<ul class="summary-list"><li>In the last few weeks, several former employees at <keyword id="2248636" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Cards-Against-Humanity">Cards Against Humanity</keyword> have shared stories detailing a toxic company culture that affected women, people of color, and members of the queer community.</li><li>Former employees told Polygon that the company lacked an HR department, ignored concerns about offensive game cards from people of color, and feared speaking up or speaking out.</li><li>Employees specifically called out cofounder <keyword id="9452745" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="max-temkin">Max Temkin</keyword>, who has faced sexual assault allegations, for retaliating against employees and trying to exert absolute control over their personal and work lives.</li><li>Cards Against Humanity said in a statement Tuesday that Temkin had stepped down from the company earlier that month.</li></ul><p>One of the cofounders of Cards Against Humanity — which boasts itself as "a game for horrible people" — has resigned from the company after several former workers alleged he fostered a toxic workplace that hurt employees of color and the LGBTQ community.</p><p>Cards Against Humanity <a href="https://www.cardsagainsthumanity.com/statement/">said in a statement Tuesday</a> that Max Temkin, the cofounder who ran operations in the Chicago office, had stepped down from his position earlier this month. Temkin's departure and CAH's announcement follows weeks of <a href="https://twitter.com/atheresastewart/status/1269310742450393089">former employees sharing stories</a> on social media, and an extensive exposé <a href="https://www.polygon.com/2020/6/23/21300435/cards-against-humanity-max-temkin-report">Polygon published Tuesday</a> containing even more allegations.</p><p>CAH, both as a card game and a company, has prided itself on its subversive, no-punches-held attitude. Beyond the card game, well-known as an explicit version of the game "Apples to Apples," the company has engaged in wild, performative stunts. Black Friday, in particular, has been a day for those pranks. In 2016, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cards-against-humanity-watch-hole-in-the-ground-money-pit-black-friday-2016-11">people paid more than $100,000</a> for CAH to dig a hole. For last year's stunt, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cards-against-humanity-writers-battle-algorithm-for-jobs-2019-11">CAH said it would fire</a> participating employees if they lost a card-writing competition against an AI (the writers ended up winning).</p><p>Combined with its success as multimillion-dollar company, CAH employees reportedly feared speaking up or out about problematic behavior over fear of retaliation from leadership, Polygon reports.</p><p>More than 20 former employees told Polygon about multiple incidents where concerns and suggestions from people of color were blatantly dismissed. Black employees were often tasked with explaining to their coworkers why certain cards were offensive, according to Polygon. In one case, head writers reportedly wanted to add a card to the game containing a racial slur toward Black people.</p><p>Additionally, former employees said CAH lacked a human resources department, a fact that became an "open joke" in the office. The company said in Tuesday's statement had appointed a "dedicated HR contractor" in January 2019.</p><p>The CAH statement, posted to the company's website, is lengthy. The company goes through each of Polygon's allegations one-by-one, defending its actions in some situations and acknowledging a history of making "a lot of mistakes."</p><p>In the Polygon piece, employees named Temkin, specifically, as a "harbinger" of the toxic culture at CAH. This isn't the first time Temkin has faced accusations of problematic behavior: In 2014, a woman alleged <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140717061252/http://humanityagainstassault.tumblr.com/post/91625206355/truth">Temkin sexually assaulted her</a> while they were both college students. At the time, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140711205315/http://blog.maxistentialism.com/post/91476212698/this-is-a-blog-post-thats-incredibly-confusing">Temkin responded</a> that the allegations were "totally, patently false."</p><p>CAH said that Temkin stepped down from his role on June 9, although he remains a one-eighth shareholder in the company.</p><p>Cards Against Humanity is only one of the companies that have recently faced allegations of purporting sexist and racist company cultures. A slew of stories have emerged from former and current employees at fitness brands like <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/crossfit-workplace-toxic-culture-women-insiders-2020-6">CrossFit</a> and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/black-adidas-workers-say-internal-racism-is-global-company-issue-2020-6">Adidas</a>, tech companies such as <a href="https://mashable.com/article/ex-employees-accuse-snapchat-bias/">Snapchat</a> and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/the-inside-story-of-pinterest-toxic-workplace-2020-6">Pinterest</a>, media publishers such as <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/11/media/refinery29-workplace-culture/index.html">Refinery29</a> and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bon-appetit-adam-rapoport-toxic-racism-culture-2020-6">Bon Appétit</a>, and dozens of other businesses.</p>

The cofounder of Cards Against Humanity has resigned from the company after allegations arose he fostered a sexist and racist culture

