Cards Against Humanity raises $100,000 to dig 'tremendous hole'

Cards Against Humanity, described as “a party game for horrible people”, marked Black Friday by digging a giant hole funded by donations.

“As long as money keeps coming in, we’ll keep digging,” read HolidayHole.com, a website dedicated to the hole set up by Cards Against Humanity. Viewers could watch a live feed of a backhoe digging on YouTube.

“Hole got dug,” proclaimed the game’s Twitter account on Sunday. According to the site, $100,573 was raised to dig the “tremendous hole in the earth”.

Claire Friedman, a Cards Against Humanity employee, explained to NPR how donations translated to digging: “It’s set so time gets more expensive the longer we dig. The first dollar paid for 5.5 seconds, now it’ll only get .3. Basically just reflecting the longer we need to hold crew and equipment here, the more expensive it gets.”

In an FAQ on the Holiday Hole site, Cards Against Humanity explains that the hole is located in “America. And in our hearts”. There’s no “deeper meaning or purpose” to the hole, the site reads. The FAQ also addresses the question of “Why aren’t you giving all this money to charity?” The game-maker replied: “Why aren’t YOU giving all this money to charity? It’s your money.”

The hole is supposed to be funny, according to the FAQ. “You might not get it for a while, but some time next year you’ll chuckle quietly to yourself and remember all this business about the hole,” it reads.

Cards Against Humanity’s basic premise is to answer a question printed on a black card with a white card. The irreverent game thrives on taboo, cheeky or politically incorrect responses.

This wasn’t the first stunt pulled by the company in honor of the commercial holiday. Among its many Black Friday gags, the company increased its prices on Black Friday in 2013. The next year, it sold boxes of “bullshit” to customers on Black Friday with proceeds going to charity. In 2015, it sold nothing for $5 and made over $70,000 for employees to spend. That same year, the company also gave the workers at its printing factory in China a week’s paid vacation.

During the election, Cards Against Humanity sold Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump-themed expansions packs and used the profits to support Clinton’s campaign.

In the past, Cards Against Humanity has donated to charity through its holiday endeavors – for example, by giving its 2012 holiday profits to the Wikimedia Foundation. That the money raised this year is going towards digging a purposeless hole has garnered criticism, as the funds could have been used for much more beneficial purposes.

Meanwhile, a few other companies announced they would be donating all or a portion of their Black Friday profits to charitable causes. Patagonia, the outdoor brand, pledged to donate its entire global sales from 25 November to environmental organizations.