While retailers were busy looking to drive shoppers to both the store and the web site this past weekend, Cards Against Humanity held a Black Friday promotion of its own, asking its web site visitors for $5 — for nothing in return. As the campaign went viral, more than 12,500 people actually “donated” at least $5, with Cards Against Humanity netting a total of $71,145 throughout the day.
In a blog post, the party game creators revealed specifically what they bought with the money, with much of it going toward charities of their choosing. The company has participated in numerous philanthropic endeavors in the past, which may have motivated some people to make a donation.
In this week’s Q&A, the RTP team discusses the methods Cards Against Humanity used to drum up interest in the donation event, as well as what retailers can learn from this unique strategy.
Debbie Hauss, Editor-In-Chief: This stunt was quite a lesson in what a brand or business can get away with by surprising people, or even shocking them. If at least some of the proceeds had not been designated for charitable donations, though, I wonder if there would have been a more serious backlash. Personally, I would not have been happy to know that my donation had gone to help @CAH employees buy Playstation 4’s and other personal gifts. But, both the uniqueness of this effort, coupled with the relative success of the event, certainly moved Cards Against Humanity into the greater consumer and social media conversation. The Twitter account, @CAH, has close to 70,000 followers and growing. Advice for other brands? Know your customers! This type of event is not going to be well received by everyone.
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Alicia Fiorletta, Content Strategist: This is a very interesting exercise, to say the least. On the consumers’ side, this is an exercise of trust. I’m sure most, if not all, of the people who donated the money are a fan of the game, and know that the company has a history of giving back. And for the employees of Cards Against Humanity, this is a great exercise in business transparency. From that perspective, I think this is something that all brands can learn from. However, I can’t help but think it would be more valuable if the transparency came at the beginning, with them saying up front that a large portion of the funds would be donated to charity. The viral element of this, in my opinion, is the fact that they showed how each team member spent the money, whether it was buying cat litter, a fancy dinner or a trip to Disney World. There was an element of humor and borderline insanity that captured people’s attention. I know as I was reading the announcement, I kept saying: “Is this for REAL?” I’m sure I wasn’t alone in this. Although Cards Against Humanity got away with this (it sort of goes with the ridiculousness of the brand/game), I don’t think all retailers should try to copy this model completely.
Adam Blair, Executive Editor: We keep hearing that members of the Millennial generation are more interested in paying for experiences rather than for actual, tangible things. (Might this be because high housing prices mean fewer of them have places of their own to store those things?) Cards Against Humanity’s clever stunt would seem to prove this “experience” theory correct. Those who sent in $5 or more automatically have a ready-made dinner table story and/or social media meme: “Hey, I paid five bucks and got nothing in return!” The stunt also worked because it aligned perfectly with Cards Against Humanity’s irreverent cheekiness, and also because it allowed customers to feel connected to the company’s employees. If other retailers can find smart, attention-getting activities that line up perfectly with their brand’s image and values, they might be able to turn nothing into something as well.