<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5bf83ceb01b12d4e2961a4a6-1903/screen%20shot%202018-11-23%20at%20124055%20pm.png" border="0" alt="Cards Against Humanity black friday" data-mce-source="99percentoffsale.com" data-link="https://www.99percentoffsale.com/"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.99percentoffsale.com/">99percentoffsale.com</a></span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/black-friday-2018">Black Friday 2018</a> is upon us, and that also means a new marketing stunt from longtime satirist of the <keyword id="6354851" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="retail">retail</keyword> holiday, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/cards-against-humanity">Cards Against Humanity</a>.</li><li>The company behind the popular card game launched 99percentoffsale.com, a website that sells items including a $20 bill, a 17th century spear, a life-sized cutout of Orlando Bloom, and a mahogany casket for 99% off.</li><li>The company's co-founders have not been shy of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cards-against-humanity-black-friday-deal-2015-11">their hatred of Black Friday</a>, and have pulled off <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cards-against-humanity-watch-hole-in-the-ground-money-pit-black-friday-2016-11">incredibly successful pranks in the past</a> to commemorate the holiday.</li></ul><p>"<span>Holy f--k have we got some deals," <a href="https://www.99percentoffsale.com/">a new website</a>&#xa0;from the makers of Cards Against Humanity reads. "</span><span>Don't be frightened by the deals. Just click and let the savings wash over you."</span></p><p><span>While many of the items sold on the site could be seen as prank gifts - like a life-size cutout of Orlando Bloom, a portable sauna, a medieval weapon - the site is also selling some pricey items: a marked-down used car, 85-inch smart TVs, and an engagement ring.</span></p><p><span>This has of course raised some questions on social media about the legitimacy of the sales (and whether the items exist in the first place), but the FAQs found at the bottom of the website insist that the products are "actually available."&#xa0;</span></p><p><span>Cards Against Humanity's co-founder&#xa0;</span><span><span name="Max Temkin" data-hovercard-id="max.temkin@gmail.com" data-hovercard-owner-id="22">Max Temkin also confirmed the legitimacy of the deals in an email to Business Insider.</span></span></p><p>"<span>We have most of these items in hand at the office here (and our office is filled with crazy stuff right now)," Max Temkin said in an email to Business Insider. "This is 100% real and possibly a very bad idea."</span></p><p>The items sold on the website are available in extremely limited quantities and, in some cases, are "one-off" items, Temkin said.</p><p>Every 10 minutes, a new product goes live on the website. Here are some of the items that have been sold so far for Black Friday:</p><p class="tagline"><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/intelligence/future-of-retail-ai?IR=T&amp;utm_source=businessinsider&amp;utm_medium=ctgr&amp;utm_term=ctgr_leadgen&amp;utm_content=ecommerce_ctgr_leadgen&amp;utm_campaign=ecommerce_ctgr_leadgen_future-of-retail-ai"><img src="https://static.businessinsider.com/image/5bd9f37e5f1f7538f668523b" alt="Exclusive FREE Slide Deck: Future of Retail:AI by Business Insider Intelligence" border="0" style="width: 100% !important" /></a></p>

'This is 100% real and possibly a very bad idea': Cards Against Humanity is selling used cars, medieval weapons, TVs, and even $100 bills for 99% off

<img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/58a3a79f549057dc008b476d-2400/img5878.jpg" alt="Max Temkin Ben Hantoot Cards Against Humanity" /><ul class="summary-list"><li>Cards Against Humanity bought satire website ClickHole from G/O Media, as first reported by <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/katienotopoulos/cards-against-humanity-buys-clickhole">BuzzFeed News</a>.</li><li>As part of the all-cash deal, ClickHole's employees will become majority-owners of the site, according to BuzzFeed.</li><li>The card game company will support ClickHole financially, but will let it operate independently.</li><li>ClickHole has had multiple owners since the site was started by The Onion in 2014 - most recently, the same private equity firm that has battled with writers at Deadspin over editorial independence.</li><li>"ClickHole's treasure is beautiful and not for sale. It consists of gold, jewels, and other priceless and gorgeous gems and metals. For almost a year, ClickHole's treasure was on vacation, but now it's back," a spokesperson for Cards Against Humanity told Business Insider.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul><p>Cards Against Humanity, the company behind the popular card game, has purchased humor website ClickHole from G/O Media, as first reported by <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/katienotopoulos/cards-against-humanity-buys-clickhole">BuzzFeed News</a> on Monday.</p><p>The all-cash deal will involve ClickHole's employees becoming majority owners of the site, which will be financially supported by Cards Against Humanity but retain editorial independence, according to BuzzFeed. The Onion, which created ClickHole in 2014, will reportedly remain part of G/O Media.</p><p>"ClickHole's treasure is beautiful and not for sale. It consists of gold, jewels, and other priceless and gorgeous gems and metals. For almost a year, ClickHole's treasure was on vacation, but now it's back," a spokesperson for Cards Against Humanity told Business Insider.</p><p>G/O Media did not immediately respond to a request for comment. </p><p>G/O Media, which includes media properties including Gizmodo, Deadspin, and ClickHole's parent, The Onion, is wholly owned by private equity firm Great Hill Partners, after passing hands from previous owner Univision in 2019.</p><p>Under CEO Jim Spanfeller, appointed by Great Hill Partners to lead G/O Media, the company has faced unrest by employees over its perceived lack of commitment to editorial independence, eventually leading to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/deadspin-writers-quit-over-editor-firing-stick-to-sports-order-2019-10">mass resignations by writers at popular sports site Deadspin</a>.</p><p>"Our goal is to take some of the pressure off of them so they can shake some of these managerial shakes [sic] ups they've had and just focus on making amazing comedy," Cards Against Humanity cofounder Max Temkin told BuzzFeed.</p><p>On a final, historical note, <a href="https://www.pedestrian.tv/news/the-onion-elon-musk-roasting/">Elon Musk himself once unsuccessfully tried to buy The Onion and Clickhole in 2014</a>, before ultimately launching an aborted humor project himself called "Thud!" In 2018, after news of Musk's previous interest in the company was first made public, ClickHole published a satirical story called "<a href="http://www.clickhole.com/blogpost/i-did-everything-i-could-buy-clickhole-their-edito-7569#1" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">I Did Everything I Could To Buy ClickHole, But Their Editorial Integrity Won Out Over My Billion-Dollar Offers, And I Respect Them Even More For That (By Elon Musk).</a>"</p>

Cards Against Humanity bought humor site ClickHole and turned over ownership to its employees

