In July 2005, a 26-year-old Canadian named Kyle MacDonald posted a simple proposal online: he wanted to trade one red paperclip for something bigger or better, and continue doing so (in person by physically visiting the trader) until he eventually acquired a house. Inspired by the childhood game of “bigger and better”, MacDonald listed the paperclip on the classifieds website Craigslist, not entirely expecting anyone to respond – but someone did.
Within a year, MacDonald had completed a remarkable sequence of trades, attracting international media attention and demonstrating the power of storytelling, persistence and human curiosity. The project became known as One Red Paperclip, and remains one of the internet’s most celebrated examples of viral ingenuity.
The 14 trades unfolded as follows:
One red paperclip
… was traded for a fish-shaped pen in Vancouver that
… was traded for a handmade ceramic doorknob in Seattle, WA that
… was traded for a camping stove in Amherst, MA that
… was traded for a Honda generator in California that
… was traded for an “instant party” (including beer keg and neon sign) in Queens, NY that
… was traded for a snowmobile (Ski-Doo) in Quebec, Canada that
… was traded for a trip to Yahk, British Columbia that
… was traded for a cube van (box truck) that
… was traded for a recording contract with Metalworks in Mississauga, Ontario that
… was traded for a year of free rent in Phoenix, Arizona that
… was traded for an afternoon with rock musician Alice Cooper in Vancouver that
… was traded for a KISS motorised snow globe that
… was traded for a speaking role in a Corbin Bernsen film that
… was traded for a two-storey farmhouse in Kipling, Saskatchewan
[Ed: The snow globe trade seemed to be a cuckoo crazy one – until I learned that the filmmaker Corbin Bernsen happened to be a big time snow globe [RR7:80] collector.]
The final trade occurred in July 2006. MacDonald exchanged his movie role in Bernsen’s film Donna on Demand for a house offered by the town of Kipling. The small farming community, eager for publicity and new residents, saw an opportunity in MacDonald’s media fame. Suddenly, the seemingly absurd goal of turning a paperclip into a house had become reality.
The story resonated because it combined several timeless and surefire themes. It was a treasure hunt, a social experiment and a celebration of human generosity. Many of the people who traded with MacDonald were motivated not by economic value alone, but by the chance to participate in an unfolding story. As media coverage grew, so too did the symbolic value of the items involved.
MacDonald later chronicled the adventure in the 2008 book One Red Paperclip and gave talks around the world, including this one at TEDxVienna in 2015.
Story Idea: Melanie Giuffré
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