Editors’ note (Jan. 27): Since this piece was published, the creator of ShipYourEnemiesGlitter.com has told the New York Observer that it was an elaborate stunt aimed at drumming up web traffic and media attention. While it appears he did send glitter as advertised, we would have written the piece differently had we contacted the creator, Mathew Carpenter, and gotten his perspective. We are now looking into it further.
The internet can’t get enough sparkly, decorative revenge.
After its site went viral online, an Australian startup known as ShipYourEnemiesGlitter.com (“We Send Glitter To The People You Hate”) is swamped with demand and has temporarily suspended orders.
The service the company provides is all in its name: For $9.99 AUD ($8.14 USD), it will send an envelope filled with glitter—and a note, for good measure—to any address. When the oblivious victim pulls the note from the envelope, the glitter—or “craft herpes,” as the site calls it—will be released in all its sparkling, impossibly messy glory.
The site spread in typical internet fashion on Jan. 13: First came the attention on Twitter, then on Reddit (where a post about the company now has 1,100 comments and 4,000 upvotes) and then shout-outs from several news sites. The surge in traffic is likely what froze ShipYourEnemiesGlitter.com for several hours that day, according to news reports that tried to access the site at the time. The site is back up and running, but the company has stopped taking new orders as it works through the volume.
“You guys have a sick fascination with shipping people glitter,” the site says.
According to reviews posted on the company’s web page, the glitter bombs achieve their intended effect. One reads:
I bought this for my husband, he opened the mail before work & got it everywhere! He had to change, was late for work & might be getting fired, LOL!
And another:
Its [sic] been 3 weeks and I’m still finding this shit. How the fuck do I get rid of it?
Photo via Claire L. Evans on Flickr.