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/58a3a79f549057dc008b476d-2400/img5878.jpg" alt="Max Temkin Ben Hantoot Cards Against Humanity" data-mce-source="Cards Against Humanity" data-mce-caption="Cards Against Humanity co-creators Ben Hantoot (left) and Max Temkin (right)" /><p class="source"><span>Cards Against Humanity</span></p><p class="caption">Cards Against Humanity co-creators Ben Hantoot (left) and Max Temkin (right)</p></div><p></p></div></div>Back in November 2016, just weeks after Donald Trump was elected President of the United States, the creators of the irreverent card game Cards Against Humanity (CAH) raised just over $100,000 to <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/cards-against-humanity-watch-hole-in-the-ground-money-pit-black-friday-2016-11">dig a deep hole to nowhere</a>. </p><p>It wasn't the company's first stunt, either, or its last.</p><p>Back in 2014, for instance, CAH<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/cards-against-humanity-sold-30000-boxes-of-black-friday-bull-poop-2014-11"> sold 30,000 boxes of dried bull excrement at $6 a pop as a Black Friday "deal."</a> Most recently, the company aired its first-ever Super Bowl commercial this year: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/cards-against-humanity-super-bowl-potato-commercial-2017-2">30 seconds of a stationary potato, on which the word "Advertisement" had been written in marker</a>. </p><p>As it turns out, there's a lot of work that goes into these stunts. The "holiday hole," for instance, took almost two years of planning, including finding permits, talking to neighbors, hiring contractors, and arranging for a livestream. And it was all just for one very strange, but undeniably hilarious, joke.</p><p>For Max Temkin and Ben Hantoot - two of the eight high school friends who co-created and co-own the game equally - it's a good metaphor for how they run CAH. In comedy, as in business, Temkin says, your audience doesn't care about the details or the hard work behind the scenes, they just care about the end result.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/58a3a809549057dc008b476e-2400/cardsagainsthumanity15711676205 1.jpg" alt="cards against humanity game" data-mce-source="Wikimedia Commons" data-mce-caption="A black &amp;quotQuestion&quot; card and a white &amp;quotAnswer&quot; card. Whichever player has the funniest &amp;quotanswer&quot; to the question wins the hand." /><p class="source"><span>Wikimedia Commons</span></p><p class="caption">A black "Question" card and a white "Answer" card. Whichever player has the funniest "answer" to the question wins the hand.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>And CAH happens to be both: With 30 employees and counting from its Chicago-area office, as well as lucrative retail deals with Amazon and Target, it's gone from Kickstarter sensation to thriving small business.</p><p>But it also happens to be one gigantic, ongoing comedy routine, created by people doing hard work behind the scenes to make sure the joke never gets old.</p><p>"You don't want to let people see you sweat," says Temkin.</p><h2>The secret</h2><p>According to Temkin, the secret to the Cards Against Humanity business model isn't at all complicated: "We sell a game for money, and we spend less than we make." Temkin says that this model has led the company to strong year-over-year growth, despite his constant fears that the "bottom is going to fall out" one of these days.</p><p>The other big factor in the success of CAH, says Temkin, is that it's an equal partnership between the eight cofounders, none of whom make the game their <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/ok-cookie-company-cards-against-humanity-fortune-cookies-2016-8">full-time gig</a>. </p><p>The cofounders act as checks on each other, Temkin says, keeping the company focused on its very simple business model. For instance, Hantoot says that there were "factions" among the CAH partners who wanted a deal with a retailer like Target long ago - while others were afraid that such a deal would hurt the game's subversive image.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5838a19aba6eb67d058b636a-1407/screen shot 2016-11-25 at 23403 pm.png" alt="Cards against humanity hole" data-mce-source="Cards Against Humanity" data-link="https://holidayhole.com/" /><p class="source"><span><a href="https://holidayhole.com/">Cards Against Humanity</a></span></p><p class="caption">The Cards Against Humanity "holiday hole."</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Now, just about six years after the release of the game, the partners collectively realized that "we were no longer too cool to be in Target," Hantoot says. And so, Hantoot was given the go-ahead to negotiate the deal, which sees the retailer sell the game from its stores, expanding the game's availability drastically.</p><p>"I had to concede that we did not have the punk rock authenticity left," Temkin says. "At some point, we became mainstream." </p><p>But by the same token, the ownership structure means that there's no oversight from investors or a board of directors. It gives the company the latitude to run the business at its own pace, without any pressure. And if they decide that they have the budget to dig a tremendous hole in the earth, they can take that "huge risk," Temkin says.</p><p>"We just do it because it's funny," Temkin says.</p><h2>The voice</h2><p>As the company matures, Temkin says one thing is constant: "The voice of the game has not changed."</p><p>For instance, to celebrate the partnership with Target, CAH made an exclusive pack of cards, only to be sold at the retailer. In true CAH style, the $4 pack came with a gimmick: The promise of an instant $1 rebate that was actually a dollar bill tucked inside the package. </p><p>More notably, though, the cards themselves actually "pretty viciously make fun of Target," Hantoot says. One card says "<span>Gender-neutral toys that make children feel no emotions whatsoever." Another reads "Extracting the maximum amount of money from naive consumers."<br /></span></p><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5898bf993149a195008b574c-2000" alt="cards against humanity potato" data-mce-source="Cards Against Humanity" /><p class="source"><span>Cards Against Humanity</span></p><p class="caption">The filming of the Cards Against Humanity Super Bowl commercial.</p></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p><span></span>Under the terms of the deal, Hantoot says, Target could have no editorial input on Cards Against Humanity, whatsoever. That speaks to an important point about Cards Against Humanity </p><p>New customer service agents and other public-facing employees at Cards Against Humanity are put through a training seminar on how to write with the game's voice. And Hantoot says that they pride themselves on having a culture of radical openness and a flat structure, the better to foster creativity.</p><h2>What's next</h2><p>"We're not comedians. We're just a bunch of friends," Hantoot says.</p><p>And so, to make sure that the game stays relevant, Cards Against Humanity has reinvested some of its profits in hiring professional comedians in  a proper writer's room for the game. They come up with card ideas that "we would never have thought of in a million years," Temkin says.</p><p>A recent example of a potential new game card dreamed up by the writers involves the outrageous description of a cigarette smoking octopus using its many tentacles to perform simultaneous sex acts. But Temkin notes that while it's important the game be funny and edgy, the game should never be too cruel or mean-spirited towards any one group. </p><p>So the Cards Against Humanity writer's room also serves as kind of an early warning system, with comedians from different backgrounds alerting their colleagues if a joke is on the wrong side of that fine line between offensive and funny. And even then, the card is playtested extensively to make sure there's no potential for misuse. </p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/53eac3ceeab8ea865024ab36-1400/img7852.jpg" alt="club getaway cards against a humanity" data-mce-source="Melia Robinson/Business Insider" /><p class="source"><span>Melia Robinson/Business Insider</span></p><p class="caption">Cards Against Humanity is a hit at parties.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>This writer's room concept is the purest expression of Cards Against Humanity's future, Temkin says. The first CAH expansion set they worked on, The Green Box, came out in November 2016, and Hantoot says it's "so much better than anything we came up with."</p><p>Going forward, Temkin says, the writer's room is doing the heavy lifting on making sure that Cards Against Humanity stays current, stays relevant, and most of all, stays funny. The rest, he says, are details.</p><p>"That's the lifeblood of [Cards Against Humanity]," Temkin says.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/scott-dreyer-makes-giant-elaborate-towers-out-of-playing-cards-2016-3">This guy makes giant, elaborate towers out of playing cards - and then he destroys them</a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="dtdXRnMTE6ZHg5M_59StgUmGTJNkOM6h" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; }     RunFunctions.push(function()    {         var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', 'dtdXRnMTE6ZHg5M_59StgUmGTJNkOM6h',{ autoplay: 'false' });     });    </script>    <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div>        </div>        <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script>    </div>

