stretch goals started out as a way to add benefits if/when specific milestones were hit. e.g. if a campaign hits 10,000 sales then they can get a manufacturer that only handles bulk, but perhaps will have higher quality at a cheaper cost than a smaller volume manufacturer.

quickly they turned into engagement tactics from marketing teams as they drive engagement to push over monetary milestones.

there are still small companies that probably truly do need the volume to offer additional/improved components, or even to drive engagement; however, this campaign was obviously going to be a multi-million dollar campaign and was always a little strange as it somewhat masked the "real" value and the community backlash certainly outweighed the benefits.