The Goal
Create buzz and drive viewership for the premiere of the second season of HBO’s Deadwood.

The Execution
Pedestrians in Chicago, Philadelphia, New York and San Francisco had a golden opportunity during their morning commute. Among the four cities were 25,000 strategically placed gold nuggets promoting HBO’s second season of Deadwood. The nuggets were engraved with “Deadwood March 6” on one side. The reverse side prompted finders to visit “HBO.com/goldrush” and provided a sweepstakes entry code.

The prizes available reflected the promotion’s theme: $450 in cash (the value of 1 ounce of real gold at current market rates) and DVD box sets of Deadwood’s first season. Each city provided for 10 potential winners of cash and 40 potential winners of DVDs.

Radio promotional plugs supported the event, which garnered consistently strong consumer response.

Results Recap
The promotion struck gold for HBO. Consumers eagerly stuffed their pockets with nuggets, others hunted them down, some approached the nuggets with caution, but scooped them up. Consumers typically too busy for sweepstakes, were found picking up the nuggets. Intercept surveys in each market and web-related traffic confirmed the event’s success. HBO’s web site received thousands of hits and unique visitors. The nuggets even popped up on EBay.