The creators of 'Cards Against Humanity' explain the secret of their funny business

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5ab9146bbe459b261f8b46d4-900/screen shot 2018-03-26 at 113943 am.png" border="0" alt="Amazon" data-mce-source="Twitter/@MaxTemkin" /><p class="source"><span>Twitter/@MaxTemkin</span></p><p class="caption">HQ2 cleanup effort gone wrong.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul><li><strong><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/category/amazon">Amazon</a> on the hunt for its next headquarters and shortlisted cities are putting their best foot forward.</strong></li><li><strong>Chicago, one of the cities included in the running, launched a massive cleanup effort in anticipation of Amazon's visit to scope out proposed sites. </strong></li><li><strong>This has backfired after the city accidentally removed a graffiti done by a renowned artist. </strong></li></ul><hr /><p>The race for HQ2 is on.</p><p>In anticipation of Amazon's visit to scope out its proposed sites for HQ2 <a href="https://www.dallasnews.com/business/amazon/2018/03/23/week-amazon-o-mania-chicago-visit-check-denver-tallies-amazon-chips-ohio-state-props-columbus">last week</a>, Chicago ramped up efforts to make the city look presentable.  </p><p>According to the<span> <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-amazon-hq2-cleanup-20180322-story.html">Chicago Tribune</a></span>, city records showed that there was a massive spike in the removal of graffitis near the proposed sites, in the run-up to Amazon's visit.</p><p><span>"In the month leading up to Amazon's visit, the city completed 233 requests for graffiti removal in the Fulton Market area. All but eight were handled during the seven-day period ending Wednesday, according to city data. During the same month last year, the city handled only 14 graffiti removal requests in that area," the <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-amazon-hq2-cleanup-20180322-story.html">Chicago Tribune</a> wrote. </span></p><p>Cleanup efforts also spiked near to other proposed areas such as <span><a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-amazon-hq2-cleanup-20180322-story.html">Lincoln Yards</a></span>, where 223 graffiti jobs were <span>completed in a week, compared to two in the same week last year, the <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-amazon-hq2-cleanup-20180322-story.html">Chicago Tribune</a> reported. </span></p><p><span>While this spring clean might have come as blessing for some locals, for others it has been a disaster.</span></p><p>The founder of Cards of Humanity, which has offices in Chicago, across the river from Lincoln Yards, was furious to find out that a graffiti artwork on its building, which was done by French street artist <span>Blek le Rat, was </span>accidentally removed in the cleanup. </p><p>"The city of Chicago destroyed the priceless Blek le Rat paste up on our private property this morning! Very cool," founder <span>Max Temkin <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=Max%20Temkin&amp;src=typd&amp;lang=en&amp;lang=en">tweeted</a> earlier this month. </span></p><p><span>Temkin has allowed the artist to do the artwork to promote his show at a Chicago gallery a year ago. Since then, it had been protected by the city. </span></p><p><span>"We felt pretty bad, and apologized as soon as we found out what happened," Chicago Alderman Brian Hopkins told the <a href="http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-chicago-street-art-20180325-story.html">Chicago Tribune</a>. </span><span></span></p><p><span>After finding out that this cleanup was connected to Amazon's visit, Temkin <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=Max%20Temkin&amp;src=typd&amp;lang=en&amp;lang=en">tweeted</a>: "Incredible... @JeffBezos, you owe me one (1) priceless piece of art bitch."</span></p><p>11 out of 15 of the <a href="https://patch.com/new-york/new-york-city/new-york-americas-dirtiest-city">US's dirtiest cities</a> are in the running for HQ2, including New York, Philadelphia, Boston, and Miami. </p><p>These cities have not yet confirmed what it being done to clean up in preparation. </p><p><span>Amazon said it plans to invest over $5 billion and accommodate as many as 50,000 high-paying jobs, making it one of the largest corporate-civic giveaways in modern American history.</span></p><p>Read more about their proposals <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-hq2-20-finalist-cities-revealed-2018-1">here</a>. </p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/meaning-of-fake-news-and-make-america-great-again-steven-pinker-2018-3">Harvard professor Steven Pinker explains the disturbing truth behind Trump's 2 favorite phrases</a></h3>        <div>            <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" data-player="jwplayer" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/TOnYlZ72-CEZHWCBG.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><script>function receiveMessage(event){ console.log(event.data.fullscreen); Android.fullscreen(event.data.fullscreen); }window.addEventListener("message", receiveMessage, false);</script>        </div>    </div>

