Despair

No, not despair: Despair. As in Despair, Inc, or Despair.com. Demotivators? Ringing any bells?

If you've heard of them, you're probably smiling, but if not, may I introduce you to a very funny, very twisted company?

I imagine everyone has seen motivational posters, the kind with a large nature photo and definitions of words like Leadership or Teamwork. Well, Despair has turned that on its head, using the same format to explore words like Apathy, Procrastination, and Idiocy, or take the more traditional power words and give them more realistic definitions:

• Potential: Not everyone gets to be an astronaut when they grow up.
• Quality: The race for quality has no finish line- so technically, it's more like a death march.
• Consistency: It's only a virtue if you're not a screwup.

They're great fun, though most offices, no matter their sense of humor, probably wouldn't approve. I did put the calendar up at my last job, but only after they announced they were closing our site and laying off hundreds of us. It seemed so appropriate then.

They also make stickers to put on your shredder, that say things like "Suggestion Box" or "Enron document storage".

Then there are Bittersweets, which are candy conversations hearts that say things like "Aim Lower" and "Not again".

And then there's this, on their order form:

Where did you hear about Despair?: (Leave blank if "The Voices")


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Now, I promised you yarn , didn't I? Well, here you go:


Not only that, but I actually caught the color in true life yesterday, or darn close to:


Isn't that something?