What we know to be the case is this: Kickstarter does feature some campaigns as its staff picks, Kickstarter does notify campaigns when Kickstarter selects the

What we know to be the case is this: Kickstarter does feature some campaigns as its staff picks, Kickstarter does notify campaigns when Kickstarter selects them as a staff pick, but Kickstarter will not admit that this particular project is abusing the staff pick appellation, and Kickstarter is refusing to say anything that could be interpreted as agreeing that this campaign engaged in unethical behaviour. My personal conclusion is this: This project gets a free pass. There is no evidence that any arbitrary project can give itself the badge and not get censured by Kickstarter.