That’s right. Someone actually accomplished such a feat. Back in the day(2006) when people actually read a newspaper, I saved an article (Brian Bergstein, A.P.) describing how a 26 year old blogger from Montreal, Canada (Kyle MacDonald) set out to barter one paper clip for something and that thing for yet something else repeatedly for something bigger and better.
Here is how he initially set out to accomplish his goal:
- Advertised in the barter section of Craigslist
- Traded for a fish shaped pen
- Continuously posted on Craigslist, targeting Canada and the U.S.A.
Well, here were his next steps taken sequentially:
- Exchanged the pen for a ceramic knob
- In turn, a camping stove
- A generator
- A beer keg and Budweiser sign
- Snowmobile
- A trip to the Canadian Rockies
- A supply truck
- A recording contract (!!!???)
- Obtained a year’s rent in Phoenix, Arizona
- Traded the year’s rent for an afternoon with Alice Cooper
- Bartered his time with Alice for a snow globe depicting the band KISS
OK, if you’re still with me, along the way, Kyle’s adventure became an internet blockbuster. As a result, he appeared on Canadian TV and Good Morning America. He also made dozens of local radio appearances, one of which was heard by actor Corbin Bernsen (L.A. Law, Major League).
After refusing a paid speaking role in a movie Bernsen was directing, and after discovering that Bernsen had amassed a collection of 6,500 snow globes (“put them all together and they sort of look like pop art”), Kyle gave Bernsen his KISS model.
Kyle then encouraged his blog readers to send the actor even more globes in exchange for autographed pictures.
Before I go any further, please look at the title of this article once again.
Now, all of this activity reached the elders of Kipling, Saskatchewan (a town of 1,140). Like many rural towns, Kipling was eager to stave off the perils of dwindling population by attracting new businesses, tourism and most of all, attention.
When the head of local development heard of Kyle’s odyssey, he suggested at the council meeting that Kipling lure him.
Lure him they did. Quickly the town purchased an unoccupied rental house on Main Street and offered it to Kyle.
Kyle accepted.
What’s your bid for my red paper clip?
