Thud

Thud was an American satirical media company established in 2017 by Ben Berkley and Cole Bolton, two former editors of the satirical publication The Onion, with financial backing from Elon Musk. The venture was conceived as a publication and project studio focused on satire drawn from real-world events rather than as a conventional news organization. Its work took the form of websites, mock products, interactive experiences, and other digital artifacts designed to resemble the online services, consumer products, and institutional systems they were criticizing. The company emerged from an earlier interest by Musk in acquiring The Onion. That proposed transaction did not progress beyond preliminary discussions, but Musk subsequently offered Berkley and Bolton funding of $2 million to create a new satirical media operation. The founders recruited additional writers and editors associated with The Onion and began developing a slate of projects. Musk publicly announced the venture in March 2018, using the name Thud and describing it as a prospective media empire. He explained the name as an allusion to the sound made when something thick and dull strikes the ground. Thud's projects included TacStorm, a website advertising a gun that fires continuously; 6 Minute Test, a parody of online personality quizzes; DNA Friend, which mocked direct-to-consumer genetic testing by claiming to infer ancestry from photographs of a person's mouth; Ploog, a fictional product site for a universal orifice adapter; 833-GET-THUD, a deliberately frustrating customer-service telephone maze; and Mampfen, a satirical guide to restaurants in Los Angeles. These projects varied in format but shared an interest in exposing the absurdity of marketing language, consumer technology, bureaucratic systems, and internet culture. The company received a mixed response when its work became more widely visible in 2019. DNA Friend was particularly noted by commentators, while some reviewers praised Thud for crediting its contributors and for pursuing a darker style of satire. Other criticism focused on projects that appeared to rely on dated or uncomfortable comic tropes. The venture also faced a practical financing problem. By late 2018, Musk had sold the company to Berkley and Bolton, reportedly because he was concerned that Thud might satirize his own companies. The founders then sought new investment but found that prospective backers often did not understand the targets or methods of the satire. With no replacement funding secured, the remaining money was used primarily to maintain web hosting and related operations. Thud ceased operating in May 2019. Later retrospectives treated it as an ambitious but unsuccessful attempt to combine the creative culture of The Onion with technology-backed digital experimentation.

Thud was formed in 2017 after Ben Berkley and Cole Bolton left The Onion following creative differences. Elon Musk had previously expressed interest in purchasing The Onion, but those discussions did not result in an acquisition. Instead, Musk offered the two former editors $2 million to establish a separate satirical media company. Berkley and Bolton used the funding to assemble a broader group of writers and editors and to develop a portfolio of internet-based satire. The company's creative premise was to address real-world events and contemporary institutions through projects that looked like ordinary websites, products, utilities, or commercial services. Rather than publishing only conventional articles, Thud built fictional interfaces and brands. Its work included TacStorm, which advertised a continuously firing firearm; 6 Minute Test, which parodied online personality tests; DNA Friend, which mocked at-home genetic testing by claiming to identify ancestry from images of a user's mouth; Ploog, which promoted a fictional universal orifice adapter; 833-GET-THUD, a telephone customer-service labyrinth; and Mampfen, a satirical restaurant guide for Los Angeles. Musk formally publicized the venture in March 2018. The announcement helped establish Thud's unusual profile: it combined the reputation of former Onion personnel with the attention and financial support associated with Musk. The name was presented as a joke about the blunt sound made when a heavy object hits the ground. Although the company attracted interest, its association with Musk also created tension around editorial independence and the possibility that Thud could target Musk's own companies. Toward the end of 2018, Musk sold the company to Berkley and Bolton. The founders continued developing and releasing projects for approximately another six months while attempting to find replacement investors. According to later accounts, potential backers often failed to understand the subjects or mechanisms of Thud's satire. This made fundraising difficult, particularly for a company whose projects were intentionally difficult to categorize as either traditional media, advertising, software, or consumer products. Thud's public reception was uneven. Some reviewers valued its willingness to identify contributors and its darker approach to satire. DNA Friend attracted especially favorable attention. Other commentary argued that several projects depended on outdated tropes or did not fulfill the expectations created by the company's high-profile funding and former Onion pedigree. With no new financing secured, Berkley and Bolton spent the remaining resources on hosting and basic operations. Thud shut down in May 2019 and is now remembered as a brief experiment in venture-backed, interactive internet satire rather than as a continuing media brand.

• 2019

  Company closes

  [1]Thud (media company)en.wikipedia.org

  Thud shut down in May after its founders were unable to secure new investors.

• 2018

  Public launch announcement

  [1]Thud (media company)en.wikipedia.org

  Musk publicly announced Thud and described it as a satirical media venture.

• 2018

  Ownership passes to the founders

  [1]Thud (media company)en.wikipedia.org

  Musk sold Thud to Berkley and Bolton, reportedly because of concerns that the company could satirize his businesses.

• 2017

  Thud is founded

  [1]Thud (media company)en.wikipedia.org

  Former Onion editors Ben Berkley and Cole Bolton established Thud with $2 million in funding offered by Elon Musk.

• 2014

  Musk explores a possible Onion acquisition

  [1]Thud (media company)en.wikipedia.org

  Elon Musk expressed interest in buying The Onion, but the discussions remained preliminary and did not produce an acquisition.

Thud positioned itself as an experimental digital satire studio. Its output imitated the language and interfaces of technology companies, consumer services, online tests, product marketing, and customer-support systems in order to comment on contemporary culture and real-world events.

• Satirical website

  TacStorm

  TacStorm was a fictional product website advertising a firearm that would continue firing without stopping. The premise used exaggerated product marketing to parody weapons culture and the presentation of dangerous objects as consumer technologies.

• Interactive satire

  6 Minute Test

  6 Minute Test satirized the large number of online personality quizzes and self-assessment tools that promise to reduce complex identities to quick, authoritative results. It presented the familiar format of a short internet test as a comedic object.

• Satirical product website

  DNA Friend

  DNA Friend parodied at-home genetic-testing services. Its fictional premise claimed that a person's ancestry could be traced from photographs of the mouth, using the visual language of consumer biotechnology and personalized DNA marketing to expose the absurdity of dubious scientific promises.

• Satirical product website

  Ploog

  Ploog was a fictional product site promoting a universal orifice adapter. The deliberately implausible product and its commercial presentation formed a satire of innovation branding, novelty devices, and the confident language used to sell products without a clear practical purpose.

• Telephone and interactive satire

  833-GET-THUD

  833-GET-THUD presented itself as a customer-service telephone system. Callers were placed in an intentionally elaborate maze of options, turning the familiar frustration of automated support menus into an interactive comedy experience.

• Satirical city guide

  Mampfen

  Mampfen was a satirical guide to restaurants in Los Angeles. It extended Thud's practice of imitating useful online services while applying the format of a local dining guide to comedic and critical purposes.

• 2018

  Musk transfers Thud to Berkley and BoltonM&A

  Background

  Thud had been financed and publicly associated with Musk, but its satirical remit created concern that the company might eventually target Musk's own businesses.

  Action taken

  Musk sold the company to its founders, Ben Berkley and Cole Bolton, near the end of 2018.

  Aftermath

  The founders continued operating Thud and sought new investors, but were unable to replace the original funding.

  Initial funding. $2,000,000 (2017)

  Source

1. 1Thud (media company)en.wikipedia.org
2. 2Thud official websitethud.com