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TOILET
The Gorilla Marketing Campaign
A Message to Elon Musk
The Story of Bored Ape Yacht Club #3261
(06/18/22)6
"just remember we’re literally on a rock hurling through space at 1000 mph around a giant flaming ball in the middle of nowhere" -Billy Markus
Dear Elon,
My name is Jacob Marko, otherwise known as the NFT Gorilla. I hope you've been doing well.
I've been trying to get in touch with you for the past year. I was curious if you'd be willing and able to launch a broken toilet I purchased at Home Depot into infinite space? I know this is a strange request, but please hear me out. 🙏
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The legendary Toilet, pre-shatter - 04/17/21
I'm not sure if you're familiar with my project.
On April 17th, 2021, I dressed as a Gorilla, brought a Toilet out to the streets of New York, and stood there with a sign saying that I'm selling the Toilet as an NFT for $1 million dollars. I specifically began this project at the intersection of 5th avenue and 30th street, which was the former location of the 291 Gallery. It was here that Marcel Duchamp premiered his art piece "Fountain," where he brought a urinal to a gallery and called it art...
NYC, 5th ave and 30th st - 04/17/21
As I explained in the video at the top of this page, our society is becoming increasingly tribal, UFOs are in the sky defying the laws of physics, and millionaires have been created from dog themed digital currencies.
Something isn't right here. If we do live in a simulation, it is undoubtedly glitching. Yet, despite all this craziness, too many people are still blissfully unaware. I felt the need to prove to the world that insanity is sanity, and sanity is insanity. And while I haven't yet sold the Toilet NFT, I've already proven my point, just not in the way I'd expected...
Bored Ape Yacht Club #3261
On May 6th, 2021, after a few weeks of Gorilla Marketing, I brought the Toilet to Wall Street and stood in front of City Hall, near the Stock Exchange and next to the statue of George Washington. The day seemed just like any other. But little did I know, I would experience first hand, fate itself...
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Photos by Nate Bobowski - 05/06/2021
When I woke up the next morning, I saw that I'd been tagged in a tweet.
A member of the Bored Ape Yacht Club, which at that point was only two weeks old, took a photo of me and sent it to another member of the apes, who posted it on Twitter and tagged numerous other apes, who invited me to join their club.
At that point, I'd never purchased an NFT before. I barely knew anything about NFTs if I'm being honest. All I knew was that I wanted to sell a Toilet as an NFT because I thought the world was crazy and I knew it would work.
So of course I ended up joining. It was $1000, and I only had a few grand in my bank account, but the idea of a crypto monkey club.. and I am literally the NFT GORILLA-- I thought I had to join. And #3261 caught my eye. He was stoned, wore a bucket hat, and was dressed in a stained tank top-- summed me up pretty well. At that moment, I had zero clue what I was getting into.
Had I not gotten sick on 5/5, I would not have been on Wall St at that exact time to find out about the Bored Ape Yacht Club.
I spent the Summer mingling with apes online and occasionally going out into the streets of NYC to do Gorilla Marketing. Yet, on July 30th, 2021, fate brought me a bump in the road.
Devestation - 07/30/2021
I'd brought the Toilet back to the Financial District. The Charging Bull to be precise. I was trying to figure out exactly where to set up shop. I propped up the Toilet on the curb, let go of the dolly for just a few seconds...and next thing I knew, I heard screams and a crash. The Toilet had tipped off the curb and shattered on the pavement..
A video taken of me posted to social media - 07/30/2021
At that moment I felt an overwhelming mix of emotions. Sadness, desperation, confusion. I wasn't sure what to do. Here I was, alone in downtown Manhattan, dressed as a Gorilla with a shattered Toilet on my hands that I did not want to lose. I kneeled down to pick up some of the pieces, and unfortunately didn't know just how sharp the pieces would be. I cut my hands up, they started bleeding, and I got tiny pieces of glass caught in my fingers. It was hot as hell and I was sweating all over the place. The Toilet literally captured my blood, sweat, and tears.
00:00 / 00:17
An audio message I'd sent to the man who took the above video - 7/30/2021
I had to abandon the Toilet on the sidewalk there and run to an urgent care. Luckily, my friend Tim was only a few blocks away. He came to pick up what remained of the Toilet (whatever was still strapped to the dolly), as the rest of it had been thrown away by sanitation. I'm incredibly grateful he was able to rescue the remains.
The remains - 07/30/2021
At first, I was not sure whether or not I should get a new Toilet.. the aesthetics of this one weren't exactly appealing. But during my pondering, a friend convinced me to stay course, and remain with this Toilet and no other: "If Banksy has taught us anything, it’s that the toilet just became even more valuable," he said. And right he was.
