| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1998[1] |
| Headquarters | Austin, Texas, USA |
| Area served | International |
| Key people | E.L. Kersten, Ph.D. (co-founder) |
| Products | "Demotivators": Posters, calendars, misc. |
| Website | Despair.com |
Despair, Inc is a company based in Austin, Texas, that produces posters and souvenirs that satirize the motivational indoctrination common in corporate environments.
They are well-known for their cynical and ironic "Demotivator" items, which parody the grandiose imagery and solemn language of Successories, a range of motivational products. Examples:
On the company website, each "Demotivator" is followed by a list of individuals who the company feels would be a perfect candidate for the item. A running gag is that the category "Disaffected College Students" (or a variant thereof) is included in most listings.
In 2000, Despair, Inc. obtained a registered trademark in the USA for the familiar frowny emoticon :-( when used on "greeting cards, posters and art prints". In 2001, they issued a satirical press release, announcing that they would sue "anyone and everyone who uses the so-called 'frowny' emoticon, or our trademarked logo, in their written email correspondence. Ever."[2]
In 2005, Despair, Inc. published "The Art of Demotivation" by E.L. Kersten, Ph.D., a former professor of organizational communication, co-founder and currently frontman of Despair, Inc. It is a spoof of the management guru book genre and features 18 stylized renderings of Demotivators to illustrate the points. The book comes in three editions including a $1,195.00 Chairman edition. In 2006, the Harvard Business Review published a serious essay on the nature of work and self fulfillment by Kersten: "Let Me Take You Down".[3]