Assertion Not checkable as stated
Whaley: MSCHF covertly replaced a Met Museum sink piece by piece
“And so we found the sink. We did recon. We not me. I'm not, I, it wasn't me personally. It was somebody here. But we found, you know, we tracked down the serial numbers, the parts ordered exact, like replica. We ordered the exact same parts, built it here, tie…”
Assertion Supported
Whaley: MSCHF Replaced a Met Museum Sink Bolt-by-Bolt Over Months
“We found the sink, we did recon, we not me, I'm not, I, it wasn't me personally, it was somebody here. Names. But we found, you know, we tracked down the serial numbers, the parts ordered exact, like, replica, we ordered the exact same parts, built it here, ti…”
Disclosure
Whaley: MSCHF built initial audience by Venmoing users one cent each
“Our first audience portal was Venmo. We had a huge audience on Venmo and we like had this huge phone bank like a Chinese phone click farm. And we, every time we had a new project, we would Venmo our audience a penny and they would get that notification because…”
Insight
Whaley: Major brands like Coca-Cola are simply artistic raw material
“There are brands and entities in culture that we perceive as cultural material, the same way artists looks at their material as, like, paint or sculpture or marble or whatever. Like, for us, Coca-Cola is material. Give us that. And we'll make something new wit…”
Insight
Whaley: The marketing focus on product drops is entirely misplaced
“The focus on the drop is, is misplaced. Drop is just a delivery mechanism for something new. What these guys are actually looking for, like what they actually want at the end of the day is how do you break through the noise?”
Opinion
Whaley: Content marketing ROI is dropping due to massive oversupply
“And right now you can either just make more content, which honestly the ROI I think is going down on that. There's too much content and not enough demand. Sorry. That's just how it is.”
Insight
Whaley: Brands overspend on execution because they fear untried ideas
“What you typically see a lot of brands do is they're afraid of good ideas because good ideas have not been done by definition. So they lean more on the execution and you see like large budgets and like, Huge bloated teams and production.”
Insight
Whaley: Good ideas slap in one sentence and harder in three
“The line that we use here is, a good idea should slap in one sentence, and then slap even harder in three. And that just means there are layers, right? Like, you appreciate it for the headline, but if you, like, really dig into it, you're like, wait up, is thi…”
What-if
Whaley: MSCHF probably left $100M on table skipping crypto
“Yeah, probably. Honestly, probably. Probably.”
Disclosure
Whaley: MSCHF avoided crypto because it didn't feel permanent
“Unlike the whole, like, crypto craziness of the last couple years we didn't get into that because we didn't feel like it was here to stay yet.”
Disclosure
Whaley: MSCHF originally alerted audiences to new projects via Venmo pennies
“Our first audience portal was Venmo. We had a huge audience on Venmo, and we, like, had this huge phone bank like a Chinese phone click farm, and we, every time we had a new project, we would Venmo our audience a penny, and they would get that notification, be…”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Whaley: MSCHF's $63,000 microscopic handbag was conceived by a summer intern
“A couple of years ago, we made handbags, right? They're very expensive. The smaller they get, the more expensive they become. So we made a microscopic handbag that sold at auction for 63,000 dollars at Paris Fashion Week at Borrell's whatever coronation of Lou…”
Insight
Whaley: Great creative ideas must slap in one sentence and three
“The line that we use here is a good idea should slap in one sentence and then slap even harder in three. And that just means there are layers, right?”
Assertion Supported
Whaley: MSCHF's $63K microscopic handbag was conceived by an intern
“So we made a microscopic handbag that sold at auction for 63,000 dollars at Paris Fashion Week at Pharrell's whatever coronation of Louis Vuitton. That idea came from a summer intern.”
Insight
Whaley: MSCHF never wins as a first mover
“Like it's mischief doesn't win as a first mover. If you look at all of our work, it was never about being the first to react to something or the first to like make use of a format.”
Insight
Whaley: Social media shifted from novelty-based sharing to vanity-based content
“Platforms, if you really think about it, they started as a way to share things that you found were interesting. And now they are mostly ways to share photos and videos of you talking about things that you find interesting. It's kind of become like less novelty…”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Whaley says he is permanently banned from Venmo for life
“I am now banned from Venmo for life.”
Disclosure
Whaley: MSCHF launches new commercial creative agency called Applied MSCHF
“We launched an agency called Applied Mischief.”
Disclosure
Whaley: MSCHF is structured as a holding company with categorical divisions
“The way we're actually organized is we are essentially a holding company of different creative enterprises based on categories. So, there's like a handbag division, there's a footwear division, there's a fine art division, there are other divisions I can't rea…”
Disclosure
Whaley: Gabe Whaley is banned for life from Venmo
“I am now banned from Venmo for life.”
