Media Markt “Money Trucks”

A security team clears the street in a quiet neighborhood. Neighbors step outside. Then a tiny convoy rolls in. 193 miniature “money trucks”, each loaded with 1-cent coins, drives up to the winner’s home and unloads one million cents into a growing pile in the driveway. It is a cash delivery staged like a movie scene, except the payoff is real.

The idea in one line

Celebrate a social milestone by turning “one million” into a physical spectacle people can watch, share, and retell.

What Media Markt does to mark 1 million Facebook fans

Over the last couple of years I have seen a handful of brands reach the 1 million fans milestone. To celebrate, most of them create really nice and innovative thank-you videos. A good example is Tic Tac “Likes” Matt. Media Markt hits the same milestone, but takes a very different route. It turns the number into a physical stunt people can watch, share, and retell.

Media Markt on reaching 1 million fans on Facebook launched a contest: “How many small trucks do you need to transport 1,000,000 cents?” The activation was created by Ogilvy & Mather Frankfurt.

How the campaign plays out

Step 1. Start with a guess that feels simple and sticky

The mechanic is deliberately basic: one question, one number, one prize framed as a million small units. It is easy to participate, and easy to share.

Step 2. Make the prize physically absurd

The winner does not receive a bank transfer. She receives €10,000 as 1-cent coins, delivered using the exact number of miniature trucks the contest asks people to estimate.

Step 3. Turn delivery into content

The delivery is filmed as a “cash-in-transit” moment: security clearing streets, convoy arriving, coins dumped into a heap. The documentation becomes the story asset that travels beyond Facebook.

The numbers that make it feel “earned”

  • The correct answer is 193 trucks.
  • The winner is in Saßmicke (western Germany), and the stunt is played as a neighborhood event, not a private handover.

Why it works

It converts an online number into a physical reality

“One million fans” is abstract. One million coins is instantly legible, and the convoy makes the number feel even bigger.

The stunt is engineered for repeatable media beats

Announcement. Guessing phase. Winner selection. Convoy “journey” updates. Final delivery video. The campaign creates multiple moments people can follow, not one single post.

It is brand-consistent in one glance

Electronics retail competes in a world of deals and hype. This behaves like a deal, but acts like a story. The spectacle fits the loud, “big gesture” brand posture without needing product claims.

The deeper point

If you want people to care about a community milestone, do not announce the number. Stage the number. Make it participatory, then make the payoff visual enough that the community wants to distribute it for you.


A few fast answers before you act

What is the campaign mechanic?

A Facebook contest asks fans to guess how many miniature trucks are needed to transport one million cents.

What is the actual prize?

€10,000 delivered as 1,000,000 one-cent coins, transported by 193 miniature trucks.

Why does the “193 trucks” detail matter?

Because it closes the loop. The answer is not just “correct”. It becomes the logistics and the spectacle of the payout.

Who creates the campaign?

Ogilvy & Mather Frankfurt.

What is the reusable pattern?

Turn a social milestone into a simple prediction game, then make the reward delivery so visual that it becomes the main distribution asset.

Heineken Departure Roulette

Board at JFK Terminal 8. A single red button. A real decision. To embody Heineken’s adventurous spirit, Wieden + Kennedy in New York sets up a Departure Roulette board at JFK’s Terminal 8 and dares travelers to play. If they press the button, they drop their existing plans and go somewhere totally new and exotic.

The commitment is real. The travelers who take the dare receive $2,000 to cover expenses and get booked into a hotel for two nights at the new destination. This is the recently released video of how it unfolds at JFK.

The stunt links to a broader idea. The game draws inspiration from Dropped, a Heineken campaign launched from W+K Amsterdam in which four men get sent to remote destinations, and the adventure of getting back gets filmed.

Why this stunt works

It makes spontaneity measurable

Most people can say they are spontaneous. Departure Roulette forces a binary choice in public. Press or walk away. The brand promise becomes an observable action.

It raises stakes without needing complex rules

The mechanic is simple. The tension is high. You do not need a long explanation to understand what is at risk: your plan.

It turns a brand value into a story people retell

The red button is a prop with meaning. It compresses the entire narrative into one symbol that is easy to remember, share, and debate.

How to apply the pattern

  1. Create one unmistakable action. A single step that proves intent, not interest.
  2. Make the trade-off clear. People must know exactly what they give up and what they gain.
  3. Design for the decision moment. The most valuable content is the second before and after commitment.
  4. Operationalize the reward. If logistics fail, the story turns from daring to disappointing.

What to measure beyond views

  • Participation rate. How many approached travelers agree to play.
  • Completion rate. How many press the button after hearing the rules.
  • Story lift. How often people retell the mechanic correctly.
  • Brand linkage. Whether the audience connects the act to “adventurous spirit,” not just “free trip.”

A few fast answers before you act

What is Departure Roulette?

A physical airport activation where travelers can press a red button and immediately swap their planned trip for a surprise destination.

What is the core mechanic?

One irreversible choice that turns a brand value into an action people can witness.

What makes it repeatable for other brands?

The format is not travel. It is a high-stakes choice with a simple trigger, a clear trade-off, and a real reward.

What is the biggest failure mode?

When the commitment is not credible, or the operations cannot deliver the promise.

Coca-Cola: Sharing Can That Splits in Two

When “share” is built into the can

With summer coming up and an ice cold soda in your hand, people around you are bound to hope that you will share the soda with them. The normal way of doing so would be to sip from the same opening.

Now in an attempt to create another way of sharing happiness, Coca-Cola teamed up with Ogilvy in Singapore and France to create a shareable can of Coke that splits into two and creates two half pints. The results.

The packaging hack: one can becomes two

The can does not just contain the drink. It choreographs the moment. Split it. Hand one half over. The product becomes the gesture.

Why it changes the social moment

The post nails the truth. People want a sip. This design turns that awkward micro-negotiation into a simple ritual that feels natural in the moment.

The job it solves

Create another way of sharing happiness in summer, without two people sipping from the same opening.

Borrow this move

  • If the behavior matters, build it into the object, not only the message.
  • Design for the real scenario, then remove friction inside that moment.
  • Create a repeatable ritual. The best ones travel without explanation.

A few fast answers before you act

What is the “sharing can” concept?

A Coke can engineered to split into two drinkable halves, creating two half pints from one can.

Who was involved?

Coca-Cola teamed up with Ogilvy, with Singapore and France referenced in the original post text.

What moment does it target?

The everyday situation where someone has a cold drink and others around them hope they will share it.

What is the core creative move?

Turning “sharing happiness” into a physical product feature rather than a line of copy.