Scribble

Description

The Scribble pen is a controversial pen project that has been brought up repeatedly on the podcast since 2014. It is originally touted as a pen that can write in any color. It is advertised as having a sensor to match real world colors, and a mysterious ink system used to precisely replicate any selected color.

At first Brad and Myke are curious and have a healthy amount of skepticism about the promises of the product and its campaign. This skepticism gives way to full-on denouncement of the pen's attributes, as they highlight images and videos that were poorly edited. Further investigation by other groups reveals a deeper, international web involved with the product and using it to raise money.

History

Kickstarter

The pen was first mentioned on the show on June 12, 2014, as Pen Addict listeners alerted Brad and Myke to the PR push from this unknown company. Even in this first mention, Brad and Myke highlight that the campaign's advertising images are poorly Photoshopped, and that there is no video presentation. However, for the first few times the project is mentioned, both hosts are open to having someone from Scribble on the show. Between episodes, Brad reaches out to the company with some questions, to which "Kevin from the Scribble Team" gives lackluster responses.

Talk of the campaign survived through the transition of the podcast moving from 5by5 to Relay.fm, being brought up a third time on the very first Relay-hosted episode. A Kickstarter campaign was launched on August 11, 2014 and canceled three days later after Kickstarter admins investigated the project and asked for video footage of the pen. The campaign creators cautioned backers not to worry, and that a new project would be launched on August 28, 2014. On August 29, the creators announced they would not be relaunching on Kickstarter, citing an "ultimatum" and "arbitrary specifications" regarding crowdfunding campaigns. The original Kickstarter campaign had raised $366,566, well above its original $100,000 goal.

Post-Kickstarter

After the project was canceled on Kickstarter, the "Scribble Team" moved their fundraising efforts to other crowd-funding platforms, starting with Tilt on August 28, as outlined in a Kickstarter update. On September 6, Tilt CEO James Beshara, wrote a blog post explaining that the company had found "several discrepancies" and "things that continued to make us doubt the legitimacy of this project", resulting in the campaign being shut down. CNET reported this cancellation on September 8, and noted the project had raised $227,540.

Episode Appearances

• The Pen Addict 110
• The Pen Addict 111
• The Pen Addict 116
• The Pen Addict 117
• The Pen Addict 118
• The Pen Addict 119
• The Pen Addict 156
• The Pen Addict 181
• The Pen Addict 195
• The Pen Addict 216