August came, and it was around this time that the Bored Ape Yacht Club began to change. In a turn I never could have imagined, the Bored Ape NFTs began selling for tremendous amounts of money, and numerous high-profile celebrities and other wealthy individuals began joining the club.
What are the odds that a man dresses like a Gorilla, goes to Wall Street with a Toilet, and ends up in an exclusive, wealthy crypto monkey club?! My life had become a satire.
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Speaking at NFT NYC - 11/02/2021
In early November 2021, I was invited to speak at NFT NYC, a huge NFT conference in New York. In addition to that, Bored Ape Yacht Club rented out a 1000 person yacht with 4 open bars that sailed on the Hudson river on Halloween! It was insane.
ApeFest 2021 Yacht Party - 10/31/2021
And in March of this year, in an event that can only be described as "true insanity," I was given nearly 13,000 apecoins, Bored Ape Yacht Club's new cryptocurrency, FOR FREE. A couple days after its launch, my apecoin was worth $200,000! I was given $200,000 for free! THIS IS ABSOLUTE INSANITY!
Me, the Toilet, and a picture of BAYC #3261 - 02/05/2022
By dressing as a gorilla and bringing a Toilet to Wall Street, I ended up making hundreds of thousands of dollars and joining an exclusive crypto monkey club.
This is the proof. Even though I've not sold the Toilet NFT yet, I've already proven my point. Insanity is sanity, and sanity is insanity. In any rational world, dressing as a gorilla and trying to sell a Toilet would not yield any success.. but we are not in a rational world.
If we are in a simulation, and I am not saying we are one way or the other, it has undeniably glitched.
Therefore, I've decided to bring my project to the next level. The Toilet NFT will be sold, but I must bring it around the world. I've already brought it to Mt. Rushmore, but I plan on bringing the Toilet to the Pyramids, to Petra, to Paris for a photoshoot, to the US Capitol, and more...
A recovered shard of the Toilet with a quote from J. Carl Ondiac - 09/05/2021
Back in February of 2021, I purchased this domain, ElonMusk.io, because I figured this was a fantastic way to get in touch with you. It's an online billboard. I knew eventually, word would reach your ear that there is a gorilla selling a Toilet NFT at the domain ElonMusk.io. It just seemed to make sense..
Elon, please understand, I'm not reaching out to you to ask you to purchase the Toilet NFT. Anyone with a large amount of money can do that. I'm asking you for a request that is specific to you, and would be truly awe inspiring.
You have the ability to shoot the remains of my Toilet into space. To own the NFT of a broken Toilet, with this absurdist story attached to it, that is floating farther and farther away from our planet into the dark unknown of the universe, would truly be one of the most valuable and priceless pieces of art of all time.
I am a man with a mission, and I believe the world is crazy enough for this to work. I truly hope you seriously consider my request, and understand the benefit that shooting this Toilet into space would have on our society. It would prove unequivocally, to all the naysayers, that insanity is sanity, and sanity is insanity. It has the potential to inspire others to think outside the box and pursue their dreams.
I plan on doing the work to sell this thing. Not the Toilet itself, but the Toilet NFT. I will not stop this performance until the Toilet NFT is floating in space, or at the very least, sitting in the MoMA for people to gawk at.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. If you'd like to connect, please send me a DM on Twitter @JacobMarkoArt.
Thank you for your consideration Elon.
Jacob Marko
Collectible Crypto LLC
PS: I will be donating half the proceeds to climate research, as our world is literally on fire right now, and if we don't save the environment, we're in deep trouble for ourselves, our children, and our children's children..
PPS: Please consider joining the Bored Ape Yacht Club. It would be awesome to have you.
PPPS: I've started my own company to create collectible crypto collections, known as CollectibleCrypto.com. Check it out.
PPPPS: The Toilet NFT has been temporarily discounted to 77 ETH. This deal only lasts until 7/7/22 at 7:07 PM EDT, after which, if it has not been sold, the price reverts back to $1 million dollars.
PPPPPS: No one bought it... Never again. The Toilet NFT will go for $1 million dollars. No exceptions.
If you want to buy or view the Toilet NFT, click the Toilet above :)
The Toilet NFT is an ERC1155 NFT minted from OpenSea's Shared Storefront contract code: 0x495f947276749ce646f68ac8c248420045cb7b5e/104039343834746813916219755158391047618639797086193481671390121347062037479425
The Gorilla Marketing Campaign NFT, which will be put up for auction once the Toilet NFT sells, is also an ERC1155 NFT minted from OpenSea's Shared Storefront contract code: 0x495f947276749ce646f68ac8c248420045cb7b5e/104039343834746813916219755158391047618639797086193481671390121348161549107201
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