Unnecessary Inventions Founder Matty Benedetto's Studio

Tools at the Unnecessary Studio Credit: Luke Awtry

Matty Benedetto personally greets every visitor to his Burlington studio. Sort of. The first thing you’ll see upon entering the foyer of his gleaming white, 6,400-square-foot space is a life-size replica of Benedetto that the inventor fashioned using 3D printers. Despite being composed of a rainbow of bright plastic and resin filaments, the statue is remarkably lifelike — right down to Benedetto’s now-trademark mustache. Triggered by a motion sensor, it welcomes guests with a variety of upbeat greetings in its creator’s voice: “Hey, there. Welcome to the Unnecessary Studio!”

Benedetto, 34, is the founder and sole proprietor of Unnecessary Inventions, a brand that exists to develop elaborately silly solutions to what are, at best, negligible real-world problems.

“I think this is what I was made to do.” Matty Benedetto

If you’ve spent any time online in recent years, you might recognize some of Benedetto’s most successful creations. There’s the Burrito Bumper, a food funnel that solves the scourge of messy burritos by collecting fallen fillings into a taco shell. The Jewel Cooler diverts cold air from your car’s air conditioning up your shorts via a plastic hose. And the Phone Facilities Facilitator offers an ergonomic way to scroll on your phone from the toilet.

Those are among the roughly 400 inventions Benedetto has designed and fully prototyped since launching Unnecessary Inventions five years ago. With very few exceptions, you can’t buy any of them, which is part of the charm. They exist solely as funny and exceedingly meme-able online content that has taken social media by storm and made their maker something of an internet celebrity. This Saturday, October 26, Benedetto will talk about the past, present and future of Unnecessary Inventions as part of the Vermont Tech Jam at Hula in Burlington.

Seven Days first profiled Benedetto in 2019, a few months after he rolled out his first imaginary products. At that point, Unnecessary Inventions had amassed a couple hundred thousand followers across various social media platforms, and Benedetto was unsure how or even if he’d be able to monetize his creations. Somewhat quaintly — it appears in hindsight — he was considering publishing a book.

He needn’t have worried. To maximize his reach, Benedetto posts to pretty much every social media platform but Truth Social — he’s even got a decent following on LinkedIn. His 15 million followers include 1.8 million on Instagram, 6.5 million on TikTok and more than 5 million YouTube subscribers. His videos have been viewed collectively across all platforms more than 7 billion times.

While he does make some money from all those views, Unnecessary Inventions draws its primary income from brand partnerships. Most recently, for the fast-food chain Wendy’s, Benedetto invented the Saucy Nuggs Necklace, a motorized pinwheel that delivers chicken nuggets to the wearer’s mouth, hands-free. Other corporate collaborators include Hyundai, Captain Morgan, Burger King and Apple.

“I’ve never focused on one specific thing,” Benedetto said. “So I can make a car invention or a food invention or a tech invention. The adaptability of what I do is pretty endless.”

Impressive as his résumé is, the clearest evidence of Benedetto’s success might be the space where he now designs his marvelous machines.

Matty Benedetto with his life-size replica Credit: Luke Awtry

Located on the second floor of what used to be the Gap clothing store on Church Street, the Unnecessary Studio feels like a real-life version of Tom Hanks’ New York City loft in the movie Big. That’s not to say Benedetto is a 12-year-old boy in a grown man’s body, like Hanks’ character in the 1988 comedy. But his brilliantly absurd creations have a playful, childlike quality that the whole studio reflects. It’s hard not to be in awe.

“The first thing I say when people tell me how cool this place is, is ‘Thank you,'” Benedetto said. “Then I say, ‘I know.'”

Benedetto moved into the space earlier this year. In April, a man lit a fire outside the door of the offices of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), which set off the sprinkler system on that floor and caused catastrophic water damage to Unnecessary Inventions, one floor below. Benedetto had to renovate his studio, tearing it down to the studs and building it back up over nearly six months.

While the flooding was a setback, it had a silver lining: Benedetto was able to build the exact studio he wanted, rather than retrofitting the space.

“I love coming in here every day,” he said.

Arched floor-to-ceiling windows along the east wall bathe the spacious studio in sunlight. A blue sectional couch big enough to seat a football team faces a massive flat-screen TV, where Benedetto hosts movie nights and plays video games with friends. He’s got a Ping-Pong table and Mortal Kombat and Ms. Pac-Man arcade games.

Hundreds of framed photos of Benedetto’s inventions remind visitors that the place is more than the ultimate man cave. Below them, banks of 3D printers — more than 20 in all, including a chocolate printer — line two walls.

Bookshelves display his various inventions, including the fingerless plastic Crocs Gloves, now called Gator Grips, that earned him a cease-and-desist order from the plastic-footwear company in 2019. A copy of that order, blown up and framed, hangs across from the large, open, blue-and-white kitchen.

Off the main room is a meticulously organized collection of tools, clamps and spare parts. Over in the production space, soldering kits and sewing machines can be found on several workbenches. Another room holds lighting equipment for video production and pieces of projects Benedetto is still tinkering with, such as an office chair seesaw.

Benedetto said he can now produce most of his inventions, from concept to prototype, in three days. Most of the ideas are his own, though he said about 25 percent are suggestions from fans.

Before he started inventing fake products, Benedetto was a serial entrepreneur who developed real ones, including ski hats, phone-charging cables and travel accessories. With the success of Unnecessary Inventions, he’s put those other pursuits aside, though he’s not done reinventing himself.

Matty Benedetto in a gyro chair Credit: Luke Awtry

“Throughout my life, I’ve changed what I do every five-ish years,” he said. “I think this is what I was made to do.” So he doesn’t expect his next step is “changing it … but maybe figuring out different ways to envision Unnecessary Inventions.”

That could mean holding live events or developing a core collection of inventions to produce and sell, he suggested, or perhaps going into TV.

“Then again,” he said, “I never know what’s going on past the next invention.”

Matty Benedetto of Unnecessary Inventions is the noontime speaker at the Vermont Tech Jam on Saturday, October 26, at Hula in Burlington. Find details, and register to attend the free event, at techjamvt.com.

The original print version of this article was headlined “Intelligent Design? | Inside Matty Benedetto’s new Unnecessary Inventions studio in Burlington”