Absurd restaurant prank to help Mexican immigrants and get Elon Musk to go to therapy

Everyone who supports this cause can buy gift cards through Carrotmob. When you buy these, we have not yet determined which store will provide the gift cards. You should buy one if you are OK not knowing which Brownsville restaurant(s) will provide your gift cards.

After Carrotmob receives all the money, we will negotiate with the businesses. Based on what actions they are willing to take, we will choose how to allocate money to the businesses. We will then sign agreements with participating businesses, send them all the money, and receive gift card codes. Typically we would email you your digital gift card codes, but for this campaign we will donate all gift cards for the benefit of asylum seekers unless you specifically request to keep yours by replying to the receipt email you receive. If we fail to reach an agreement with any businesses, we will refund you for your gift cards within 30 days of when you paid.

A Carrotmob campaign is the opposite of a boycott. By organizing ourselves to make purchases together, we are able to express our values and give businesses an irresistible incentive (a “carrot”) to do good things that they otherwise wouldn't do.

It's a tough moment for immigrants from Mexico. Let's help them out in the most hilarious way possible.

Basically, we're just buying gift cards to restaurants in Brownsville, Texas, right next to the border, and we're going to donate the gift cards to asylum seekers, many of whom will be in dire need of a good meal.

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But also, wouldn't it be cool if Elon Musk went to therapy? He has been open about his challenges and the way that he self-medicates. He would surely become a better steward of money and power if he found his way to a mindset of peace, self-love, agape, and so on. But instead, we're here:

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There are two strategies most likely to succeed at getting him into therapy:

1. People in his inner circle talking to him about it
2. Financial incentive

We will use both strategies. In order for a restaurant to successfully win our business, they must do two things:

1. Rename themselves with prominent signs and visibility in Google Maps, Doordash etc, so that thousands of Elon's associates will be constantly reminded that he doesn't go to therapy, hopefully causing this to become a bigger topic of conversation in his social and professional circles.
2. Offer Elon free food if he goes to therapy. Elon would be entitled to one (1) entree per therapy session he attends, as long as he provides a receipt from the therapist or a signed note from his doctor.

One would expect that a community of Mexican immigrants might not feel very positive towards Elon after he donated $250M to elect this guy:

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But this is an opportunity for all of us to teach Elon about the meaning of charity... a whole community of us, led by the people of Brownsville (where 26% of people live below the poverty line) helping give Elon free food to nourish him as he heals his heart.

OK, and now for logistical details that weren't covered in the video...

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What will we require businesses to do before we buy gift cards from them?

• Change their name to “Free food for Elon Musk if he starts going to therapy”
  
  • The exact name is flexible as long as it gets the point across, is funny, and mutually agreed on
  • It's OK if it's in Spanish
  • It's OK if it includes other descriptive words (like "taqueria")
  • It's OK if it includes "formerly known as [previous name]"
• Make sure their new name is reflected in their signs, menus, website, social media, Google Maps, and delivery apps for a minimum of one year. We will NOT require them to change their legal name, and it's OK if they still use the original name in some contexts.
• Sign a legal contract which covers all the terms related to:
  
  • Them providing free food to Elon Musk
  • Them providing the gift cards
  • Them being contractually obligated to follow through and use the new name

How can we make sure we have a really big and funny sign?

• We are relying on the business to handle their own sign, however...
• If more than 5,000 people buy gift cards then we'll have the resources to start spending some money to bring in artists to design a big fancy sign. If enough people buy and the business is willing to collaborate we could potentially work closely with them to construct something very large and spectacular.

How will businesses be selected?

• I'm Brent Schulkin, the organizer of this campaign. I will reach out to the most relevant businesses to inform them about the campaign and evaluate their suitability based on the nature of their business, the strategic value of their location, their enthusiasm, their capabilities, etc.
• For this campaign I will consult with members of Hijack Capitalism for feedback and guidance and then make the final decision about participating businesses.
• If enough money is spent to convince multiple businesses, the gift card sales may be split among multiple businesses, and I will negotiate this split based on who is willing to do what. If we need a tiebreaker, we will go with the business who is willing and able to have the most ridiculous and highly-visible sign.

How will we donate the gift cards?

• I will identify a local distribution partner, which has not yet been determined. We will most likely either work with the non-profit Team Brownsville or the church Iglesia Bautista West Brownsville, both of which have extensive experience providing food and other assistance to asylum seekers.
• I want to do diligence on potential partners and speak to them, but first I want to wait and see if any of you will actually buy gift cards for this. Because if none of you show up to buy gift cards I am going to look like a huge idiot.
• We will leave it to local partners to determine whether gift cards will be distributed directly to asylum seekers, or whether it makes more sense for the aid organization to use the gift cards to buy large quantities of food which can then be served at events.

Will it actually make sense for businesses to agree to this?

• We don't know. This is an experiment.
• Maybe few SpaceX employees go to these restaurants and their customer base is made of progressive people who will love and encourage this whole project.
• Maybe SpaceX is a big part of their business and they won't feel that it's safe to do something polarizing like this. They might even fear being vandalized, sued, etc. If businesses aren't comfortable agreeing to this that is totally fine and we will refund everyone's gift card purchases.
• Ultimately, I believe that it depends on how much money we offer them. If the people participating in this campaign can offer them a year's worth of sales all at once, that will be compelling.