
And it seems that the potato salad will literally unite many of its backers, as Brown now plans to throw a potato salad party "for the Internet."
"No invite needed. Just tell the bouncer you're from the Internet," Brown said in the AMA.
But despite throwing the party, plus creating such incentives as hats and a live stream of the event, it would seem Brown will still have a huge surplus of money from the campaign. Many have asked what he plans to do with the extra cash, suggesting he donate it to charity.
"Kickstarter explicitly prohibits saying that we will donate excess proceeds to charity, so I can't say that we will donate excess proceeds to charity," he said, remaining noncommittal about what he plans to do with the extra money.
And Brown's idea seems to be catching on, as there's now a "rival" campaign asking for backers to help make — you guessed it — coleslaw, because, well, the Internet.