Burning Man Project Now Selling Merchandise

…well, kind of. Being Burning Man, of course, it can’t be straightforward; they have to invent some cockamamie scheme and pretend that they’re not selling merchandise. Technically if you make a donation of $150, the not-for-profit subsidiary entitled the Burning Man Project will “gift” you a scarf. How they came up with the $150 price tag is anyone’s guess – it sounds a little on the high side to me, and beyond the reach of most of the hipsters who would want to wear it. Their description of the “donate for merchandise” process seems to pave the way for more  merchandise sales gifting in the future…

Burning Man Project is offering an awesome grey cotton scarf to thank $150 donors to its end-of-year fundraising campaign. It’s a really soft, cuddly, stretchy, organic cotton fabric lovingly screened with the BMP skyline logo.

It’s versatile, unisex, machine washable. Its heathered, dark grey color navigates the line between goth/fashion editor/Gate, Perimeter and Exodus basic black and smoky/sultry/ashes-of-the-Man-at-Sunday-sunrise charcoal. You can wear it as a turban, a dust mask, a shawl, a sarong, a belt, or wrap it around your neck. As scarves go, it’s pretty great. But it’s mostly great because it’s a thank you GIFT for a crucial $150 donation. The scarf is 18 x 80 inches.

Burning Man Project’s purpose is to bring the lessons and values of the playa to the larger world. Through events, discussions, demonstration projects, and a growing platform of online learning, we are gearing up to share the Burner ethos with the broadest possible audience. All of this takes funding beyond the price of tickets to Black Rock City. So we are embarking on a new era, asking the Burner community to join us on this year-round adventure. We are inviting your involvement in making Burning Man Project into a worldwide force for participation, inclusion, and expression. And yes, we are asking for your donation.

So what does all of that have to do with a scarf? This is the first time we have used a gift as part of a donation campaign. We are treading lightly, understanding that the topic of money has special significance for the Burner community. But we need to function as a nonprofit to do this work in the world. And we want to show you our appreciation, so you can show the world you want this venture — and adventure — to succeed.

So accept our invitation, make a donation of $150, and let us gift you a scarf (or 2014 calendar, if you prefer.) Make a donation of any size, and receive our tremendous thanks and enthusiasm.Here’s the link.  

What does your $150 donation do to make the world a better place? So far it seems like you’re providing travel for the Burning Man founders, helping them host a panel discussion in their offices, and shipping an art car  around. “Worldwide force” indeed. 2013 ticket sales were $25.9 million (assuming that the mysteriously missing 7,000 tickets from their official page went for $380). Ice sales were at least $1 million on top of that – not to mention calendars, coffees, fine art, photo shoots, movie and soundtrack royalties, and the additional money donated to Black Rock Arts Foundation with our ticket purchases. It seems that just isn’t enough funding for them to deliver on their mission of global inclusion, hence the expansion into other forms of merchandise as an incentive for us to hand over even more cash to them.

What’s the point of all this pretending? BMOrg sells merchandise. Big deal. It’s a highly commodified money-making machine, we all know it, and their protestations to the contrary aren’t fooling anyone. Now can we buy t-shirts, please? Or, even better, can fashion designers make licensed merchandise and pay BMOrg royalties?

On another note, Robot Heart goggles are going for $100 on the aftermarket.