Bulletproof Security Glass Manufacturing Company Set-up a Promotional Stunt at a Vancouver Bus Stop
Rather than being current, it actually happened back in early 2005, when 3M
set up the promotional stunt at a Vancouver, Canada bus stop. In actuality,
it held only $500 in Canadian currency. The rest was fake.
✔ It would have to be 3M’s
Security Glass.
✔ In 2005, the manufacturing company
set up a promotional stunt at a Vancouver bus stop.
✔ They were so confident about the
strength of its bulletproof glass that they put 3 million dollars inside
it.
✔ If anyone can break the case open the
money is theirs for the taking.
✔ Passers-by were allowed to do some crazy things to the glass, such as getting a
✔ Passers-by were allowed to do some crazy things to the glass, such as getting a
✔ running start to kick the case and even taking a sledgehammer to it.
✔ The advertising campaign went
viral.
While being effective, it was also one of the cheapest campaigns — nobody was able to break the glass.
NOTE:
This story has morphed a bit since 2005.
While being effective, it was also one of the cheapest campaigns — nobody was able to break the glass.
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- The case did not contain $3 million. In actuality, it held only $500 in Canadian currency. The rest was fake. Presumably, if someone had broken the case open they would have received their prize through some other more secure method, such as a check.
- The glass itself was not bulletproof. It had a film applied to it to strengthen it.
- 3M does not claim that Scotchshield makes glass bulletproof. Instead, it is designed to make glass more shatter-resistant so there is less risk of injury from flying shards of glass.
- The case was never just sitting in the open waiting for anyone who passed by to break it open. It was set up for one day and was carefully protected by security guards.
- The stunt was actually remarkably cheap for 3M to pull off compared to all of the attention that it still seems to gather. In addition to the fact that only $500 was actually in the case, other expenses were probably minimal as well, such as a one-day rental of the poster box and a team of security personnel.
- While passersby were allowed to do some crazy things in their attempts to break the glass – such as getting a running start to kick the case and taking a sledgehammer to it – it wasn’t exactly a free-for-all. When the aluminum frame around the poster began to give way the security guards called a halt to the challenge. After all, it had to be the glass that broke rather than the frame around it.
NOTE:
This story has morphed a bit since 2005.
There was only about $500 worth of real money inside the glass. There was a prize of $3 million to anyone who could break the glass without bullets, but that money was on a check.
3m did not make the glass nor claim it was indestructible, they only made the Scotchguard that they claimed made the glass resistant to shattering and therefore safer.
Unfortunately, the frame around the glass started to break, so the security guards (who were there the whole time) called time out.
The whole thing lasted less than a day.
Still pretty great publicity, considering how people have exaggerated the details 13 years later.
