Every couple months we hear from a Bro visionary who is struck with a lightning rod of genius to further Bro-kind. These Bros are modern Ben Franklins and Thomas Edisons of the Bro world, coming up with ways to evolve our kind as a species. Thinking outside the box, they come up with Bro-essentials like tear-off tank tops, koozies that act like holsters and magnetically attach to your belt, apps for partying with hot sorority girls, performance-wear that tests better than Nike, vertical beer pong, and even robots that play beer pong. They are pioneers. They are starry-eyed dreamers and hungry capitalists who create products that can revolutionize the experience of being a Bro.
For example, Slip Cups. This project just launched on Kickstarter earlier this week and it’s already received $6,000 of backing and considerable buzz in the Brommunity. It’s a simple yet revolutionary beer pong gamechanger that attempts to make every Bro’s favorite Friday night pastime a little bit safer. After all, we’ve ALL had this experience before:
You’re playing beer pong in your friend’s garage when you miss the shot and the ping pong ball rolls into a dirty, dusty corner. When you retrieve the ball it’s covered in who knows what. Do you want ”who knows what” going into your drink?
When you think about some of the nasty floors your beer pong balls have bounced off of, that’s a terrifying thought. Back in 2013 I wrote a post about a Clemson study that discovered beer pong balls were covered in all sorts of nasty bacteria. By the end of the night, a pong ball is basically a petri dish of disease that inevitably makes its way into the beer you drink. It’s a germaphobe’s worst nightmare.
There are a couple solutions to this dilemma, as I laid out two years ago:
1.) Just be really boss at beer pong and crush six cups in a row, gunslinger-style. You’ll never have to drink because you’re so badass. But that means “practicing” your beer pong shot, which is one of the most pathetic things I can possibly think of doing in one’s free time (seriously… I knew a guy who did this in college, it was sad. He had no friends. And girls tend to not talk to a dude who sets up beer pong practice shots in his dorm room). 2). Only play on carpet and — lololololololol — that’s pretty much impossible if you live in college. 3). Play “lets throw balls at cups filled with water while drinking beer” vs drinking beer out of the pong cups the ball goes into. Just as much fun, especially if someone tries to duck out on drinking.
Now there’s a fourth solution: The Slip Cup. It slips into your 16 or 18 ounce disposable SOLO cups and prevents the ball from landing in your drink. In other words, no more dirty beer that looks like this:
Gross.
The Connecticut-based Bros behind this project, Chase Treibt and his four brothers, put some serious research and development into the project. Treibt told Patch.com that the brothers developed over 50 prototypes over eight months before submitting their patent. They made their rims as thin and seamless as possible so it doesn’t interfere with a natural bounce during play:
They claim the catch element allows the ball to pass through on every shot without causing it to bounce out. They’re also weighted to help prevent a cup from knocking over and spilling on your floor.
There’s also created a number of games on Kickstarter that incorporate their invention.
The Treibt brothers are trying to hit a $70,000 Kickstarter goal to get the Slip Cup into major retailers. Throw them some support if you’re bullish about the idea.