Chicago's attempt to impress Amazon backfired after it destroyed a 'priceless' graffiti artwork in HQ2 bid clean-up

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/565b6b6284307663008b5f01-1675-1474/amy cah.png" alt="amy cards against humanity" data-mce-source="Screenshot/Cards Against Humanity" data-mce-caption="A Cards Against Humanity employee weighs in on how she spent her bonus." /><p class="source"><span>Screenshot/Cards Against Humanity</span></p><p class="caption">A Cards Against Humanity employee weighs in on how she spent her bonus.</p></div><p></p></div></div>This past Black Friday, the so-called "party game for horrible people" Cards Against Humanity had a hilariously bizarre deal: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/cards-against-humanity-black-friday-deal-2015-11">Give them $5 and get absolutely nothing in return</a>.</p><p>In a <a href="http://cardsagainsthumanity.com/blackfriday/">blog post today</a>, Cards Against Humanity's founders revealed that this stunt made the company $71,145, with 11,248 giving $5, and 1,119 people giving more than that. One guy even gave $100.</p><p>All for literally nothing. </p><p><span>"This promotion was a huge risk - we had no idea if it would get a positive or negative response, or any response at all," Cards Against Humanity co-creator Max Temkin tells Business Insider. </span></p><p><span>Temkin also says that while the long-term impact of this sale remains to be seen, traffic to the Cards Against Humanity site has been "very healthy this weekend." </span></p><p><span>"The best way for me to make sense of that response is that these kinds of pranks are like an improv<span> </span><span>scene</span><span> </span><span>where the public is our</span><span> </span><span>scene</span><span> </span><span>partner</span><span>. We create a funny setup, and they make it real," Temkin says.</span></span></p><p>But wait, there's a punchline here: How Cards Against Humanity used the cash.</p><h2><span>Shopping list</span></h2><p>"<span>There's been a lot of speculation about how we would spend the money from Black Friday, and we're happy to announce that this time, we kept it all. Here's what we bought," Cards Against Humanity writes in the blog post.</span></p><p><span>While Cards Against Humanity actually has a <a href="http://cardsagainsthumanity.com/donorschoose/">history of making big donations to charitable causes</a>, this time, they used the cash more selfishly, splitting it evenly among its 17 employees for about $4,185 each. </span></p><p>It then goes on to break down what employees actually bought with their windfalls.</p><p>"I<span>t's been really fun seeing everyone react to our employee's shopping list. We go out of our way to hire generous, funny, well-rounded, and diverse people, and they did an amazing job with their holiday spending (which we dropped on them pretty suddenly as the Black Friday promotion started blowing up)," Temkin says.</span></p><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5658845584307662008b5ce8-1167-666/screen shot 2015-11-27 at 8.25.58 am.png" alt="Cards Against Humanity" data-mce-source="Cards Against Humanity" /><p class="source"><span>Cards Against Humanity</span></p><p class="caption">The Cards Against Humanity Black Friday "sale."</p></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p>Lots of Cards Against Humanity employees bought Sony PlayStation 4 or Nintendo Wii U video game consoles. Others put money into savings, bought gifts for others, including a $1000 car, or paid some of their student loans.</p><p>But the real highlights include a "custom suit of men's armor" ($1500), two front row tickets to the Chicago Cubs home opener ($1,058), and a 24-karat-gold YVA vibrating massager with "eight pleasure settings" ($3,120).</p><p>Finally, and the absolute best part: Despite the gag of Cards Against Humanity keeping the money for themselves, several Cards Against Humanity employees actually gave in the hundreds or thousands to charities and nonprofits including Planned Parenthood, DonorsChoose.org, and the American Refugee Committee. </p><p>"We've been doing these kinds of jokes for a few years now, and I think the key thing that we're learning is to trust our gut a little more than we usually do. If something makes us laugh, it will probably resonate with other people as well," Temkin says.</p><div></div><p> </p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/solve-monty-hall-problem-right-answer-math-game-show-2015-11">The Monty Hall Problem: There's a right answer but even genius math geeks get it wrong</a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="pucnNxazrOZJihAvh0nIPZwytg7Xre9r" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; }     RunFunctions.push(function()    {         var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', 'pucnNxazrOZJihAvh0nIPZwytg7Xre9r',{ autoplay: 'false' });     });    </script>    <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div>        </div>        <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script>    </div>

The game company that sold nothing for $5 on Black Friday made $71,145 - and split it among employees

