Photo: MSCHF
MSCHF, a group of 10 offbeat creatives based in a small office in Brooklyn, is responsible for creating:
- Jesus shoes (customized $1,425 Nike sneakers whose soles are filled with holy water from the River Jordan)
- Puff the Squeaky Chicken (a bong shaped like a chicken that squeaks when smoked)
- Bull & Moon (an app that picks stocks based on astrological signs)
Some of the group’s self-proclaimed “drops” are simply socially shareable stunts. But others feature physical products (like Jesus shoes) that actually make money.
So… who the hell are these people?
Don’t call them a startup
Why? Well, for starters, they don’t really want to make money.
Gabriel Whaley, the 30-year-old founder of the group, explained to The New York Times that making money is “not why we’re here.”
And they don’t really want to take on clients either: The group once ran an advertising agency that worked for clients like Casper, but shut it down to focus on social commentary, which Whaley says is “the point.”
But advertisers want to invest in ‘structured chaos’ anyway
Despite MSCHF’s lack of interest in making money, the group still managed to raise $11.5m from outside investors. Why?
“I don’t see anybody doing exactly what MSCHF is doing,” technology consultant Frank Denbow explained to the Times. “Everybody is able to get a one-off campaign that works, but to consistently find ways to create content that really sticks with people is different.”