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Cards Against Humanity Bulls***

Game maker Cards Against Humanity sold 30,000 boxes of bull feces during a Black Friday promotion.

Published Nov. 19, 2014


On 28 November 2014, the creators of the popular party game Cards Against Humanity (a play on words referencing crimes against humanity), advertised as "a party game for horrible people," announced an unusual promotion for the day after Thanksgiving retail event commonly known as Black Friday. A post made to the game's official Facebook page directed users to a promotion termed Cards Against Humanity's Bullshit Blowout:



To help you experience the ultimate savings on Cards Against Humanity this Black Friday, we've removed the game from our store, making it impossible to purchase.

Instead, we're offering a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to buy some new bullshit: www.CardsAgainstHumanity.com


Those who clicked through to the site were offered the chance to buy "literal feces, from an actual bull." The limited edition item was called "Bullshit by Cards Against Humanity" and priced at $6 as part of a larger "12 Days of Kwanzaa or Whatever" sale, and reportedly all available units of the item sold out within one hour. On the day of the unusual sale, fans of the game were not entirely sure what the promotion (or anti-promotion) entailed, and the only clue to the box's genuine contents was provided via a picture:

On 28 November 2014, game co-creator Max Temkin posted a tweet assuring fans the promotion in question indeed involved literal cow feces, as promised:



If you buy the poop expecting it to be something else that's not poop, you're actually buying a valuable life lesson for $6.

On 15 December 2014, TIME magazine published an article in which Temkin explained the brand's distaste for Black Friday, the impetus behind the promotion, and other ideas that had been rejected in favor of Cards Against Humanity's Bullshit edition:



We all really hate Black Friday, it's just kind of a horrible day. It comes after this day where you're supposed to be thankful for what you have, and then it's just this whole huge media spectacle of people fighting each other to save $50 on a TV.

We also had the idea of issuing people a one penny off coupon, but that felt weird because it was still a deal. That's sort of still doing Black Friday.


While the promotion looked to entail a relatively straightforward promise, participating consumers were not sure what they would receive in the mail after clicking the "consume" button and purchasing the limited edition item. On 10 December 2014, one customer posted an unboxing video (which contains profanity) to YouTube showing him unwrapping his shipment and discovering the box did indeed contain cow excrement:

When all was said and done, Cards Against Humanity sold 30,000 units of "Bullshit by Cards Against Humanity" but only made 20 cents per box due to manufacturing and other costs. The company confirmed in a 15 December 2014 tweet it made $6,000 on the promotion and it was donating the proceeds to a charity which provides livestock to communities in need:



Thanks for the post! We actually only made $6,000 and donated it all to @heifer.

The stunt was not the brand's first atypical Black Friday promotion: In 2013, the company priced the game $5 higher than its standard retail cost of $25. Sales of the game on that day spiked despite the price increase.

Last updated:   18 November 2014

David Mikkelson founded the site now known as snopes.com back in 1994.

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