<p>Cards Against Humanity, which bills itself as a "party game for horrible people," decided that it wanted to help potential customers "experience the ultimate savings" on Black Friday by taking its game off its website completely. </p>
<p>Instead, though, <a href="https://store.cardsagainsthumanity.com/">the site offered a bizarre and hilarious "deal"</a>: It sold boxes of bull poop for $6 each. </p>
<p class="embed-spacer">Truly.</p>
<p class="embed-spacer">Creator <a href="https://twitter.com/maxtemkin">Max Temkin assured people on Twitter</a> that the deal was legit. </p>
<div><biembeddedobject id="a355c09f-5639-4863-b973-dbd28a6756c2"></biembeddedobject></div>
<div><biembeddedobject id="70b6f21a-90d5-40b0-c1e2-347ec4a573ae"></biembeddedobject></div>
<p class="embed-spacer"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">Miraculously, the site sold out poop boxes, meaning Cards Against Humanity sold 30,000 boxes, </span><a href="https://twitter.com/MaxTemkin/status/538460879655014400">Temkin told me via tweet</a><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">. That's $180,000 of revenue from poop.</span></p>
<p>This isn't the game company's first quirky special. Last year, Cards Against Humanity sold its game for $5 more than usual, and ended up <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/this-is-brilliant-marketing-cards-against-humanity-offers-5-more-black-friday-deal-and-sales-spike-2013-12">getting a huge spike in sales</a>. </p>
<p>It's also holding a <a href="https://www.holidaybullshit.com/">Ten Days Of Kwanza Or Whatever sale</a> where for $15, customers will get ten mystery gifts throughout December. </p>
<p>Here's what you see now on the company's main website:</p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table click-to-enlarge"><div><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="Cards Against Humanity " title_caption="" class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5478f8046da811f12acd71f6-960/screen shot 2014-11-28 at 5.23.38 pm.png"><span class="sprites click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5478f8046da811f12acd71f6-1147-590/screen shot 2014-11-28 at 5.23.38 pm.png" border="0" alt="Cards Against Humanity" /></a><p class="source"><span><a href="https://store.cardsagainsthumanity.com/">Cards Against Humanity </a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p>
<p> The company's FAQ page was equally amusing:</p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5478fbbaeab8ea7111c46f18-1034-645/screen shot 2014-11-28 at 5.47.38 pm.png" border="0" alt="Card Against Humanity "><p class="source"><span><a href="https://store.cardsagainsthumanity.com/">Card Against Humanity </a></span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div></p>
<p>(<a href="http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2014/11/cards-against-humanity-calls-bull-on-black-friday-sells-cow-feces/">Hat-tip to Ars Technica</a>, where we first saw this story.)</p>

This Game Company Sold 30,000 Boxes Of Bull Poop As A Black Friday 'Deal'

<p>The creators of <a href="https://cardsagainsthumanity.com/">Cards Against Humanity</a>, the self-dubbed "party game for horrible people," are at it again with what's honestly my favorite Super Bowl commercial of all time, aired before the big game in the Midwest.</p><p>Here it is:&#xa0;</p><p>&#xa0;Are you wondering why you just watched 30 seconds of a stationary potato? You're not alone:</p><p>&#xa0;</p><p>And so on.</p><p>In a blog post after the fact, called "Why Our Super Bowl Ad Failed," Cards Against Humanity took credit and explained everything. Kind of.&#xa0;</p><p>"<span>While we succeeded creatively, the advertisement showed a disappointing return on investment ($0), and we are now going out of business," the company wrote. It goes on to say that, "<span name="anon_fb8834e5e242" data-creator-ids="anon">We spent so much time selecting the right potato for the ad that we never stopped to question whether a potato would convey the essential brand experience of Cards Against Humanity."</span></span></p><p><span>(Cards Against Humanity CEO Max Temkin confirmed to Business Insider that the part about going out of business is a joke.)</span></p><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5898bf9f3149a11a008b573d-1815/undefined" alt="cards against humanity potato" data-mce-source="Cards Against Humanity"><p class="source"><span>Cards Against Humanity</span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p><span>The whole blog post is a fabulous and hilarious send-up of the <keyword id="35666" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="advertising">advertising</keyword> industry, Super Bowl commercials, and startup hubris. </span></p><p><span>"Most startups fail for one of two reasons: they run out of money, or they fail to reach an audience. We spent all of our money while simultaneously failing to reach an audience. This is a classic blunder," says the company.</span></p><p><span>It's just the latest bit of performance art from Cards Against Humanity&#xa0;- most recently, it took over $90,000 in donations to do nothing but <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/cards-against-humanity-watch-hole-in-the-ground-money-pit-black-friday-2016-11">dig a hole in the ground as deep as they could go</a>.&#xa0;</span></p><div><iframe width="853" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/gcWW-pN_niE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>The potato advertisement was pure filth <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/whatsthepoint?src=hash">#whatsthepoint</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/stopthepotatoadvertisment?src=hash">#stopthepotatoadvertisment</a></p>- ER  (@officialeare) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/828362476773335040">February 5, 2017</a></blockquote><script async="" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Did I just watch a 30 sec <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SuperBowl?src=hash">#SuperBowl</a> commercial with a potato and the word "advertisement" written on it?!?</p>- Rufio on KISSFM  (@RufioRadio) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/828362587804934145">February 5, 2017</a></blockquote><script async="" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/four-best-ads-super-bowl-51-patriots-commercials-mr-clean-tide-audi-its-a-ten-hair-football-2017-2">Here are the 4 best ads of Super Bowl 51</a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="Q1cjZoOTE6z2tILnd4vuFZ2-diKEpe-i" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; }     RunFunctions.push(function()    {         var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', 'Q1cjZoOTE6z2tILnd4vuFZ2-diKEpe-i',{ autoplay: 'false' });     });    </script>    <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div>        </div>        <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script>    </div>

Cards Against Humanity wrote 'Advertisement' on a potato and filmed it for its Super Bowl commercial

