1
What is exchanged
Value Proposition CanvasFor $19.99 you get a clear acrylic slab shaped like a phone with nothing inside, a placebo for the reach into the pocket. It is a joke about a habit that you can hand to someone. 39 backers funded it.
StalledA product per piece
methaphone
methaphone.com ↗ · launched 7 Apr 2025 · 508 days so far
Eric Antonow and Greg Hochmuth made a transparent acrylic slab shaped like a smartphone, a placebo for the reach into the pocket. Idea on 29 March 2025, prototype on 7 April, rejected twice by Kickstarter, then an Indiegogo campaign that closed on 8 May 2025 with $1,100 from 39 backers. One week later a TikTok video took it to 53 million views in five days and about 150 million in a week. The shop sells it for $19.99 and both variants were sold out on 28 August 2026; the site claims more than 200 million views. The Indiegogo figure comes from press reports, because Indiegogo blocks automated reads.
Last 24 hours
$0
0.0 % · from snapshots
Last 7 days
$0
0.0 % · from snapshots
Post views
150M
public views of tracked posts, 30 days
Peak revenue
$1,100
highest figure on record
Revenue over time 5 snapshots · cumulative
First 24 h n/a · peak revenue $1,100 · 0 % of revenue came after the attention peak
Social attention impressions per day
Latest day: n/a impressions · 0 likes · 0 reposts · 0 replies · 0 visits
Status the rules
Stalled Set manually by the editors.
Revenue moved less than 2 percent over the last 14 days. The site is still online.
Revenue history
First 24 hoursn/aPeak$1,100Attention peakedday 43After the peak0 % of revenueDays active508Snapshots5 daily
In one sentence editorial
The viral moment came a week after the campaign closed. Attention and revenue were never in the same week.
AbsurdityScarcity
The facts A product per piece
A thing or a service delivered per purchase, bought for the story: toast with your logo, glitter in the mail.
What is soldA product per piecePrice forms byFixed priceLives onMarketplace or platformHow oftenRepeatsNext buyer viaPress and absurdity · taxonomyMonetizationOne product, a clear acrylic slab shaped like a phonePricingFixed $19.99Goal$500 Indiegogo goal, reached 220 percentInventoryBatches of about 80; both variants sold out on 28 August 2026Launch platformIndiegogo, then TikTok, then AmazonCore mechanicA placebo object with a one-line explanationRepeatableYes, it can sell again
How the mechanism works, and why it works here 7 of 7 blocks · the schema
Every project is taken apart with the same seven questions, each borrowed from a standard analysis tool, so you can compare this one with any other on the board. The funnel numbers come from the daily snapshots, not from the creator.
Post views, 30 days
150M
public view counts of tracked posts
Website visits (creator-provided)
0
0.0 percent of impressions
Revenue, 30 days
$0
no visit data · $0 per 1,000 impressions
2
How the price forms
Pricing mechanism analysisFixed at $19.99. The Indiegogo goal was $500 and closed at 220 percent; nothing about the price ever moved.
3
Supply and scarcity
Scarcity and inventory analysisBatches of about 80, made in ten days from idea to object. Both variants were sold out on 28 August 2026, and the first batch "covered all the costs". Stock, not demand, was the limit during the viral week.
4
Growth loop
Viral loop analysisA stranger's TikTok video one week after the campaign closed: 4 million views by the next morning, 53 million in five days, about 150 million in a week, and a press list from WIRED to the Daily Mail. The object is the content.
5
Defensibility
Moat and clone analysisNone. An acrylic slab is easy to copy, and "sold out" hands the demand to whoever has stock. The name and the press coverage are what remain.
6
What can kill it
Failure mode analysisTiming: the attention came after the money was collected. Two Kickstarter rejections show a platform can veto the project. Copies and empty stock do the rest.
7
Why it works here
Editorial verdictAttention and revenue were never in the same week. 200 million views and $1,100 of documented crowdfunding is the clearest gap in this list.
Evidence · 3 items
27 Aug 2026
Counter on the project website
Shop: $19.99, both variants sold out; the site claims more than 200 million views · methaphone.com (reachable, checked 28 Aug 2026)
20 May 2025
Post by the creator
Creator blog: about 150 million views between 15 and 20 May 2025 · impressions: $150,000,000 · mindless-toys.com (reachable, checked 28 Aug 2026) · TikTok 53 million in five days, X 29 million, Barstool 58 million, a reply video 25 million. The first batch sold out and covered all costs; no unit count given.
8 May 2025
Article by a third party
Indiegogo campaign: $1,100 from 39 backers, 220 percent of the goal · reported revenue: $1,100 · indiegogo.com (blocks automated checks, last tried 28 Aug 2026) · Figure via Fast Company (21 May 2025) and PlasticsToday. Not yet checked by us in a browser.
What happened 5 events
- Creator posted an update: Listed on Amazon
- Creator posted an update: TikTok video by @askcatgpt: 4 million views by the next morning
- Evidence added: Indiegogo campaign closed
- Evidence added: Rejected twice by Kickstarter (8 to 17 April 2025)
- Launched: PrototypeIdea on 29 March 2025; domain registered 31 March.
Daily snapshots latest 10 of 5
| Date | Revenue | Reach | Impressions | Likes | Reposts | Replies | Visits (creator) | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 28 Aug 2026 | $1,100 | 150M | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | yes |
| 28 Aug 2026 | $1,100 | 150M | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | yes |
| 27 Aug 2026 | $1,100 | 150M | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | yes |
| 20 May 2025 | $1,100 | 150M | 150M | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | yes |
| 8 May 2025 | $1,100 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | yes |