Kickstarter's Coolest Cooler Still Needs More Money

Please send $97 if you want your fancy cooler by summer

The crowdfunding campaign for the so-called "Coolest" cooler was one of the most successful Kickstarters in history, raising a whopping $13 million. (Yes, apparently that many people saw a cooler with Bluetooth speakers and a built-in blender and declared, "I need that.")

It's also, unfortunately, turned out to be a large-scale disaster. When it came time to actually deliver all those fancy coolers, the company ran into numerous problems including supply shortages and some serious cash-flow issues; it recently began hunting for new investors so it could actually make good on all its yet-to-be-fulfilled orders. Now, Consumerist reports, Coolest has a new money-making proposal: The two-thirds of backers who still haven't gotten their coolers and want to get them in time for the Fourth of July can now pony up an additional $97 to jump to the front of the line.

Coolest notified backers of this new offer via email, explaining, "Unfortunately, we just didn't set the pledge levels high enough to cover the final quality of the Coolest — and of course we didn't plan for manufacturing delays and a factory strike. That's why we need more money than we currently have to make and ship the remaining Coolest backers." The company at least isn't lacking in self-awareness, also writing, "Understandably many of our backers are tired of this rough road ... and just want their darn cooler." Amen.

Those who strongly believe a cooler with USB ports will really propel their summer barbecues to the next level can always cough up $399.99 and get one straight from Amazon.

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