<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/56588c5584307617008b5c67-2048-1024/16240990455_1e6d6a1c78_k.jpg" alt="Cards Against Humanity game" data-mce-source="Flickr/Connie Ma"><p class="source"><span>Flickr/Connie Ma</span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div>Cards Against Humanity, the self-proclaimed "party game for horrible people," has an unusual Black Friday deal: It's asking people to give it $5 to receive absolutely&#xa0;nothing in return.&#xa0;<p>"<span>On Black Friday, everybody is selling something," the <a href="https://store.cardsagainsthumanity.com/">company writes in the&#xa0;FAQ section</a>.&#xa0;"We're the only company to offer the superior Black Friday experience of buying nothing."</span></p><p><span>By noon, the company had already reeled in more than $13,000.&#xa0;</span></p><p><span>Game creator Max Tempkin&#xa0;has a penchant for setting up quirky promotions. Last year the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/cards-against-humanity-sold-30000-boxes-of-black-friday-bull-poop-2014-11">company sold $180,000 worth of actual bull poop</a>, and the year before that it sold the game for $5 more than usual - causing <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/this-is-brilliant-marketing-cards-against-humanity-offers-5-more-black-friday-deal-and-sales-spike-2013-12">an enormous spike in sales.&#xa0;</a></span></p><p><span>In this case,&#xa0;it literally pays to have a sense of humor.&#xa0;</span></p><p><span><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>The ultimate Black Friday experience is to buy nothing. And we will sell that to you. <a href="https://t.co/S2ZTmvESmg">https://t.co/S2ZTmvESmg</a></p>- Max Temkin  (@MaxTemkin) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/670277296217939968">November 27, 2015</a></blockquote><script async="" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div></span></p><p class="embed-spacer"><span>Tempkin and his friends first invented the wild card game several years ago, and it's kind of a dirty fill-in-the-blanks game where you complete funny phrases with answers like "spontaneous human combustion" or "my collection of high-tech sex toys."&#xa0;</span></p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5658845584307662008b5ce8-1167-666/screen%20shot%202015-11-27%20at%208.25.58%20am.png" alt="Cards Against Humanity" data-mce-source="Cards Against Humanity"><p class="source"><span>Cards Against Humanity</span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div><p>&#xa0;</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/engineering-behind-void-first-vr-park-2015-11"> A nuclear engineer is solving virtual reality's biggest problem</a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="l4cXQweDr-vj2WOz8XvIk7VMvS5Xcnqm" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; }     RunFunctions.push(function()    {         var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', 'l4cXQweDr-vj2WOz8XvIk7VMvS5Xcnqm',{ autoplay: 'false' });     });    </script>    <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div>        </div>        <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script>    </div>

This game company is asking people to give it $5 as a Black Friday 'deal' -&#160;and it's already made more than $13,000

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/59f2264cbcf93dc5068b4b17-2000/rtx3hvzb.jpg" alt="border wall prototypes" data-mce-source="Reuters/Mike Blake" data-mce-caption="Seven of U.S. President Donald Trump's eight border wall prototypes are shown near completion along U.S.- Mexico border near San Diego, California, U.S., October 23, 2017." /><p class="source"><span>Reuters/Mike Blake</span></p><p class="caption">Some of the prototypes for President Donald Trump's proposed wall along the US-Mexico border.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul><li><strong>The company behind Cards Against Humanity, the self-described "party game for horrible people," has purchased a plot of land on the US-Mexico border.</strong></li><li><strong>The company's goal is to "<span>make it as time-consuming and expensive as possible for [President Trump's border wall] to get built."</span></strong></li><li><strong><span>It's part of the latest of the company's annual holiday season marketing stunts.</span></strong></li></ul><hr /><p><br />The company behind Cards Against Humanity, the self-described "party game for horrible people," has purchased a vacant plot of land on the US-Mexico border, just to get in the way of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-border-wall-construction-prototypes-photos-cbp-2017-10">President Trump's planned wall</a>. </p><p>Cards Against Humanity harbors no illusions that it'll be able to stop the construction of the wall entirely. But the company has hired a law firm specializing in eminent domain, just "to make it as time-consuming and expensive as possible for the wall to get built," it said on a <a href="https://www.cardsagainsthumanitysavesamerica.com">new website</a> dubbed Cards Against Humanity Saves America."</p><p>"Donald Trump is a preposterous golem who is afraid of Mexicans" the company said on the site. "He is so afraid that he wants to build a $20 billion wall that everyone knows will accomplish nothing."</p><p>The land purchase and the new website are actually part of the kickoff to the company's annual holiday season marketing stunt. This year, for $15, the company will send customers "six America-saving surprises right to your doorstep." The first of those surprises will include a map of the vacant plot on the border, some new cards for the game, and other goodies. </p><p>"It will be fun, it will be weird, and if you voted for Trump, you might want to sit this one out," the company said on the new site.</p><h2>Digging a hole</h2><p>Cards Against Humanity has a history of staging hilarious stunts during the holiday season. Last year, for example, it raised more than $100,000 in donations <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/cards-against-humanity-watch-hole-in-the-ground-money-pit-black-friday-2016-11">to finance the digging of a massive hole in the middle of nowhere</a>, for no reason.</p><p>And this isn't the first time that Cards Against Humanity has turned to real estate for the sake of its holiday jokes. Three years ago, the company bought a private island off the coast of Maine, dubbed it <a href="http://hawaii2.website/">Hawaii 2</a>, and gave 250,000 customers a license to visit. Nowadays, Hawaii 2 is open to the general public for hiking or fishing.<span> </span></p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/58a3a8eb54905724008b479b-2400/img5878.jpg" alt="Max Temkin Ben Hantoot Cards Against Humanity" data-mce-source="Cards Against Humanity" data-mce-caption="Cards Against Humanity co-creators Ben Hantoot (left) and Max Temkin (right)" /><p class="source"><span>Cards Against Humanity</span></p><p class="caption">Cards Against Humanity co-creators Ben Hantoot, left, and Max Temkin</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>And this isn't the first time the company has gotten political. This summer, it launched "<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/cards-against-humanity-for-her-2017-7">Cards Against Humanity: For Her</a>," a version of the game that was the same as the original but came in a pink box and cost $5 more. Profits from sales of that joke product went to Emily's List, a political action committee <a href="https://www.emilyslist.org/">dedicated to getting more women elected to public office</a>.</p><p>On its new Cards Against Humanity Saves America site, the company refuted the notion "it's politically correct now."</p><p>"We're just being regular correct," the company said.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/eight-prototypes-trump-border-wall-finished-in-san-diego-mexico-politics-patrol-customs-budget-congress-2017-10">One of these prototypes could become Trump's border wall</a></h3>        <div>            <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" data-player="jwplayer" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/47pBIu39-CEZHWCBG.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><script>function receiveMessage(event){ console.log(event.data.fullscreen); Android.fullscreen(event.data.fullscreen); }window.addEventListener("message", receiveMessage, false);</script>        </div>    </div>

