The owner of a T-shirt shop in Springfield launched a Kickstarter campaign late last week called "Missouri Is Awesome" because...well, it is.
"We wanted to do something that Missouri residents could take pride in," says Bryan Simpson, owner of 5 Pound Apparel. "Missouri just gets a lot of flak, so it's kind of funny to flip the table on that."
The video stars comedian Jeff Houghton, who recently moved back to Springfield from Los Angeles, and, of course, the Show-Me State herself.
It also kind of defames our first governor. And is hilarious. Check it out after the jump.
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Simpson says he initially just wanted to make a funny video with his friends, but then he decided to tie it in with a Kickstarter campaign to launch MissouriIsAwesome.com, a website where MO fans can pick up T-shirts and hoodies extolling the virtues of our fair state. A donation to the Kickstarter is also a way to preorder shirts which say things like, "Missouri Is the Gateway to Awesome," and "Missouri: Where Dreams Come True."
Even though both the video and the shirts are pretty goofy, the mission of 5 Pound is a little more serious -- a portion of the profits on everything they sell goes to charity, with an emphasis on feeding the hungry.
Simpson already makes Springfield-pride shirts and if his Kickstarter is successful, he'll expand the line to include Kansas City- and St. Louis-themed apparel. He says donations will be directed accordingly.
"We'd love to give back in the areas that the shirts are purchased from," says Simpson.
Daily RFT thought this sounds a bit like they're stepping on STL Style's territory, but owner Randy Vines says in an e-mail to us: "I guess the Show-Me State could use some love and if these guys have a passion for it then right on. The state for all of us. We've always been very proud of St. Louis. (The rest of Missouri? Eh.) We will keep doing our thing for STL."
Simpson is well on his way to meeting that $5,000 Kickstarter goal. As of this writing it's up to $3,831 with 27 days left to go, and the YouTube video has nearly 5,000 views.
Update: Overnight, the video surpassed its goal by more than $1,000 with nearly a month of fundraising still ahead of it.
"Our big thing is, I was born and raised in Missouri," says Simpson. "It's something we do take a lot of pride in."
Follow Jessica Lussenhop on Twitter at @Lussenpop. E-mail the author at [email protected].
