This story has been updated
A summer marketing campaign run by Coors Light Canada forced the closure of a major Toronto intersection during rush hour on Monday.
Streetcars were diverted and police were called after a briefcase was found attached to a metal railing (at Spadina Ave. and Dundas St. West).
It turned out the briefcase was part of a month-long challenge to find prizes using an online map and through clues from Twitter.
A recent company news release said some 880 similar briefcases were to be hidden across the country during July as part of a promotion dubbed “Search and Rescue.”
Coors Light Canada later posted a message on Twitter to offer what it said was “sincerest apologies for any disruption this has caused.”
Karl Bonar, senior marketing manager at Molson Coors Canada, said the brand had taken all the necessary precautions ahead of the launch – heavily branding the boxes and reaching out to police and other first responders – and the mistake was simply a result of human error.
“The rules that we had when we were putting these boxes out were that we would go no where near transit shelters, schools or tourist areas. Although we did plan to drop one in that [Spadina and Dundas] area, it was just human error. The wrong person put it in the wrong place. It’s unfortunate, but it is what it is.”
The brand had been releasing the boxes in phases and, as of yesterday, only about one-third had been released. The company is currently re-evaluating what to do with the remaining boxes, said Bonar. There are already plans in the works to give them away on Twitter and at bars where the brand is planning some upcoming promotional nights. The “treasure map” may also be re-purposed to direct consumers to these events.
Bonar said the incident has not strained its relationship with creative agency of record Leo Burnett, and that all the agencies involved in the campaign (MEC, Behaviour, Harbinger and Eventsing) got together Monday evening to work out a solution.
“It was a great idea. I guess the reason why brands don’t explore these kinds of things is because of the risk,” said Bonar. “We knew there was a risk and we tried our best to mitigate that. It’s nobody’s fault. We’re all in this together.”
There were about six unclaimed boxes left across the country at the time of the incident, and they were all pulled Monday night.
Bonar said while the treasure hunt aspect of “Search and Rescue” has been scrapped, the campaign is far from over. It also includes “Base Camp Party,” a series of parties happening in nine major cities across Canada next month, and several promotional bar events set to take place throughout the summer.