The company behind the 'party game for horrible people' bought a vacant plot of land on the Mexico border to stymie Trump's wall

<p>The people behind card game <keyword id="60953" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Cards">Cards</keyword> Against Humanity wanted to get noticed on <keyword id="14520" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="60" keywordseo="Black-Friday">Black Friday</keyword>, but they didn't want to discount their game below $25.</p>
<p>So they came up with a strange, perverse offer. For a limited time only, you could buy Cards Against Humanity for…$5 more.</p>
<p>The plan worked. The absurd offer got a lot of attention and sales spiked.</p>
<p>Here's a chart:</p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/52a1d2b269bedd9f1a5aaef0-908-493/cards-1.png" border="0" alt="cards" /><p class="source"><a href="http://maxistentialist.tumblr.com/post/68844686496/cards-against-humanitys-5-more-black-friday">Cards Against Humanity</a></p></div><p></p></div></div></p>
<p><a href="http://maxistentialist.tumblr.com/post/68844686496/cards-against-humanitys-5-more-black-friday">Cards Against Humanity creator Max Temkin told the story of how he came up with the idea on his blog. </a></p>
<p>He writes:</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">A lot of people have been curious about how our "<a href="http://maxistentialist.tumblr.com/post/68441639051/amazing-black-friday-savings-at">everything costs $5 more</a>" Black Friday sale worked, and if it was successful for us.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span>The Idea</span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">This is a difficult time of year for us because we spend almost no money on <keyword id="6354839" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="marketing">marketing</keyword>, and it's easy for us to get lost in the noise and money of the holiday season.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">We initially started talking about doing a Black Friday sale over the summer, and came up with the idea of a "$0.01 off" coupon. I liked the idea, but have always maintained a policy of no deals, no discounts, and no sales  for Cards Against Humanity, even during our Kickstarter. To me the game is always $25, it's never another price, and doing any kind of deal or discount undermines the simplicity and honesty of the game.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">After some discussion, Ben came up with the idea of <em>raising</em> the price for Black Friday and that was so outrageous that I fell in love with it instantly. Two books I read recently that informed my decision were Malcom Gladwell's <em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/David-Goliath-Underdogs-Misfits-Battling/dp/0316204366">David and Goliath</a> </em>and Marty Neumeier's <em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Zag-Number-Strategy-High-Performance-Brands/dp/0321426770">Zag</a></em>, which are both kind of shitty business/science books that make the somewhat-obvious point that being small and nimble can give you advantages that huge lumbering opponents don't have. Anyone can do a sale for Black Friday, but nobody but us could get away with <em>raising</em> their prices and risking a ton of sales just to make a joke.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">The other guys were pretty skeptical, but Ben and I convinced them one by one, <em>12 Angry Men</em> style, until they agreed to let us try a truly insane pricing experiment. The final piece needed to convince everyone was the mockup of the landing page that I designed, with the glowing "consume!" button. Once everyone saw how funny that looked, they knew we had to go through with it.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span>Execution</span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">Nothing crazy here. I put together a landing page and we replaced all the "buy" buttons on our site with the new pricing. I edited the FAQ to include:</p>
<blockquote style="padding-left: 30px;">
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span>Why do all of your products cost more today?</span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">We're participating in the tradition of "Black Friday," an American holiday celebrating a time when the Wampanoag tribe saved the settlers of Plymouth Colony with incredible deals. All of our products are $5 more today only, so you can enjoy buying them that much more.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span>I'm mad that you're making a joke about Black Friday.</span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">You're probably a bad person.</p>
</blockquote>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">We called our contact at Amazon and explained the idea for the sale to them. They thought it was funny but were also pretty annoyed - apparently monkeying with pricing on the biggest sales day of the year isn't as funny to Amazon as it is to us.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span>Reception</span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">The sale made people laugh, it was widely shared on Twitter and Tumblr, and it was the <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/funny/comments/1rp3jp/cards_against_humanity_is_really_going_all_out/">top post on Reddit</a>. The press picked it up, and it was reported in <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/nov/29/black-friday-events-protests-live#block-5298af5fe4b083b815ae51ef">The Guardian</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/USATODAYcollege/status/406422326641557504">USA Today</a>, <a href="http://www.polygon.com/2013/11/29/5157448/cards-against-humanity-holds-reverse-black-friday-sale-by-charging">Polygon</a>, <a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/ryanhatesthis/cards-against-humanitys-black-friday-sale-is-better-than-any">BuzzFeed</a>, <a href="http://allthingsd.com/20131129/cards-against-humanitys-black-friday-sale-is-bigger-blacker-and-also-really-funny/?mod=atd_homepage_carousel">All Things D</a>, <a href="http://chicagoist.com/2013/11/29/best_black_friday_deal_ever.php">Chicagoist</a>, and <a href="http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/brand-decided-charge-more-black-friday-and-people-loved-it-154247">AdWeek</a>. It was even the top comment on<a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1rpmlj/iama_we_are_the_wirecutter_a_group_of_writers/">The Wirecutter's front page AMA</a>, which had nothing to do with us.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">I was pretty sure that our fans would be into the "$5 more" sale, but I had no idea that it would turn a day where we'd normally be totally overlooked into a huge press hit for the game.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span>Sales</span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">So how did we do? A little better than last year. We kept our position as the best-selling toy or game on Amazon. My guess is that peoples' buying decisions just weren't <span>that </span><span>affected by $5.</span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">The interesting thing to note is that we got a nice lift in our sales the day after Black Friday ("Regret Saturday"). That might be from people who were waiting to buy the game until it came back down in price, or, more likely, those are sales from people who heard about the game after our Black Friday press. Not bad for an ad that paid us to run it.</p>

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You Searched For "max temkin" and got 11 results

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